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Judea and Samaria Area
File:216px-Israel judea and samaria dist.png
Hebrew אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן
Arabic اليهودية والسامرة
Capital
Largest city Modi'in Illit
Cities 4
Local Councils 13
Regional Councils 6
Population 290,000[1] (2009)
Area 5,878 km²
This article refers to an Israeli-controlled administrative area called Judea and Samaria Area. For the geographical regions known by the biblical names Judea and Samaria, see Judea or Samaria. For uses synonymous with the term "the West Bank", see that entry.

Judea and Samaria Area (Hebrew: אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן‎, Ezor Yehuda VeShomron, also an acronym יו"ש Yosh or ש"י Shai; Arabic: اليهودية والسامرة‎, al-Yahudiyyah was-Sāmarah) is the official Israeli term roughly corresponding to the territory usually known outside Israel as the West Bank and to the Israeli settlements there that are not governed as part of Jerusalem. Jordan occupied the territory and annexed it in 1950. The area was captured from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Many Palestinians object to the term "Judea and Samaria" as a rejection of their claim to the area. In liberal Hebrew media, such as Haaretz, it is also referred to as "HaGada HaMa'aravit" (הגדה המערבית "The West Bank") or "Hashetahim" (השטחים , The Territories).

Status[]

The Judea and Samaria area is administered by the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, and administrative decisions are subject to the command's chief. The incumbent chief of Central Command is Aluf Gadi Shamni.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after Israel captured the region from Jordan in the Six Days War, declares that Israel must withdraw from territories captured in the conflict, in conjunction with the termination of all claims or states of belligerency. The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is currently Israel's fastest growing region in terms of population, growing at an annual 5%.

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip considered Israeli-occupied territories by the United Nations,[2] including the United States,[3][4] the European Union[5] and various non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International,[6] Human Rights Watch,[7] B'Tselem,[8] and If Americans Knew.[9] In addition to this, the International Court of Justice ruled that Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are Israeli-occupied territories.[10]

Terminology[]

The term "Judea and Samaria" was officially adopted by the Israeli government in 1967 but not used extensively until the Likud assumed office in 1977.[11]

The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the region south of Jerusalem, including settlements in Gush Etzion and Har Hebron. The region of Samaria, on the other hand, refers to settlements in all areas north of Jerusalem.

Administrative sub-regions[]

The district is further divided into 8 military administrative regions: Menashe (Jenin area), HaBik'a (Jordan Valley), Shomron (Shechem area, known in Arabic as Nablus), Efrayim (Tulkarm area), Binyamin (Ramallah/al-Bireh area), Maccabim (Maccabim area), Etzion (Bethlehem area) and Yehuda (Hebron area).

History[]

Samaria was one of the administrative districts of the British Mandate of Palestine. Reference to Judea and Samaria as a single unit is more recent, specifically since the time of their occupation and annexation by Jordan.

Municipalities[]

Cities Local Councils Regional Councils
  • Ariel
  • Betar Illit
  • Ma'ale Adummim
  • Modi'in Illit

See also[]

References[]

  1. This is the number of Israelis living in the region; for the total population see West Bank.
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_242
  3. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html
  4. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz&regionCode=me&#gz
  5. http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/occupied_palestinian_territory/index_en.htm
  6. http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied-territories
  7. http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/israel-and-occupied-territories
  8. http://www.btselem.org/english/Settlements/International_Law.asp
  9. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/index.html
  10. http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf
    • Ian Lustick (2002). The Riddle of Nationalism: The Dialectic of Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East. Logos, Vol.1, No-3. p. 18–44. "The terms “occupied territory” or “West Bank” were forbidden in news reports. Television and radio journalists were banned from initiating interviews with Arabs who recognized the PLO as their representative." 
    • Myron J. Aronoff (1991). Israeli Visions and Divisions: Cultural Change and Political Conflict. Transaction Publishers. p. 10. "[...] “Judea and Samaria”, the biblical terms that the Likud government succeeded in substituting for what had previously been called by many the West Bank, the occupied territories, or simply the territories. The successful gaining of the popular acceptance of these terms was a prelude to gaining popular acceptance of the government’s settlement policies." 
    • Shlomo Gazit (2003). Trapped Fools: Thirty Years of Israeli Policy in the Territories. Routledge. p. 162. "[...] the Likud Government was not satisfied with the name ‘Administered Territories’. Even though the name ‘Judea and Samaria’ had been officially adopted as early as the beginning of 1968 instead of the ‘West Bank’, it has hardly been used until 1977." 
    • Emma Playfair (1992). International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Oxford University Press. p. 41. "On 17 December 1967, the Israeli military government issued an order stating that “the term “Judea and Samaria region” shall be identical in meaning for all purposes . .to the term “the West Bank Region”. This change in terminology, which has been followed in Israeli official statements since that time, reflected a historic attachment to these areas and rejection of a name that was seen as implying Jordanian sovereignty over them." 
    • Ran HaCohen (1992). Influence of the Middle East Peace Process on the Hebrew Language. Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning, Michael G. Clyne (ed.). p. 385–414, 397. "During a short period immediately after the 1967 war, the official term employed was ‘the Occupied Territories’ (ha-shetahim ha-kevushim). It was soon replaced by ‘the Administered Territories’ (ha-shetahim ha-muhzakim) and then by the (biblical) Hebrew geographical terms “Judea and Samaria”. The latter were officially adopted and successfully promoted by the right wing governments (since 1977) and are still the official terms in use." 

cs:Judea a Samaří eu:Judea eta Samaria Eremua fa:یهودا و شومرون ja:ユダヤ・サマリア地区

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