Have Judea and Samaria been figuratively lost? Judea
and Samaria are the historically biblical names for
the highland regions of the Land of Israel, with
Samaria in the north and Judea to the south. They
are the definitive and proper political and geographic
names for the region and have been in general use
since Clearchus, a disciple of Aristotle. These two
areas have no other names. These names were used
during the League of Nations Mandate period. They
appear in British government documents, United Nations
documents including the UN Partition Plan of 1947.
They appear in U.S. State Department documents, including
a July 18, 1948 map. Even as late as 1961, the Encyclopaedia
Britannica refers to “Judaea” and “Samaria” in
an article on “Palestine” (Vol. 17, p.
118).
Trans-Jordan illegally invaded Judea-Samaria in 1948
and as a result of its aggression occupied that region.
It then unilaterally annexed the area on April 4,
1950, which was recognized by only two nations, the
United Kingdom and Pakistan.
The Arab League, their Muslim supporters, anti-Israel
elements and anti-Semites, deliberately sought to
rob the region of its correct political and geographic
name. They had to fabricate a brand new name for
they could find no other name for the territory.
Mislabeling was their technique of disinformation
and de-legitimization. The “West Bank” was
the name concocted by King Abdullah I of Trans-Jordan
and his British advisors, allowing the king to annex
land outside of his artificially “created” kingdom.
He then changed the name of his kingdom twice, first
to “The Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan” but
that was quickly rejected since it gave the appearance
of a kingdom only along the banks of the Jordan River.
The name then was changed again to the “Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan.” The term “West Bank” eradicates
all Jewish historical connection to the area. It
is a sad commentary that many in the West, including
the political left, many Israel’s supporters,
some Israelis themselves, as well as the naïve
and self-delusional who think the name does not matter,
have acquiesced to this unilateral change of names
and use it in common parlance. But the name does
matter. Similarly, the Arabs insist on calling the
Persian Gulf, the “Arabian Gulf” and
Iran’s Khuzistan province, “Arabistan.” Why
then doesn’t much of the world call the Persian
Gulf “Arabian?” Is there a double standard
at work here?
Besides the political origins of the phrase, one
must wonder from a geographical perspective how wide
a river bank can be? A river bank may be a few feet
or so, but not some 30 miles deep from the river!
Just because a new name is invented, does not mean
the world should adopt it in common usage. Does an
aggressor get rewarded with the additional bonus
of a geographic name change designed to eradicate
the historic name of a region? In March 1939, Germany
renamed the present-day Czech Republic, “Böhmen
und Mähren” after seizing that land by
aggressive act. During World War II, Germany invaded,
occupied and annexed part of Russia calling it “Ostland.” Do
we use those terms today? Do we call Mexico the “South
Bank” because it borders on the Rio Grande?
Should we rename Serbia, the “West Bank” (of
Europe) because it lies to the west of the Danube
River and re-designate Poland the “East Bank” due
to its location east of the Oder-Neisse Rivers?
Long before most of media capitulated to protests
over Danish cartoons and statements by the Pope,
the media and many in the world, out of fear and
intellectual laziness agreed to obfuscate the truth
by surrendering the use of the name Judea-Samaria
and adopt the term “West Bank.”
The Roman emperor Hadrian in 135 CE after suppressing
the Jewish revolt led by Bar Kochba, attempted to
eradicate Jewish nationhood, statehood and any connection
to the Land of Israel. He renamed the territory “Palestina” -
after the Philistines, the ancient adversaries of
the Israelites. Seeking to erase the Jewish connection
to Jerusalem the Romans razed the city and named
the city built atop the rubble, “Aelia Capitolina.” Nevertheless
as late as the 4th century, the Christian author,
Epiphanius, referred to “Palestina, that is
Judea.” Despite this “Palestina” is
still Israel, Aelia Capitolina is still Jerusalem
and the West Bank is still Judea-Samaria.
Dr. Steve Carol
Prof. of History (retired)
Senior Fellow Center for Advanced Middle East Studies
www.camesinfo.com
Official Historian “Middle East Radio Forum” www.middleeastradioforum.org
Scottsdale, Arizona
Mount Carmel Outreach
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