Thursday, August 20, 2015

Arutz Sheva Writer: West Bank Given by God to the State of Israel

According to at least one Arutz Sheva writer the West Bank was given to the State of Israel by God. Never mind that the West Bank only came under Israeli control after the Six Day War in which between 776 to 983 Israeli soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice and died for their country.
Jumping ahead a few decades, numerous land claims have been filed via Israel’s Supreme Court by Arab claimants, descendants or even distant relatives of those individuals who had received Jordanian documents “proving” their land ownership. But are they really the owners or was King Hussein simply handing over stolen property?

Obviously, for a believing Jew, the question of land ownership is a moot point, as the biblical narrative is clear: God gave the Land of Israel to His people Israel as a divine inheritance. However, because of differing views of the biblical narrative, even within Israel, such an argument doesn’t carry much weight in a court of law.. In our current system of national or international law, we need to examine the full historical, political, and legal picture. The land ownership dispute rests ultimately on the legal status of land in Judea and Samaria. [He means the West Bank.] Whose land is it? (David Rubin, Adopting The Levy Report: Who Owns the Land of Israel?, Arutz Sheva, August 10, 2015.)
Regardless of what happened in Biblical times let it be remembered that the State of Israel only gained control of the West Bank after the Six Day War in 1967. At least 776 Israeli soldiers died in that war. Another figure says 983 Israeli soldiers died. Their sacrifice made Israeli control of the West Bank possible.

Before the Six Day War the West Bank was controlled by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. After the Six Day War and the loss of up to 983 Israeli soldiers in battle the West Bank was controlled by the State of Israel.

And, as alluded to in the quote above, many Israelis happen to disagree with this particular interpretation.

Afterwards the writer makes the following statement condemning Palestinian claims regarding land ownership in the West Bank and makes a derogatory comment about the name of the Palestinians.
The various Arab land grabs are simply that - attempts to claim that which is not theirs, not historically and not legally. And that, of course, is the Hebrew meaning of the word “Palestinian” - one who invades, robs, and takes that which doesn’t belong to him. (David Rubin, Adopting The Levy Report: Who Owns the Land of Israel?, Arutz Sheva, August 10, 2015.)
If one was to talk in such a denigrating manner about the name of any other people how would that sound?

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