Friday, May 31, 2024

Stolen Palestinian Land

I just watched a video about Israeli settlements in the West Bank being on stolen Palestinian land. But I have a problem with this description.

How did this become stolen "Palestinian" land when the Palestinians never controlled it? 

- Prior to WW I the West Bank was part of the Ottoman Empire.

- From 1918 to 1922 all of Palestine was occupied by British troops. 

- From 1922 until 1948 it was under British control as part of the Mandate for Palestine. 

- In 1947 it was part of the proposed Arab State in the UN partition plan. However the Arabs rejected the plan and never took control of the West Bank. 

- After the 1948 war the West Bank was under Jordanian occupation and Jordan formally annexed it in 1950. 

- In 1967 Jordan, in keeping with its military pact with Egypt, attacked Israel. After bloody hand to hand fighting Israel captured the West Bank. 

- In 1988 Jordan relinquished any claims to the West Bank and recognized the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian People." 

- In 1995, under the Oslo Agreement, the West Bank was divided into three zones as a transitional arrangement. Zone A under Palestinian control, Zone B under joint Palestinian and Israeli control and Zone C under Israeli control. The settlements are in Zone C. 

So the land upon which the settlements are built were never under Palestinian control. How does one steal something from someone who never owned it?

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