Because I grew up hearing Yehudah and Shomron labeled in every news outlet as "the West Bank," it never occurred to me to question it any more than I would question calling the massive dry, sandy area in Africa "the Sahara desert" or referring to the mountainous area hosting mostly poor residents in America's South as "Appalachia."
However, the bank of a river always means the edge where land meets water.
If someone says he lives on a riverbank, we understand he lives close to the river.
A person who lives 30 miles from the river and cannot even see the river from where he lives would never be described as living on "the bank of the river."
Yet that's exactly what people do when they refer to the area of Yehudah and Shomron as "the West Bank."
The area labeled as "the West Bank" actually stretches in width 24-40 miles from the Jordan River.
So if you start at the Jordan River, then drive straight West for half-an-hour, are you still on the bank of the Jordan River?
No, you are suddenly in Kiryat Sefer/Modi'in Ilit, which cannot even see the river on which it allegedly banks.
(This is why I believe western Jordan should be referred to as "the East Bank.")
In fact, the furthest parts (40 miles from the Jordan River) of the so-called "West Bank" actually lie only 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the bank of a river always means the edge where land meets water.
If someone says he lives on a riverbank, we understand he lives close to the river.
A person who lives 30 miles from the river and cannot even see the river from where he lives would never be described as living on "the bank of the river."
Yet that's exactly what people do when they refer to the area of Yehudah and Shomron as "the West Bank."
The area labeled as "the West Bank" actually stretches in width 24-40 miles from the Jordan River.
So if you start at the Jordan River, then drive straight West for half-an-hour, are you still on the bank of the Jordan River?
No, you are suddenly in Kiryat Sefer/Modi'in Ilit, which cannot even see the river on which it allegedly banks.
(This is why I believe western Jordan should be referred to as "the East Bank.")
In fact, the furthest parts (40 miles from the Jordan River) of the so-called "West Bank" actually lie only 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
So for example, the Jewish community of Alfei Menashe sits around 40 miles from the Jordan River and 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
Nestled firmly within the ancient God-given boundaries of the Tribe of Menashe, the area of Alfei Menashe is today known as Shomron or Samaria.
Most of the world refers to that area as "the West Bank."
But really, Alfei Menashe (circled & underlined in magenta) is much closer to the east bank of the Mediterranean Sea than to the west bank of the Jordan River:
Nestled firmly within the ancient God-given boundaries of the Tribe of Menashe, the area of Alfei Menashe is today known as Shomron or Samaria.
Most of the world refers to that area as "the West Bank."
But really, Alfei Menashe (circled & underlined in magenta) is much closer to the east bank of the Mediterranean Sea than to the west bank of the Jordan River:
This remains an Edomite strategy.
As observed by Chazal centuries ago, Esav (Edom) hates Yaakov.
(This does not mean that all gentiles in Edom hate Jews. History has shown examples of gentiles who truly love Am Yisrael. However, they tend to be a minority. In general, Esav hates Yaakov.)
While originally, the Roman conquerors labeled much of Eretz Yisrael as "Judea" (from the original Hebrew "Yehudah"), the Romans felt miffed after all the Jewish rebellion against the idolatrous decadent Roman kingdom.
So with their disdain for the lowly corrupt Philistines, they decided to re-label the Jewish Land as "Palaestina" — a Latin reference to the land of the Philistines.
It was a way of both erasing the Jewish identity of the Land of Israel ("Judea" sounds decidedly Jewish) and insulting the people who remained in that Land.
Now they were referred to as the Latin equivalent of "Philistines."
This later became Anglicized to "Palestine" and "Palestinians." (And then Arabicized to "Falastin" and "al-Filistaniyun.")
The final Roman insult to Am Yisrael lies in the meaning of the word "Philistines."
It derives from the Hebrew name for that wanton nation: "Plishtim," which derives from the Hebrew word "polshim" — invaders.
As if Am Yisrael is the invader of its own God-given Land.
As observed by Chazal centuries ago, Esav (Edom) hates Yaakov.
(This does not mean that all gentiles in Edom hate Jews. History has shown examples of gentiles who truly love Am Yisrael. However, they tend to be a minority. In general, Esav hates Yaakov.)
While originally, the Roman conquerors labeled much of Eretz Yisrael as "Judea" (from the original Hebrew "Yehudah"), the Romans felt miffed after all the Jewish rebellion against the idolatrous decadent Roman kingdom.
So with their disdain for the lowly corrupt Philistines, they decided to re-label the Jewish Land as "Palaestina" — a Latin reference to the land of the Philistines.
It was a way of both erasing the Jewish identity of the Land of Israel ("Judea" sounds decidedly Jewish) and insulting the people who remained in that Land.
Now they were referred to as the Latin equivalent of "Philistines."
This later became Anglicized to "Palestine" and "Palestinians." (And then Arabicized to "Falastin" and "al-Filistaniyun.")
The final Roman insult to Am Yisrael lies in the meaning of the word "Philistines."
It derives from the Hebrew name for that wanton nation: "Plishtim," which derives from the Hebrew word "polshim" — invaders.
As if Am Yisrael is the invader of its own God-given Land.
Those who Respect a Blatantly False Pronoun Refuse to Respect the Original Millennia-Old Correct Term for the Part of Eretz Yisrael Belonging to the Tribes of Yehudah and Menashe
Even people who proclaim themselves pro-Israel (or at least sympathetic to Israel) still use the term "the West Bank" to describe that area.
In all my decades living in Eretz Yisrael, I've only ever heard Israeli Jews refer to that area as "Yehudah v'Shomron" (Judea and Samaria) and never "hagadah hama'aravit" (the West Bank).
If someone honestly doesn't realize the straight-out inaccuracy of the term "West Bank," they should at least be able to accept the correction after it's explained.
I have a problem with knowledgeable people (especially Christians, who know the Biblical history of the area) who present themselves as sympathetic to Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael — or even consider themselves outright pro-Israel — yet insist on using this term.
"West Bank" is meant to erase both the Jewish identity and claim to the God-given territories of the Tribes of Menashe and Yehudah.
Can you imagine, if the name Judea would've remained, how the Arab inhabitants would try to describe themselves?
The ancestral connection becomes clear when a guy named Yehudah Yehudin says, "I'm a Jew living in Judea. And it's my rightful ancestral homeland."
Or in Hebrew: "Ani Yehudi sheh gar b'Yehudah."
However, a Muslim-Arab named Ahmed al-Masri (al-Masri – "an Egyptian") sounds less rooted to the place if he says, "I'm a Muslim-Arab living in Judea. And it's my rightful ancestral homeland."
The "Ju" part of Judea kind of gives it all away.
So the "West Bank" of "Palestine" it is (for them).
It insults Am Yisrael by making it seem like Jews are squatters on our own Land — Jews who squat on land on the bank of some river.
It discriminates against Am Yisrael by using the term only to refer to a part of Eretz Yisrael given by God to Am Yisrael and imbued with holiness, while never referring to any part of Jordan as "the East Bank."
In fact, the Zaatari Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, with conditions far more deplorable than those in Israel, sits around 55 miles from the Jordan River. Yet do we ever hear anyone enraged about conditions for Palestinians in the East Bank?
Identifying many of these Israeli towns with the Jordan River is also outright false.
Parts of the so-called West Bank sit far closer to the Mediterranean Sea than to the Jordan River.
And even those closer to the Jordan River do not sit on its "bank."
Hypocritically, the same religious conservatives who insist on the term "West Bank" will also insist on respecting the demand to use the wrong pronoun when referring to a person's gender.
For example, a man who is obviously a man (with chromosomal or anatomical abnormality affecting his gender) and who insists on being referred to as "she" will be respected by these same religious conservatives, who claim they have no problem referring to people by the wrong pronoun, as it's a free country and if people wish to use a biologically false pronoun, then that's their right.
However, if a Jew wishes them to use the correct millennia-old terminology to refer to their area of Land, then this same religious conservative refuses to do so.
This religious conservative (who considers him- or herself sympathetic to Israel) insists on using the term ("West Bank") meant to erase and degrade Jews and the Jewishness of Eretz Yisrael.
We are a Nation who dwells alone.
And that is a good thing.
And the truth of this becomes clearer all the time.
In all my decades living in Eretz Yisrael, I've only ever heard Israeli Jews refer to that area as "Yehudah v'Shomron" (Judea and Samaria) and never "hagadah hama'aravit" (the West Bank).
If someone honestly doesn't realize the straight-out inaccuracy of the term "West Bank," they should at least be able to accept the correction after it's explained.
I have a problem with knowledgeable people (especially Christians, who know the Biblical history of the area) who present themselves as sympathetic to Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael — or even consider themselves outright pro-Israel — yet insist on using this term.
"West Bank" is meant to erase both the Jewish identity and claim to the God-given territories of the Tribes of Menashe and Yehudah.
Can you imagine, if the name Judea would've remained, how the Arab inhabitants would try to describe themselves?
The ancestral connection becomes clear when a guy named Yehudah Yehudin says, "I'm a Jew living in Judea. And it's my rightful ancestral homeland."
Or in Hebrew: "Ani Yehudi sheh gar b'Yehudah."
However, a Muslim-Arab named Ahmed al-Masri (al-Masri – "an Egyptian") sounds less rooted to the place if he says, "I'm a Muslim-Arab living in Judea. And it's my rightful ancestral homeland."
The "Ju" part of Judea kind of gives it all away.
So the "West Bank" of "Palestine" it is (for them).
It insults Am Yisrael by making it seem like Jews are squatters on our own Land — Jews who squat on land on the bank of some river.
It discriminates against Am Yisrael by using the term only to refer to a part of Eretz Yisrael given by God to Am Yisrael and imbued with holiness, while never referring to any part of Jordan as "the East Bank."
In fact, the Zaatari Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, with conditions far more deplorable than those in Israel, sits around 55 miles from the Jordan River. Yet do we ever hear anyone enraged about conditions for Palestinians in the East Bank?
Identifying many of these Israeli towns with the Jordan River is also outright false.
Parts of the so-called West Bank sit far closer to the Mediterranean Sea than to the Jordan River.
And even those closer to the Jordan River do not sit on its "bank."
Hypocritically, the same religious conservatives who insist on the term "West Bank" will also insist on respecting the demand to use the wrong pronoun when referring to a person's gender.
For example, a man who is obviously a man (with chromosomal or anatomical abnormality affecting his gender) and who insists on being referred to as "she" will be respected by these same religious conservatives, who claim they have no problem referring to people by the wrong pronoun, as it's a free country and if people wish to use a biologically false pronoun, then that's their right.
However, if a Jew wishes them to use the correct millennia-old terminology to refer to their area of Land, then this same religious conservative refuses to do so.
This religious conservative (who considers him- or herself sympathetic to Israel) insists on using the term ("West Bank") meant to erase and degrade Jews and the Jewishness of Eretz Yisrael.
We are a Nation who dwells alone.
And that is a good thing.
And the truth of this becomes clearer all the time.
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