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The Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are under attack. Islamic terrorists murder Jewish men, women and children in Judea and Samaria every week. Radical activists around the world work night and day to undermine the Jewish people’s claim to their biblical heartland.
The European Union and the United States quietly support these attacks on Judea and Samaria, sending hundreds of millions of dollars in “aid” to the Palestinian Authority, where it is used to fund terror against Israelis.
The Jewish pioneers of Judea and Samaria are up against an unprecedented coalition of radical Islamists, European bureaucrats and anti-religious woke activists – a powerful alliance of antisemites dedicated to Israel’s destruction. Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to keep God’s land.
In the first 8 months of 2023, Islamic terrorists murdered thirty-five Israelis in terrorist attacks in Israel, an average of one person murdered in a terrorist attack per week. In the first 6 months of 2023, the emergency service recorded 3,640 acts of terror throughout Israel, including 2,118 cases of rock-throwing, 799 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 101 shootings, 18 attempted stabbings and six car-rammings.
The vast majority of these attacks are directed against Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
Beginning in September 2015, Israel has faced a surge of violence by Palestinian Arab terrorists who are influenced by relentless incitement through Palestinian social and traditional media. Arab children in Judea and Samaria grow up in a society that incites violence. They are constantly influenced by the antisemitic atmosphere in the Palestinian street, the anti-Israeli incitement in their textbooks and formal and informal educational environments, and particularly by social media networks run by Hamas and other terror organizations that call on Arab youth to murder Jews.
This incitement to terror is exacerbated by the encouragement of Palestinian leadership. Sickeningly, the Palestinian Authority provides a monthly “pension” to convicted terrorists, called “Pay to Slay,” with the amount increasing depending on their success in murdering Jews. Additionally, the families of terrorists who are killed by Israeli security forces during attacks also receive a monthly financial support.
On August 24, 2023, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the Fatah Revolutionary Council that Hitler “fought [the Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion… their role in society, which had to do with usury, money, and so on.” But Abbas’ blatant antisemitism is nothing new. In May 2018, Abbas told the Palestine National Council that European Jews suffered since the 11th century “not because of their religion, [but] it was because of their social profession – so the Jewish issue that had spread against the Jews across Europe was not because of their religion, it was because of usury and banks.”
When speaking to their fellow Palestinians, leaders like Mahmoud Abbas and many others regularly slander the Jewish people as deceitful, disloyal and greedy, encouraging hatred and terrorism.
Over the last 25 years, Islamic terrorists have murdered thousands of innocent Israelis. The following terrorist murders are a small example of the evil inflicted upon the Jews of Judea & Samaria, and all of this heinous acts were perpetrated in the first 8 months of 2023:
On Friday night, January 27, 2023, an Islamic terrorist opened fire on people outside a synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Ya’acov before escaping the scene. The terrorist murdered Eli and Natalie Mizrahi, Rafael Ben-Eliyahu, Shaul Chai, Ilya Sosonsky, Ukrainian citizen Irina Korolova, and 14-year-old Asher Natan. Thousands of Arabs throughout Judea and Samaria publicly celebrated this act of terror with fireworks, public celebrations, and by giving candy to Arab children.
On February 10, 2023, an Arab terrorist rammed into a bus stop near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot, killing 20 year old Shlomo Liderman, who married only four months earlier, and six and eight-year-old brothers Yaakov Yisrael and Asher Menahem Paley.
On February 26, 2023, a terrorist rammed into a car in Huwara, inside of which sat Hillel and Yaacov Yaniv, two young brothers from the nearby Jewish town of Har Bracha (Mount of Blessing). The terrorist then shot and killed them both. Their corneas were donated to four patients.
A day after the Yaniv brothers were murdered, a terrorist shot at cars in the Jordan Valley, killing Elan Ganeles, an American Jew from Connecticut.
one person.
On the second day of Passover, terrorists shot at a car in the Jordan Valley, killing 15-year-old Rina and 20-year-old Maia Dee and their mother Lucy. Originally from England, the Dee family lives in Efrat, in Judea. Lucy’s organs were donated, saving five people.
On June 20, 2023, two Arab terrorists shot at people in a restaurant in Samaria, killing three teenage boys and an older man, and badly wounding four others. The victims were: Elisha Anteman, Harel Masoud, Ofer Feirman, and Nachman Shmuel Mordoff.
On August 19, 2023, Silas (Shai) Nigerker and his son Aviad Nir. were running errands in Huwara, in Samaria. While they were waiting for their car to be washed, a terrorist walked up to them and shot them at close range, killing them both.
On August 21, 2023. two terrorists cut off a car with three Israeli passengers in Hebron. They then opened fire on the passengers, killing one and wounding two. Batsheva Nigri, a 40-year-old mother of three, died of her wounds in front of her 12-year-old daughter.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden reinstated over $230 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), even though the Palestinian Authority (PA) maintains a “martyr’s fund” through which it pays more than $300 million per year to terrorists (or next of kin) who have murdered Israelis. This “pay for slay” policy makes it illegal for U.S. aid to go directly to the PA, so the Biden Administration distributes this money through other channels.
The largest beneficiary of US aid to the Palestinians was the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Prior to the restoration of U.S. funding in January 2021, IMPACT-se reported alarming content in UNRWA textbooks, including the glorification of jihad, violence, and death. Subsequent reports revealed no improvement and, in some aspects, a worsening of the materials. Nonetheless, the Biden administration continued to provide funding, effectively subsidizing antisemitic indoctrination in Palestinian schools.
Despite widespread reports of the PA’s use of financial aid to sponsor terrorism, the European Union announced in February 2023 that it would increase financial aid to the Palestinian Authority by €296 million. This is blood money that will almost certainly be used to fund the murder of innocent men, women and children. Increased Palestinian terror against Israelis is a direct result of aid from the EU and the United States.
Throughout history, enemies of the people of Israel have attempted to erase the Jewish people’s connection to the holy land by renaming it. The Romans attempt to sever Jewish ties to the entire land of Israel by renaming it “Philistia,” or “Palestina” in Greek. In 1948, after slaughtering the Jewish community of Judea and Samaria, Jordan renamed the region “the West Bank.” More recently, Western media outlets refer to Israel’s biblical heartland as “the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Two months into President Biden’s tenure, the Biden administration, in its annual human-rights report, reintroduced the term “occupied territories” to describe Judea, Samaria, and parts of Jerusalem.
All of these names are used in an attempt by Israel’s enemies to deny Judea and Samaria’s biblical and Jewish identity. In the Bible, the only names used to describe this region are Judea and Samaria, names that derive from the ancient biblical kingdoms of Judah (Judea) and Israel whose capital city was Samaria.
“He is Hashem our God; His judgments are throughout the earth. He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations, that He made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel, as an eternal covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your allotted heritage.” (Psalm 105:7-11)
In 1947, Israel accepted the United Nations’ Partition Plan, while the Arab nations rejected it. Since that time, neighboring Arab nations have attacked Israel several times with the goal of annihilating the people of Israel and “driving them into the sea.” Since its founding in 1948, Israel has only fought defensive wars. Miraculously, Israel has defeated the invading Arab armies in every war it fought, leading to an expansion in territory and the liberation of Judea and Samaria. Yet the Western media insists on referring to the brave Jewish pioneers who are settling their homeland as “colonialists” and “settlers,” implying that they are foreign conquerors without a moral right to the land of their forefathers. Can Israelis really be “occupiers” or “settlers” in their own land?
The use of the term “occupier” also hampers Israel-Palestinian negotiations, as it is challenging to reach agreements when one party’s claims are denied. Furthermore, such terminology provides a shield for those who employ antisemitic stereotypes to portray Israel as a malevolent usurper.
At its essence, the Palestinian narrative involves the misappropriation of Jewish nationhood, culture, history, heritage, and faith. In progressive circles, cultural appropriation is deemed offensive when one disregards or diminishes the cultural origins of a phenomenon. For instance, failing to acknowledge the roots of an ethnic food can result in accusations of bigotry.
However, the Palestinian cultural appropriation of Judaism and Jewish identity takes this phenomenon to an entirely different level.
For over 3,500 years, the story of the Jewish people has been intimately intertwined with the Jewish people’s connection to the Land of Israel. The Land itself is an archaeological testament to the millennial ties of the Jewish people. Dig a few inches down anywhere in Israel, and you will find archaeological evidence of the Jewish people’s connection to the Land of Israel.
The Palestinian national narrative not only denies the entirety of Jewish history, heritage, nationhood, and faith but also seeks to claim them as their own. Prominent figures like PLO chief and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas insist that the Palestinians are the biblical Canaanites, while his predecessor Yasser Arafat maintained they were the Jebusites. All of these claims are entirely false; the Canaanites, Jebusites and Philistines all ceased to exist over 3,000 years ago.
At the same time, they assert that there’s no connection between the Jews of biblical times and contemporary Jews. Palestinians systematically obliterate archaeological sites throughout the Land of Israel in an attempt to erase historical records. History is then rewritten according to the political and propaganda needs of the entirely fabricated history of today’s Palestinians.
Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Ebal in Samaria is one of the most ancient and important archeological sites in Israel. It is the place where Joshua famously brought sacrifices to God and inscribed the teachings of Moses (Joshua 8:30-35). On August 30, 2023, a routine inspection of the site revealed that Palestinian Arabs had begun ground-leveling work in preparation for the paving of a new road, adjacent to the wall of Joshua’s Altar, within the demarcated Israeli archaeological site. Their goal is clear – to destroy evidence of the Jewish people’s ancient connection to the Land of Israel.
Joshua’s Altar is only one of the many sites damaged by Palestinians this year. The ancient town of Sebastia, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Holy Land which served as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel nearly three millennia ago, has also been severely damaged by Palestinian road construction. Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said “this is an attempt to systematically and decisively destroy any connection between the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and one of our most important cultural and historic sites.
These are unique remains from the period of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. It’s a disgrace that Jewish history is being destroyed in such a manner and under the very noses of the Israeli government.”
The Palestinians are compelled to destroy archeological sites because their fabricated history becomes indefensible if they acknowledge that Jews are indigenous to the Land of Israel, and that Israel isn’t a colonialist outpost but the only homeland the Jewish people have ever known. The Palestinian cause only holds water if Jewish history, nationhood, heritage, and faith are denied, and Jews are vilified for resisting their own erasure.
This wholesale cultural appropriation of Jewish existence by the Palestinians is textbook antisemitism. Those who support the Palestinian cause effectively endorse the erasure of Jewish existence throughout history.
Palestinian Arabs and their Western supporters routinely accuse Israel of being guilty of “apartheid” in Judea and Samaria. The notion of “apartheid” being applied to the situation in Judea and Samaria is not only misleading but malicious, serving as a convenient tool for organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and certain factions within the United Nations to falsely smear the Jewish State. It’s essential to clarify the facts on the ground to dispel this false narrative.
In reality, 40% of Judea and Samaria (Areas A & B) falls under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, with the remaining 60% (Area C) under Israeli military and civilian control. Within Area C, over half a million Israelis and about 300,000 Palestinians coexist. Both Israelis and Palestinians living in this region have distinct but recognized legal statuses. Israeli citizens living in these areas are subject to IDF military rule but enjoy the same individual rights as those residing in sovereign Israel. Palestinians living here are also under IDF military rule but maintain some of their rights as per the Palestinian Authority.
While this situation is complex, it certainly does not qualify as apartheid. Israel has not unilaterally imposed its law on the Palestinians, respecting their distinct identity and rights. Israeli citizens, regardless of their place of residence, share the same responsibilities such as paying taxes and military service. Palestinians, who have chosen not to seek Israeli citizenship, are eligible to petition Israel’s High Court and frequently do so.
This intricate situation has persisted since Israel liberated Judea and Samaria during the Six-Day War in 1967 – a war instigated by Egypt, Syria and Jordan with the explicit goal of annihilating the Jewish state. To equate this situation with apartheid not only misrepresents Israel but also diminishes the gravity of the genuine suffering endured by black South Africans during South Africa’s actual apartheid regime.
Palestinian Arabs, with significant financial backing from the European Union, are currently engaged in a large-scale theft of Israeli land.
Regavim, a movement dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands and resources, has provided extensive evidence highlighting the gravity of this problem. This phenomenon represents not only a blatant violation of international law but also a calculated effort to undermine Jewish presence in these historic territories.
Regavim’s comprehensive research has uncovered numerous instances of illegal construction, including the unauthorized building of homes, settlements, and infrastructure in areas that rightfully belong to Israel. These actions fly in the face of internationally recognized land zoning regulations, environmental conservation principles, and safety standards. For example, there have been cases where illegal Palestinian building encroached on protected natural reserves, damaging delicate ecosystems, and undermining conservation efforts.
This unlawful construction is not isolated but part of a broader strategy aimed at altering the demographic and territorial landscape on the ground. It seeks to create facts on the ground that challenge the Jewish historical and legal connection to Judea and Samaria. Illegal Palestinian outposts have been established in strategic areas, often followed by international pressure to retroactively legitimize these violations.
Naomi Kahn, International Director of Regavim, explains that “The Palestinian Authority openly encourages their citizens to move to Area C and the European Union funds this illegal Arab construction. There is essentially no Arab construction being carried out in Areas A and B [where they are permitted to build]. Some of these structures have been used as a launching point for terror attacks, or hiding places for terrorists after they commit a terrorist attack,” she added. “And some of them are simply hazards. But little is done [to stop this].”
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement promotes boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel, with a particular focus on Judea and Samaria. The movement employs inflammatory and unfounded rhetoric, often labeling Israel as an “apartheid” state or accusing it of “genocide” and “white supremacy.” frequently comparing Israeli soldiers to “Nazis.” These baseless claims serve to demonize the Jewish state and undermine its very existence.
Many governments, primarily in Europe, donate millions of dollars each year to pro-BDS groups. Recently, however, the United States has taken a dangerous step towards supporting the antisemitic policies of BDS.
In June, the Biden administration took the outrageous step of terminating U.S. scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities in Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, and segments of Jerusalem, considering them “occupied” territories. This boycott not only perpetuates a biased narrative but also aligns with the age-old antisemitic tactic of economically isolating Jewish communities.
What makes this situation even more disturbing is that President Biden had previously voiced opposition to BDS and, as recently as July 2022, joined forces with then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid in a joint declaration pledging to “collaborate in countering any attempts to boycott or delegitimize Israel.” However, less than a year later, President Biden reversed course, effectively endorsing the malevolent BDS campaign by implementing a boycott of his own. This abrupt shift raises questions about the administration’s consistency in upholding its commitment to combat efforts that delegitimize Israel and undermines the trust between Israel and the United States.