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WhatsappIsrael’s borders have long been a source of debate. But there are some facts
that need to be set straight. For those of us who believe in the Bible, we
know that God states the borders of the Promised Land multiple
times (for example, to Abraham and Moses).
The British Mandate
In modern times, the recognized map of Israel has changed somewhat.
When Israel was under the British Mandate and called the area “Palestine”,
(despite the fact that there was no Palestinian national identity then,
that group of people has only been invented recently,) Jews and Arab
lived in Israel. The Palestine Post was a Jewish newspaper. The flag of then-Palestine featured a Jewish
Star of David, and the sports teams were Jews. So the real group of people who shared, if any, Palestinian identity
were the Jews. It was only much later that Arabs in the area fabricated a ‘Palestinian national identity’.
The State of Israel
In any event, when Israel declared independence in 1947, it had certain borders. The War of Independence in 1948
changed that, and subsequent wars also changed the borders. Of course, since there never was a ruling Palestinian
government in Judea and Samaria, when Israel won the Six Day War in 1967 and took over that territory from the
Jordanians, it was by no means occupying it. That is because it was not occupying it from anyone.
There never was a previous nation living under their own rule there.
Recall that the Palestinian national identity is a modern fabrication and that national identity did not exist before 1948. So at most, there would be a dispute as to who had control over the area, as Israel won it in a war with Jordan, and Jordan took it from the British, who were willing to divide up the land in the first place. So while it may be disputed territory, it is clearly not “occupied Palestinian land”, as there was no national Palestinian identity when Jordan ruled it, and there was never any previous Palestinian national government there
from whom Israel had “occupied” it.
