How strange it is when people who allege they are believers in the “Bible” fail to acknowledge Biblical historical places and regions of the twelve tribes of Israel also know as the Holy Land. This kind of thinking portrays the hypocrisy of monotheistic religions who give the impression that they do not believe in the word of the Hebrew Bible as authentic. Instead we could assume that these types of thinkers are in reality mythological believers in false gods, idols, and sheer fantasy. Bible Discovered recommends people review the categories on historical data and facts on this web site.
In an article, the Christian Science Monitor provides a brief look into what it calls the “five largest Israeli settlements.” Its terminology and slant are less than objective. CSM correspondent Ariel Zirulnick reveals his anti-Israel slant as early as the second sentence, when he provides the PA position on the settlements issue without a corresponding Israeli point of view.
When referring to the areas in question, Zirulnick identifies them as on “the Palestinian side of the Green Line/separation barrier,” instead of by their Israeli-Jewish name, Judea and Samaria. The list includes two hareidi-religious cities, Modiin Illit and Beitar Illit, both of which are contiguous with pre-1967 Israel, as well as Ariel, Gush Etzion, and Maaleh Adumim. Nearly 150,000 Jews live in the five, out of a total of nearly 330,000 throughout Judea and Samaria.
Regarding Maaleh Adumim, the city just east of Jerusalem, Zirulnick gives short shrift to the Israeli stance, but explains at length why the PA opposes Israel’s retention of it. He writes that Maaleh Adumim “extends far into the West Bank, leaving only a narrow corridor of land in the eastern West Bank to connect the northern and southern regions of the territory” for a future Palestinian state. In fact, however, the bloc takes up less than half of the width, forcing north-south Arab travel to take a much smaller detour than the one most Israelis have long been forced to take in order to avoid the dangerous Shechem-Jenin route.
Palestinian Authority leader Abbas states “Our State Will be Judenrein”: The presence of Jews and Arabs living in the same small area of land is admittedly a complex problem. But if the goal of the current peace talks is, as Zirulnick writes, “two separate, sovereign states,” negotiators would find it much easier if the PA would allow Jews to live within its designated borders. “I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land,” PA chief Mahmoud Abbas declared at a recent Arab League conference.
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CSM correspondent Ariel Zirulnick writes the following below;
The end goal of the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is two separate, sovereign states. Palestinians say that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal by the United Nations, influence the outcome of such talks. With more than 300,000 Israelis now living in such settlements, Israel expects to keep at least some of them under a final peace deal – possibly as part of a land swap.
An estimated three-quarters of Israeli settlers live on a relatively small percentage of the West Bank, most of them in communities adjacent to Israel proper. Some of them are ideologically driven and some are attracted by the low cost of living; many are motivated by a combination of the two.
Here are the five most populous settlements in the West Bank.
5. Ariel Founded in 1978 Population: 16,716
Of the five largest settlements in the West Bank, Ariel is located the furthest from the Green Line – more than 9 miles. It lies east of Tel Aviv and north of Jerusalem. Though it remains on the Palestinian side of the separation barrier, it is considered a strategic bulwark protecting Israel’s narrow middle. It is home to the Ariel University Center of Samaria, which enrolls 8,500 students, both Jews and Arabs.
4. Gush Etzion bloc First post-1948 settlement was founded in 1967 Population: 20,532 (excluding Betar Illit)
Gush Etzion is the collective name used for a group of Israeli settlements in the vicinity of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The Foundation for Middle East Peace counts 15 settlements as part of the bloc, including Betar Illit. The settlements lie on both sides of the separation barrier, but entirely on the Palestinian side of the Green Line.
Jews first attempted to settle the area now part of the Gush Etzion bloc in the 1920s. The first attempt was unsuccessful, and later attempts were destroyed in the 1948 war. Efforts began again in 1967, when Israel took over the West Bank in the Six-Day War.
3. Betar Illit Founded in 1985 Population: 34,829
Betar Illit is situated about six miles south of Jerusalem and west of Bethlehem, and is located less than a kilometer within the Palestinian side of the Green Line. It is an Orthodox Jewish community with one of the fastest-growing populations in the West Bank. Because much of the population is engaged in religious study, rather than employed in nearby cities, it is relatively self contained. Betar Illit is often considered part of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
2. Maale Adumim Founded in 1975 Population: 33,821
Maale Adumim lies east of Jerusalem, about 2.5 miles from the Green Line. Considered by many Israelis to be a suburb of the city because of its close proximity, it began as a planned community and commuter town for Israelis working in Jerusalem. A mix of religious and secular Jews live there.
Israel values the “strategic depth” Maale Adumim offers against an army coming from the east. But Palestinians and their international supporters have criticized Israel’s efforts to incorporate Maale Adumim, as well as an adjacent area known as E-1, because those plans threaten the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state. The Maale Adumim bloc extends far into the West Bank, leaving only a narrow corridor of land in the eastern West Bank to connect the northern and southern regions of the territory.
1. Modiin Illit Founded in 1996* Population: 41,869
Modiin Illit sits about halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. With more than 42,000 settlers today, Modiin Illit alone has about four times the number of settlers that were in the entire Gaza Strip before the 2005 disengagement. Most of its residents are Orthodox Jews.
Modiin Illit is encompassed by the Israeli separation barrier – designed to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian militant attacks – even though it lies outside the pre-1967 Israeli border known as the Green Line. Just on the other side of the wall from Modiin Illit is Bilin, where Palestinians have held weekly protests against the wall for several years.
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