Glossary

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In order to better understand the complexities of the Israel situation and the impact of possible annexation of parts of the West Bank, it is important to use, share and understand context and common terms. See other glossaries for many more terms and more historical references:

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  • A visual map of Israel with the Green line, Israeli settlements, Arab cities
  • Annexation - Annexation is the administrative action and concept in international law relating to the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state and is generally held to be an illegal act. Israel disputes that applying Israeli sovereignty to the West bank is "annexation", because West bank is disputed territory, not (yet) part of another state.
  • Areas A, B, and C - Distinct areas of the west bank were given different statuses, according to their governance pending a final status accord: Area A (18%) is exclusively administered by the Palestinian National Authority; Area B (22%) is administered by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel; and Area C, which contains the ~ 135 Israeli settlements, is administered by Israel. Areas A and B were chosen in such a way as to just contain Palestinians, by drawing lines around Palestinian population centers at the time the Agreement was signed; all areas surrounding Areas A and B were defined as Area C. In addition to settlements, as well as 100 outposts unrecognized by the Israeli government. Area C forms a contiguous territory, administered via the Judea and Samaria Area administration.
  • BDS - The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law. Its charter and actions aim to de-legitimize and remove Israel, and harass Israeli and Jewish students on U campuses.
  • Fatah - Fatah, formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the second-largest party in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
  • Gaza - The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Was occupied by Egypt until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor. Was originally governed by PA, forcibly taken over by Hamas in June 2007.
  • Green Line - Armistice line established in 1948 after the first Arab-Israeli war. Called green line because border drawn in green ink on armistice map. Jordan captured the West bank, and annexed it, giving Jordanian citizenship to all Arab residents of West Bank.
  • Hamas - Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It has been the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip since its takeover of that area in 2007. Source of major rocket attacks on Israel, several wars.
  • Israel War of Independence (1948) - Israel accepted the 1947 UN partition plan, but surrounding Arabs rejected and attacked Israel. Israel managed to capture more territory and control of the area than UN General Assembly Resolution 181 had recommended for the proposed Jewish state, as well as almost 60% of the area of Arab state proposed by the 1947 Partition Plan, including the Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramle area, Galilee, some parts of the Negev, a wide strip along the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road, West Jerusalem, and some territories in the West Bank. Transjordan took control of the remainder of the former British mandate (i.e. West Bank) , which it annexed, and the Egyptian military took control of the Gaza Strip.
  • Jordan Valley - The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to the lower course of the Jordan River, from the spot where it exits the Sea of Galilee in the north, to the end of its course where it flows into the Dead Sea in the south.
  • Jordan occupation of West Bank (1948) - During war of Independence, (Trans)Jordan captured territory of Mandatory Palestine, essentially thee West Bank, annexed it to form the greater Jordan.
  • Jordan Annexation (1950) - Palestinian Arabs residing there became Jordanian citizens; lost citizenship in 1967 after Six Day War
  • Judea and Samaria vs West Bank - Judea and Samaria are the names of a region of Israel that is deeply connected to the Jewish people historically and religiously. Many of the events of the Bible took place in these areas. The name West Bank is a political name that was given to the same area by Jordan when it occupied (1948) and annexed the area (1950). This land was regained by Israel in 1967 and is considered disputed territory. Since ancient times, the area has been known as Judea and Samaria and was identified as such through the British Mandate period. The West Bank was occupied, at various times, by the Romans, the Ottomans and the British until 1948.
  • Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate: Was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine under the terms of the Mandate for Palestine following the defeat of the Ottaman Empire.
  • Occupied Territory - After the Six-Day War, the territories captured by Israel beyond the Green Line came to be designated as East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and Sinai Peninsula (since returned to Egypt in 1979). These territories are often referred to as Israeli-occupied territories.
  • OSLO Agreements (1993, 1995,1998): Negotiations established the Palestinian Authority (from the PLO), started some security coordination, and handed large portions of the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.
  • Palestine: A region in the Middle East, originally named by the Romans after destruction of the Second Temple (70CE), then taken over by Ottomans until first world war and resulting British Mandate
    • Syria Palaestina or Roman Palestine, a Roman province (135–390 CE), a province of the Roman Empire following merger of renamed Iudaea with Roman Syria
    • Palaestina Prima, a Byzantine province in the Levant from 390 to c. 636, comprising the Galilee and northern Jordan Valley
    • Palaestina Secunda, a Byzantine province in the Levant from 390 to c. 636, comprising the shoreline and hills of the Southern Levant (Judea and Samaria)
    • Palaestina Salutaris alias Palestina Tertia, a Byzantine province established in the 6th century, covering the Negev and Transjordan
    • Jund Filastin (638 – 10th century), one of the military districts of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham (Syria)
    • Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem or Palestine (1872–1917), an Ottoman district that encompassed Jerusalem, Gaza, Jaffa, Hebron, Bethlehem and Beersheba
  • Palestinian Authority (PA) - the official representative in West Bank and Gaza, until Hamas ousted PA from Gaza. Presently the PA is the official representative of the West Bank, with Mahmoud Abbas (also known by the honorific name of Abu Mazen) as President since 2005. He is a member of Fatah.
  • Partition of Palestine - As British Mandate came to an end, League of Nations proposed a partition between Arabs and Jews, keeping Jerusalem under International control. Israel accepted but Arabs rejected, leading for first Arab-Israeli war
  • Peace with Egypt (1977) - Signed after visit by Anwar Sadat (president of Egypt) , led to return of Sinai, but not Gaza
  • Peace with Jordan (1994) - The treaty settled relations between the two countries, adjusted land and water disputes, and provided for broad cooperation in tourism and trade. It included a pledge that neither Jordan nor Israel would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country
  • PLO - The Palestine Liberation Organization, commanded by Arafat, established in 1964; expelled from Jordan to Lebanon in July 1971; came to West Bank and Gaza in 1993 to set up Palestine Administration (PA).
  • Six Day War (1967) - Following blockage of Suez canal to Israel by Egypt, war fought between 5 and 10 June 1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria. During the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces captured West Bank, Golan Heights, Sinai and the Gaza Strip.
  • Settlements - Civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli settlements currently exist in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights, and had previously existed within the Egyptian territory of the Sinai Peninsula, and within the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip; however, Israel evacuated and dismantled the 18 Sinai settlements following the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace agreement and all of the Settlements in Gaza.
  • Trump Peace Plan proposal (2020) - Officially titled "Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People", is a proposal by the Trump administration to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. No Palestinian authorities were invited for negotiations. Both the West Bank settlers' Yesha Council and the Palestinian leadership rejected the plan: the former because it envisaged a Palestinian state, the latter arguing it is too biased in favor of Israel. The plan has been characterized as requiring too few concessions from the Israelis and imposing too harsh requirements on the Palestinians. Egypt urged "careful review" of the plan. Jordan was less responsive, and emphasized its commitment to a two-state solution along pre-1967 lines, which the plan does not call for.[4] The plan rejects a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, proposing instead a Palestinian capital on the outskirts of the city, and suggests giving some 30% of the envisioned Palestinian territory to Israel, essentially annexing the West Bank settlements. Netanyahu announced that the Israeli government would immediately annex the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements while committing not to create new settlements in areas left to the Palestinians for at least four years.
  • Two state solution - The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River.
  • Unilateral withdrawal from Gaza (2005) - Israel removed 21 settlements and Israel army from the Gaza Strip - PA took over, then was displaced by Hamas in 2007.
  • West Bank - The territory known as the West Bank is the area to the west of the Jordan River. It is approximately 2262 square miles in total area, and is home to approximately 2.7 million Palestinians and approximately 400,000 Israeli Jews living in settlements.