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West Bank

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The term West Bank refers to Judaia and Samaria, territories annexed by Trans-Jordan and later captured by Israel. Across the Jordan River to the east lies Jordan. Disposition of the West Bank remains a thorny question.

Often the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been called the "occupied territories", an acknowledgment that their disposition remains unsettled.

Some partisans object to the use of the terms West Bank and occupied territories, preferring to use terms which imply endorsement of their point of view. For example, some Jews and sympathizers of Israel prefer not to use the term "West Bank", but rather call the southern part of this area Judea, and the northern portion Samaria, historical names for these areas.

The Misplaced Pages has no opinion as to the merit of any party's claim to this territory, and its use of the term is merely a terminological convenience.

History

Note: this history should start much further back.

A part of the pre-1948 Mandatory Palestine, the West Bank was reserved by the 1947 Partition Plan (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) to an Arab state (with the exception of Jerusalem and a narrow corridor leading to it which would be considered international territory). In effect, a Palestinian Arab state failed to materialize, but the territory was captured by the neighboring kingdom of Jordan. This occuptation was not recognized by the UN or by the international community. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel captured this territory, but the U.N. did not recognize it either and asked for Israel's withdrawal in Resolution 242. In 1988, Jordan withdrew all claims to it.

The 1993 Oslo Accords declared its final status a subject to a forthcoming settlement between Israel and the Palestinian leadership. Following the accords, Israel withdrew its military rule from some parts of West Bank, which was then gerrymandered into:

  • Palestine-controlled, Palestinian-administered areas
  • Israeli and Palestinian co-controlled, but Palestinian areas
  • Israeli-controlled, Israeli-adminstered areas (the majority of the territory)

However, Israel has continued to construct many settlements in the West Bank, because of the supposed threat they create on the Palestinian population. Israel has been criticized for this practice.

See also Palestine.

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