It has been suggested that Judea and Samaria be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

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Map of the West Bank.

The West Bank is a landlocked territory not recognized as a de jure part of any sovereign country. The West Bank is considered by the United Nations and most countries as currently occupied by Israel, though some Israelis and various other groups prefer to refer to it as "disputed" or even "liberated" rather than "occupied" territory. Its borders were defined by the 1948 Arab-Israeli War armistice lines after the dissolution of the British mandate of Palestine, when it was captured and annexed by Jordan, From 1948 until 1967 the area was under Jordanian rule. The area was then captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, although with the exception of East Jerusalem, it was not annexed. Jordan gave up its claim to the area in 1988. Prior to 1948 the area has been part of the British Mandate and before that part of the [Ottoman Empire]. Located west and south-west of the Jordan River in the eastern part of the Palestine region in the Middle East, it is bordered by Israel to the west, north, and south, and by Jordan to the east. 40% of the area (including most of the population) is under the limited civilian jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, while Israel maintains overall control (including over Israeli settlements, rural areas, and border regions). The population of the West Bank is predominantly Palestinian (86%) with a significant minority of Israeli settlers. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into West Bank. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Jump to: navigation, search Israel (in Blue) and the Arab League states (in Green) The Arab-Israeli conflict is a long-running conflict in the Middle East regarding the existence of the state of Israel and its relations with Arab states and with the Palestinian population (see Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... . Based on Image:BlankMap-World. ... Download high resolution version (330x715, 22 KB)Replacement map of the West Bank from CIA Factbook - public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (330x715, 22 KB)Replacement map of the West Bank from CIA Factbook - public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Look up De jure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary De jure (in Classical Latin de iure) is an expression that means based on law, as contrasted with de facto, which means in fact. The terms de jure and de facto are used like in principle and in practice when one... Jump to: navigation, search The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. ... The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, called the War of Independence (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות) by Israelis and al Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, the catastrophe) by Arabs, was the first in a series of wars in the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... Map of the territory under the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Six-Day War (Hebrew: מלחמת ששת הימים transliteration: Milhemet Sheshet Hayamim), also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Six Days War, or June War, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. ... Northern part of the Great Rift Valley as seen from space (NASA) The Jordan River today The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The West Bank The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) is a semi-autonomous state institution nominally governing the bulk of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (which it calls the Palestinian Territories). It was established as a part of Oslo accords between the PLO and Israel. ... An Israeli settlement refers to a housing development for Israeli Jewish settlers in areas which came under the control of Israel as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War beyond the boundaries defined by the 1949 Armistice Agreements. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Israeli settlements are Jewish communities in areas under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six Day War. ...

In Hebrew it is referred to by the Biblical names of Yehuda and Shomron, and some English speakers use the equivalent Judea and Samaria. The name Cisjordan is also used for the region in some languages (e.g. French, Spanish). The status of East Jerusalem is controversial. Israel, having annexed it, no longer considers it part of the West Bank; however, the annexation is not recognized by any other country, nor by the United Nations. In either case, it is often treated as separate from the West Bank due to its importance; for example, the Oslo Peace Accords treat the status of East Jerusalem as a separate matter from the status of the other Palestinian territories, to be resolved at a later undetermined date. Jump to: navigation, search Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by 6 million people mainly in Israel, parts of the Palestinian territories, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into West Bank. ... East Jerusalem is that part of Jerusalem which was held by Jordan from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until the Six-Day War in 1967. ...

Demographics of the West Bank

Main article: Demographics of the West Bank

The West Bank is inhabited by approximately 2.4 million Palestinians, over 400,000 Israeli settlers (including those in East Jerusalem), and small ethnic groups such as the Samaritans numbering in the hundreds. The Jewish settlers in the West Bank live only in Israeli settlements, and generally do not interact with the local Palestinian population as they form part of Israeli rather than Palestinian society and are Israeli citizens. Approximately 30% of Palestinians living in the West Bank are refugees or their direct descendants, who fled or were expelled from Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see Palestinian exodus).[1],[2] See also: Demographics of Israel, demographics section in Gaza strip Population: 2,020,298 note: in addition, there are some 171,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and about 172,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2000 est. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... An Israeli settlement refers to a housing development for Israeli Jewish settlers in areas which came under the control of Israel as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War beyond the boundaries defined by the 1949 Armistice Agreements. ... Samaritans are both a religious and an ethnic group. ... The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, called the War of Independence (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות) by Israelis and al Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, the catastrophe) by Arabs, was the first in a series of wars in the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... The Palestinian Exodus (Arabic: الهجرة الفلسطينية al-Hijra al-Filasteeniya) is the refugee flight of some 711,000 Palestinian Arabs (UN estimate[1]) during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and is called the Nakba (Arabic: النكبة), meaning disaster or cataclysm, by Palestinians. ...

Cities in the West Bank

The most densely populated part of the region is a mountainous spine, running north-south, where the cities of East Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron are located. Jenin, in the extreme north of the West Bank is on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley, Qalqilyah and Tulkarm are in the low foothills adjacent to the Israeli coastal plain, and Jericho is situated near the Jordan River, just north of the Dead Sea. Maale Adumim (about 6 km east of Jerusalem) and Ariel (between Nablus and Ramallah) are the largest Israeli settlements in the territory. See also: List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas East Jerusalem is that part of Jerusalem which was held by Jordan from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until the Six-Day War in 1967. ... Nāblus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: نابلس; pronounced Naablus) ( Hebrew שכם pronounced Shkhem ); 32°13′ N 35°16′ E) is a major city in the West Bank and, with a population of over 100,000, is one of the largest Palestinian population centers in the Middle East. ... Mughtaribeen Circle in downtown Ramallah Ramallah (Arabic:   رام الله)? is a Palestinian city of approximately 57,000 residents. ... The Church of the Nativity, a Bethlehem Landmark Bethlehem (Arabic بيت لحم Bayt Laḥm house of meat; Standard Hebrew בית לחם house of bread, Bet léḥem / Bet láḥem; Tiberian Hebrew Bêṯ léḥem / Bêṯ lāḥem) is a city on the West Bank and a hub of Palestinian cultural and tourism... Hebron (Arabic   الخليل? al-ḪalÄ«l; Hebrew   חֶבְרוֹן?, Standard Hebrew Ḥevron, Tiberian Hebrew Ḥeḇrôn: derived from the word friend) is a town in the southern West Bank (in an area known in Israel as Judea) of around 100,000 Palestinians and 500 Israeli settlers. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Qalqilyah (Arabic قلقيلية; Standard Hebrew קלקיליה Qalqilya) is an Arab city in the West Bank. ... City nickname: City of Generosity Location Location in Palestine Government Neighbourhoods Al-Salam, Al-Sowana, Dhinnaba, Iktaba, Irtah, Iskan Al-Mozafeen, Izbat Al-Jarad, Izbat Naser, Nur Shams Camp, Shuwaykah, Tulkarm Camp Mayor Mahmoud Al-Jallad Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 246 km²      246 km²      0 km² Population      Total (2005... Jump to: navigation, search Jericho (Arabic أريحا [â–¶]; ʼArīḥā; Hebrew יְרִיחוֹ [â–¶]; Standard Hebrew YÉ™riḥo; Tiberian Hebrew YÉ™rîḫô, YÉ™rîḥô) is a town in the West Bank, near the Jordan River. ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea (Arabic البحر الميت,Hebrew ים המלח) is the lowest publicly-accessible1 exposed point on the Earths surface. ... Maale Adummim (מעלה אדומים; unofficially also spelled Maale Adumim) is an outlying suburb east of Jerusalem in the West Bank. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם [â–¶]; Yerushalayim; Arabic: القُدس [â–¶] al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Houses in Ariel, Samaria Ariel (אריאל) is an Israeli city in Samaria (Northern West Bank). ... An Israeli settlement refers to a housing development for Israeli Jewish settlers in areas which came under the control of Israel as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War beyond the boundaries defined by the 1949 Armistice Agreements. ... This is a list of cities in on the territory of the Palestinian National Authority (yet not necessarily under its jurisdiction). ...

Origin of the name

The region did not have a separate existence until 1948–9, when it was defined by the Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan. The name "West Bank" was apparently first used by Jordanians at the time of their annexation of the region, and has become the most common name used in English. Mainly because of the argument that the word "bank" shouldn't be applied to a mountainous region, the name "Cisjordan" or "Cis-jordan" (literally "on this side of the Jordan") is the usual name in French, Spanish, and some other languages, the analogous "Transjordan" having historically been used to designate modern-day Jordan. In English, the name "Cisjordan" is also used to designate the entire region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, but such usage was extremely rare before the past few decades. The names Judea and Samaria, used by some Israelis, are biblical. The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Northern part of the Great Rift Valley as seen from space (NASA) The Jordan River today The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Alanic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this...

Political terminology

Israelis refer to the region either as a unit: "The West Bank" (Hebrew: "ha-Gada ha-Ma'aravit" "הגדה המערבית"), or as two units: Judea (Hebrew: "Yehuda" "יהודה") and Samaria (Hebrew: "Shomron" "שומרון"), after the two biblical kingdoms (the southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel — the capital of which was, for a time, in the town of Samaria). The border between Judea and Samaria is a belt of territory immediately north of Jerusalem sometimes called the "land of Benjamin". Jump to: navigation, search Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by 6 million people mainly in Israel, parts of the Palestinian territories, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (יהודה Praise, Standard Hebrew Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Yəhûḏāh) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of historic Palestine, an area now divided between Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. ... Samaria, Sumaria or Shomron (Hebrew שֹׁמְרוֹן, Standard Hebrew Å omÉ™ron, Tiberian Hebrew ŠōmÉ™rôn, Arabic سامريّون SāmariyyÅ«n (but commonly called in Arabic جبال نابلس Jibal Nablus), in the New Testament Greek Σαμαρεία) is a term used for the mountainous northern part of the area on the west bank of the Jordan River. ... The Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יְהוּדָה, Standard Hebrew Malḫut YÉ™huda, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ YÉ™hûḏāh) in the times of the Hebrew Bible, was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin after the Kingdom of Israel was divided, and was named after... Jump to: navigation, search The Kingdom of Israel (Hebrew: מַלְכוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Hebrew Malḫut Yisraʼel, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ YiÅ›rāʼēl) was the Kingdom proclaimed by the Israelite nation around 1050 BCE. The nation itself was formed as the Israelites left the Land of Goshen, Egypt during the Exodus at... Jump to: navigation, search In the Old Testament, Benjamin (בִּנְיָמִין Son of my right hand but in some Rabbinical traditions Son of the south, Standard Hebrew Binyamin, Tiberian Hebrew Binyāmîn) is the younger son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen. ...

Status

The future status of the West Bank, together with the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean shore, has been the subject of negotiation between the Palestinians and Israelis, although the current Road Map for Peace, proposed by the "Quartet" comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations, envisions an independent Palestinian state in these territories living side by side with Israel (see also proposals for a Palestinian state). The road map for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by a quartet of international entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations. ... Jump to: navigation, search The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. ... Proposals for a Palestinian state vary depending on ones views of Palestinian statehood, as well as various definitions of Palestine and Palestinian (see also State of Palestine). ...

The Palestinian people believe that the West Bank ought to be a part of their sovereign nation, and that the presence of Israeli military control is a violation of their right to self-determination. The United Nations calls the West Bank and Gaza Strip Israeli-occupied (see Occupied territories). The United States generally agrees with this definition. Many Israelis and their supporters prefer the term disputed territories, claiming it comes closer to a neutral point of view; this viewpoint is not accepted by most other countries, which consider "occupied" to be the neutral description of status. One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... Jump to: navigation, search The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. ... An occupied territory is a region that has been taken over by a sovereign power after a military intervention (see military occupation). ... A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession/control of land between two or more states, or over the possession/control of land by one state after it has conquered it from a former state no longer currently recognized by the occupying power. ... This is the main article on Media bias. ...

Israel argues that its presence is justified because:

1. Israel's eastern border has never been defined by anyone;
2. the disputed territories have not been part of any state (Jordanian annexation was never recognized) since the time of the Ottoman Empire;
3. according to the Camp David Accords (1978) with Egypt, the 1994 agreement with Jordan and the Oslo Accords with the PLO, the final status of the territories would be fixed only when there was a permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinians public opinion is almost unanimous in opposing Israeli military and settler presence on the West Bank as a violation of their right to statehood and sovereignty. Israeli opinion is split into a number of views: Jump to: navigation, search Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Bursa (1335 - 1365), Edirne (1365-1453), Ä°stanbul (Constantinople) (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli... Anwar Sadat (left), Jimmy Carter (center), and Menachem Begin (right) shake hands in celebration of the success of the Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at... Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP), finalized in Oslo, Norway by August 20, 1993, and subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 with Mahmoud Abbas signing for the Palestine... The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic Munazzamat al-Tahrir Filastiniyyah منظمة تحرير فلسطينية ) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with an intent to destroy Israel. ...

• complete or partial withdrawal from the West Bank in hopes of peaceful coexistence in separate states (sometimes called the "land for peace" position); (According to a 2003 poll 73% of Israelis support a peace agreement based on that principle [3]).
• maintenance of a military presence in the West Bank to reduce Palestinian terrorism by deterrence or by armed intervention, while relinquishing some degree of political control;
• annexation of the West Bank while considering the Palestinian population as (for instance) citizens of Jordan with Israeli residence permit as per the Elon Peace Plan;
• annexation of the West Bank and assimilation of the Palestinian population to fully fledged Israeli citizens;
• annexation of the West Bank and transfer of part or all of the Palestinian population (a 2002 poll at the height of the Al Aqsa intifada found 46% of Israelis favoring Palestinian transfer[4]; in 2005 two polls using a different methodology put the number at approximately 30%).[5]

The term Palestinian terrorism is commonly used to describe acts of political violence committed by Palestinian individuals or groups against Israelis, Jews, and nationals of other countries. ... Annexation is the legal merging of some territory into another body. ... The Elon Peace Plan is a solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict proposed in 2002 by Rabbi Binyamin Elon, who was the Israeli tourism minister at the time he put forward his proposal. ... Population transfer is a term referring to a policy by which a state forces the movement of a large group of people out of a region, invariably on the basis of ethnicity or religion. ... The al-Aqsa Intifada is the wave of violence and political conflict that began in September 2000 between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis; it is also called the Second Intifada (see also First Intifada). ...

History

Main article: History of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

After World War I, and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, a Jewish-Arab agreement (the Faisal_Weizmann Agreement) was signed by Haim Weizmann (later the first president of the state of Israel) and Emir Faisal (later the first King of Iraq) in which the Emir pledged to support the 1917 Balfour Declaration regarding the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. Both men disregarded the wishes of the Palestinian Arabs in Palestine. In exchange, the Arabian Peninsula was to form an Arab kingdom. This agreement was ratified during the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. However, the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 between the United Kingdom and France ultimately took precedence, and the arrangement was short-lived. A part of the pre-1948 Mandatory Palestine, the territories now known as the West Bank were almost entirely reserved by the 1947 UN Partition Plan for an Arab state. According to the plan, the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding towns (including Bethlehem) would be an internationally administered territory, whose future would be determined at a later date. While a Palestinian Arab state failed to materialize, the territory was captured by the neighboring kingdom of Jordan. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950 but this annexation was recognized only by the United Kingdom. (Pakistan is usually, but apparently falsely[6] claimed to have recognized it also.) Map 2004 The political status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is one of the most violently disputed issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Faisal-Weizmann Agreement was signed on January 3, 1919, by Emir Faisal (son of the King of Hejaz) and Chaim Weizmann (later President of the World Zionist Organization) as part of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 settling disputes stemming from World War I. It was a short-lived agreement... The name Balfour Declaration is applied to two key British government policy statements associated with Conservative statesman Arthur Balfour. ... The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was an international conference, organized by the victors of the World War I for negotiating the peace treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and their former enemies. ... The Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 16, 1916 was a secret understanding between the governments of Britain and France defining their respective spheres of post-World War I influence and control in the Middle East and remains much of the common border between Syria and Iraq. ... On 29 November 1947 the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, a plan to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict in the British Mandate of Palestine, was approved by the United Nations General Assembly, at the UN World Headquarters in New York. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The 1949 Armistice Agreements established the "Green Line" separating the territories held by Israel and Jordan. During the 1950s, there was significant influx of Palestinian refugees, and violence together with Israeli reprisal raids across the Green Line. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel captured this territory, and in November, 1967 Resolution 242 was unanimously adopted. All parties eventually accepted it and agree in its applicability to the West Bank. In 1988, Jordan withdrew all claims to it. The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Six-Day War (Hebrew: מלחמת ששת הימים transliteration: Milhemet Sheshet Hayamim), also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Six Days War, or June War, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The 1993 Oslo Accords declared the final status of the West Bank to be subject to a forthcoming settlement between Israel and the Palestinian leadership. Following these interim accords, Israel withdrew its military rule from some parts of West Bank, which was then split into: 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP), finalized in Oslo, Norway by August 20, 1993, and subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 with Mahmoud Abbas signing for the Palestine...

• Palestinian-controlled, Palestinian-administered land (Area A)
• Israeli-controlled, but Palestinian-administered land (Area B)
• Israeli-controlled, Israeli-administered land (Area C)

Areas B and C constitute the majority of the territory, comprising the rural areas and the Jordan valley region, while urban areas – where the majority of the Palestinian population resides – are mostly designated Area A.

(See Israeli settlements for a discussion of the legal standing of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.) Israeli settlements are Jewish communities in areas under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six Day War. ...

Transport and communication

The West Bank has 4,500 km of roads, of which 2,700 km are paved. Israel has developed many highways to service its settlements, and until the start of Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, these roads were accessible to Palestinians. In response to shootings by Palestinians, some of these highways, especially those leading to settlements, have been completely inaccessible to cars with Palestinian license plates, while many others are restricted only to public transportation and to Palestinians who have special permits from Israeli authorities. Since the start of the Intifada, movement restrictions were also placed on main roads traditionally used by Palestinians to travel between cities, and such restrictions have been blamed for poverty and economic depression in the West Bank [7]. Since the beginning of 2005, there has been some amelioration of these restrictions. According to recent human rights reports, "Israel has made efforts to improve transport contiguity for Palestinians travelling in the West Bank. It has done this by constructing underpasses and bridges (28 of which have been constructed and 16 of which are planned) that link Palestinian areas separated from each other by Israeli settlements and bypass roads" [8] and by removal of checkpoints and physical obstacles, or by not reacting to Palestinian removal or natural erosion of other obstacles. "The impact (of these actions) is most felt by the easing of movement between villages and between villages and the urban centres" [9]. However, the obstacles encircling major Palestinian urban hubs, particularly Nablus and Hebron, have remained. In addition, the IDF prohibits Israeli citizens from entering Palestinian-controlled land (Area A) after incidents where Israelis were kidnapped and/or killed. The West Bank has three paved airports which are currently for military use only. The only civilian airport of Atarot Airport, which was open only to Israelis, was closed in 2001 due to the Intifada. There are no railways. Israeli settlements are Jewish communities in areas under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six Day War. ... It has been suggested that Rosh Hashana Arab Assault be merged into this article or section. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in September, 2000. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... IDF or idf may refer to: the International Diabetes Federation the Israel Defense Forces the AIDC Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter of Taiwan. ... Atarot Airport (officially, the Jerusalem International Airport) is an airport in Northern Jerusalem. ...

The Israeli Bezeq and Palestinian PalTel telecommunictaion companies are responsible for communication services in the West Bank. The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local privately-owned stations are also in operation. Most Palestinian households have a radio and TV, and satellite dishes for receiving international coverage are widespread. Recently, PalTel announced and has begun implementing an initiative to provide ADSL broadband internet service to all households and businesses. Bezeq (בזק) is Israels national telecommunications provider, and had a monopoly on wire based telephony. ... Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation has a subsidiary known by the name Voice of Palestine. ...

Higher Education

Prior to 1967, there was no full-fledged university in the West Bank. There were a few lesser institutions of higher education; for example, An-Najah, which started as an elementary school in 1918, became a community college in 1963. As the Jordanian government did not allow the establishment of such universities in the West Bank, it was necessary for Palestinian students to travel abroad to places such as Jordan, Lebanon, or Europe to obtain their undergraduate and graduate-level degrees.

After the region was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, several educational institutions expanded into full-fledged undergraduate institutions, while others opened up as entirely new universities. In all, no less than 7 Universities were commissioned in the West Bank since 1967: Jump to: navigation, search The Six-Day War (Hebrew: מלחמת ששת הימים transliteration: Milhemet Sheshet Hayamim), also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Six Days War, or June War, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. ...

• Bethlehem University, a Roman Catholic institution partially funded by the Vatican, opened its doors in 1973 [10].
• In 1975, Birzeit College (located in the village of Bir Zeit north of Ramallah) became Birzeit University after adding third- and fourth-year college-level programs [11].
• An-Najah College in Nablus likewise became An-Najah University in 1977 [12].
• The Hebron University was established in 1980 [13]
• Al-Quds University, whose founders had sought a university in Jerusalem since the early days of Jordanian rule, finally realized their goal in 1995 [14].
• Also in 1995, after the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Arab American University—the only private University in the West Bank—was founded in Jenin, with the purpose of providing courses according to the American system of education [15].
• In 2005, the Judea and Samaria College in Ariel became a full fledged University [[16]]. This move to create a university within an Israeli settlement has angred some Palestinians, although no official response was made by the Palestinian authority.

Most universities in the West Bank have politically active student bodies, and elections of student council officers are normally along party affiliations. Although the establishment of the universities was initially allowed by the Israeli authorities, some were sporadically ordered closed by the Israeli Civil Administration during the 1970s and 1980s to prevent political activities and violence against the IDF. Some universities remained closed by military order for extended periods during years immediately preceding and following the first Palestinian Intifada, but have largely remained open since the signing of the Oslo Accords despite the advent of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Mughtaribeen Circle in downtown Ramallah Ramallah (Arabic:   رام الله)? is a Palestinian city of approximately 57,000 residents. ... Birzeit University is a Palestinian university situated in the town of Bir Zeit near Ramallah. ... Nāblus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: نابلس; pronounced Naablus) ( Hebrew שכם pronounced Shkhem ); 32°13′ N 35°16′ E) is a major city in the West Bank and, with a population of over 100,000, is one of the largest Palestinian population centers in the Middle East. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... Hebron University is the largest university in Palestine. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Al-Quds University (Arabic: جامعه القدس ) is the Arab university in Jerusalem. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP), finalized in Oslo, Norway by August 20, 1993, and subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 with Mahmoud Abbas signing for the Palestine... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search Education in the United States is highly decentralized and varies widely. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Houses in Ariel settlement Ariel (אריאל) is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank (sometimes termed Samaria). ... An Israeli settlement refers to a housing development for Israeli Jewish settlers in areas which came under the control of Israel as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War beyond the boundaries defined by the 1949 Armistice Agreements. ... IDF or idf may refer to: the International Diabetes Federation the Israel Defense Forces the AIDC Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter of Taiwan. ... Intifada (also Intefadah or Intifadah; from Arabic: انتفاضة shaking off) is an Arabic language term for uprising. It came into common usage in English as the popularised name for two recent Palestinian campaigns directed at ending the Israeli military occupation. ... It has been suggested that Rosh Hashana Arab Assault be merged into this article or section. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year 2000. ...

The founding of Palestinian universities has greatly increased education levels among the population in the West Bank. According to a Birzeit University study, the percentage of Palestinians choosing local universities as opposed to foreign institutions has been steadily increasing; as of 1997, 41% of Palestinians with bachelor degrees had obtained them from Palestinian institutions [17]. According to UNESCO, Palestinians are one of the most highly educated groups in the Middle East "despite often difficult circumstances" [18]. The literacy rate among Palestinians in the West Bank (and Gaza) (89%) is third highest in the region after Israel (95%) and Jordan (90%) [19][20] [21].

See also

• Economy of the West Bank
• Geography of the West Bank
• Israeli West Bank barrier
• Nakba
• Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
• Palestine

Economy - overview: Economic conditions in the West Bank - where economic activity is governed by the Paris Economic Protocol of April 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority - have deteriorated since the early 1990s. ... Geography of the West Bank Location: Middle East, west of Jordan Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E Map references: Middle East Area: total: 5,860 km² land: 5,640 km² water: 220 km² note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but... It has been suggested that Apartheid wall be merged into this article or section. ... Categories: Stub | 1948 Arab-Israeli War | Israeli-Palestinian conflict ... Map of the West Bank today Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan occurred following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War for a period of nearly two decades (1948 - 1967). ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ...

External links

• West Bank from the CIA World Factbook
• Palestine Facts & Info from Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs
• Legal Status of West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem (Supports Israel's claims)
• The Legal Status of Palestine Under International Law (Supports Palestinian claims)
• United Nations - Question of Palestine
• Disputed Territories: Forgotten Facts about the West Bank and Gaza Strip - from the Israeli government

World Factbook 2004 cover The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ...

This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... Southwest Asia (PDF) Southwest Asia (often called the Middle East) is the southwestern part of Asia. ...