Impact of the Jordanian Occupation

Independence War

In May of 1948, Ben-Gurion proclaimed independence, and the liberated State of Israel was immediately attacked by all neighboring Arab countries.

1949 Armistice Line (Green Line)

A non-binding ‘halt’ line for the Independence War battles to cease. Jordan illegally took control of Judea and Samaria (only the UK and Pakistan recognized the occupation, but it was never upheld). Ignoring international law, Jordan desecrated no less than 58 synagogues and barred Jews from prayer. Jews were ethnically cleansed and expelled from Judea & Samaria. This was in direct violation of Article 80 of the UN Charter. 

Jordan’s illegal occupation (1948 – 1967) and utter disregard for the legally binding international law (which outlined that no houses of worship would be destroyed, and the inhabitants would not be displaced), was a gross violation of human rights.

“For more than a thousand years, the only administration which has prohibited Jewish settlement in these areas was the Jordanian occupation administration, which during the nineteen years of its rule (1948-1967) declared the sale of land to Jews a capital offense. The right of Jews to establish homes in these areas, and the private legal titles to the land which had been acquired, could not be legally invalidated by Jordanian occupation – which resulted from their illegal armed invasion of Israel in 1948 and was never recognized internationally as legitimate – and such rights and titles remain valid to this day.”

~ Embassy of Israel in Dublin

Yemenite Jew at Pool of Siloam
The first inhabitants of Silwan were not Arabs, but Yemenite Jews who spent six months traveling to Jerusalem. They established their own synagogue in the area and were driven to make the arduous journey for religious reasons. Kfar Shiloah was established outside of the Old City by Yemenite Jews, who were later driven out in large numbers after the 1936 - 1939 Arab Revolts, and then completely by the Jordanian occupation. The Pool of Siloam (Shiloah) was used as a mikvah.

Photo source: Click here

In 1967, during Israel’s defensive Six-Day War, Judea & Samaria was again unified due to the heroic actions of the Israel Defense Force. Jews were finally able to return to the heartland of the Jewish people.

Judea & Samara flourished once more with the influx of its rightful inhabitants; many of the first Jewish returnees were relatives of those massacred and expelled by the Jordanians. However, due to the egregious stipulations in the 1993 Oslo Accords, the unified Judea & Samaria was carved antisemitically into Areas A, B, and C.

Area A contains a multitude of Jewish religious and historical sites (including Rachel’s Tomb), and is now under the sole administration of the terrorist Palestinian Authority. To add insult, Israelis are not even allowed in all of Area A.

Area B is civically controlled by the Palestinian Authority, while only Area C, where both Jews & Arabs live freely, is under complete control of the Israeli government.