In 1967, as a result of victory in the Six Day War, Israel gained control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.
In accordance with the resolutions of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council, based on the Charter of the organization, these territories were declared occupied. In this regard, the basis for negotiations to resolve the conflict was the UN Security Council Resolution No. 242 of November 22, 1967, which proclaims two basic principles:
The Sinai Peninsula was returned by Israel to Egypt in 1979 as a result of the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty.
Shortly thereafter, Israel announced the annexation of eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The relevant laws, which were adopted by the Knesset on July 30, 1980 and December 14, 1981, fully extended Israeli civil law to these territories, and their population was granted the right to obtain Israeli citizenship. This annexation, however, did not receive diplomatic recognition from other states, and the UN Security Council, in resolutions 478 and 497, condemned the annexation and declared Israel's actions "null and void and without international legal force."
Although the rest of the territories seized in 1967 were not annexed by Israel, Israel disputes their designation as occupied, insisting on the term "disputed territories". The main arguments in favor of this position are the defensive nature of the Six-Day War, the absence of recognized sovereignty over these territories before the war, and the historical right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. A number of Israeli and foreign politicians and lawyers adhere to a similar position.
In 1967, after the Six Day War, a movement was created to restore the historic Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (on the West Bank of the Jordan River), as well as in the Gaza Strip. The establishment of settlements was actively encouraged by the Israeli government, and in 2009 they were inhabited by about 470 thousand people. The UN has called the existence of Jewish settlements illegal and contrary to the Geneva Convention. Their existence and further construction is one of the most contentious issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are predominantly populated by Palestinian Arabs, among whom a significant proportion are refugees. From 1967 to 1993, the population of these territories was under the administrative control of the Israeli military administration with elements of local self-government at the municipal level.
After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and the subsequent creation of the PNA, the territory of the Gaza Strip, with the exception of 12% of the territory occupied by Israeli settlements, was transferred under its control. The territory of the West Bank of the Jordan River was divided into zones A, B and C. Zone A was transferred under the full civilian and military (police) control of the PNA, it included most of the Arab settlements, zone B was under the joint military control of the PNA and Israel and under civilian control of the PNA, while Area C was under partial civilian and full Israeli military control. At the same time, zone A covered 18% of the territory, and more than 55% of the Palestinian population of the West Bank lived in it, zone B - 41% of the territory and 21% of the population, zone C - 61% of the territory and 4% of the population, respectively.
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An excerpt from the West Bank
– My friend, what have you done in Moscow? Why did you quarrel with Lelya, mon cher? [my dear?] You are in error, - said Prince Vasily, entering the room. - I found out everything, I can tell you correctly that Helen is innocent before you, like Christ before the Jews. Pierre wanted to answer, but he interrupted him. “And why didn’t you address me directly and simply as a friend?” I know everything, I understand everything,” he said, “you behaved like a man who values his honor; may be too hasty, but we will not judge that. You remember one thing, in what position you put her and me in the eyes of the whole society and even the court, ”he added, lowering his voice. – She lives in Moscow, you are here. Remember, my dear,” he pulled him down by the arm, “there is one misunderstanding here; you yourself, I think you feel. Write a letter with me now, and she will come here, everything will be explained, otherwise I will tell you, you can suffer very easily, my dear.Prince Vasily looked impressively at Pierre. “I know from good sources that the Empress Dowager takes a keen interest in this whole matter. You know, she's very kind to Helen.
Several times Pierre was about to speak, but on the one hand, Prince Vasily did not allow him to do so, on the other hand, Pierre himself was afraid to start speaking in that tone of decisive refusal and disagreement in which he firmly decided to answer his father-in-law. In addition, the words of the Masonic statute: "be kind and friendly" came to mind to him. He frowned, blushed, got up and lowered himself, working on himself in the most difficult thing for him in his life - to say something unpleasant in the face of a person, to say not what this person expected, whoever he was. He was so accustomed to obey this tone of careless self-confidence of Prince Vasily that even now he felt that he would not be able to resist her; but he felt that his entire future fate would depend on what he would say now: whether he would follow the old, old road, or along that new one that the Masons had so attractively pointed out to him, and on which he firmly believed that will find rebirth to a new life.
“Well, my dear,” Prince Vasily said jokingly, “tell me yes, and I will write to her on my own, and we will kill the fat calf. - But Prince Vasily did not have time to finish his joke, when Pierre, with a fury in his face, which resembled his father, without looking into the eyes of his interlocutor, said in a whisper:
- Prince, I did not call you to my place, go, please, go! He jumped up and opened the door for him.
“Go on,” he repeated, not believing himself and rejoicing at the expression of embarrassment and fear that appeared on the face of Prince Vasily.
- What happened to you? You are sick?
– Go! the trembling voice said again. And Prince Vasily had to leave without receiving any explanation.
A week later, Pierre, having said goodbye to his new friends the Masons and left them large sums in alms, left for his estates. His new brothers gave him letters to Kyiv and Odessa, to the Freemasons there, and promised to write to him and guide him in his new work.
The case between Pierre and Dolokhov was hushed up, and, despite the then severity of the sovereign regarding duels, neither both opponents nor their seconds were injured. But the story of the duel, confirmed by Pierre's break with his wife, was made public. Pierre, who was looked upon condescendingly, patronizingly, when he was an illegitimate son, who was caressed and glorified, when he was the best bridegroom of the Russian Empire, after his marriage, when brides and mothers had nothing to expect from him, he greatly lost in the opinion of society, all the more that he did not know how and did not want to curry favor with the public. Now he alone was accused of what had happened, they said that he was a stupid jealous man, subject to the same fits of bloodthirsty rage as his father. And when, after Pierre's departure, Helen returned to St. Petersburg, she was not only cordially, but with a touch of reverence, referring to her misfortune, was received by all her acquaintances. When the conversation turned to her husband, Helen adopted a dignified expression, which she, although not understanding its meaning, by her usual tact, adopted for herself. This expression said that she had decided to endure her misfortune without complaint, and that her husband was the cross sent to her by God. Prince Vasily expressed his opinion more frankly. He shrugged his shoulders when the conversation turned to Pierre, and, pointing to his forehead, said:
- Un cerveau fele - je le disais toujours. [Half crazy - I always said that.]
“I said ahead of time,” Anna Pavlovna said about Pierre, “I just said then, and before everyone else (she insisted on her primacy), that this is a crazy young man, spoiled by the depraved ideas of the century. I said this back then when everyone admired him and he had just arrived from abroad, and remember, one evening I had some kind of Marat. What ended? I did not yet want this wedding and predicted everything that would happen.
Anna Pavlovna, as before, gave such evenings in her free days as before, and such as she alone had the gift to arrange, evenings at which she gathered, firstly, la creme de la veritable bonne societe, la fine fleur de l " essence intellectuelle de la societe de Petersbourg, [the cream of real good society, the color of the intellectual essence of St. some new, interesting face to society, and that nowhere, as at these evenings, was the degree of the political thermometer, on which the mood of the court Legitimist Petersburg society stood, expressed so clearly and firmly.
At the end of 1806, when all the sad details about the destruction of the Prussian army by Napoleon near Jena and Auerstet and about the surrender of most of the Prussian fortresses had already been received, when our troops had already entered Prussia, and our second war with Napoleon had begun, Anna Pavlovna gathered evening. La creme de la veritable bonne societe [Cream of a real good society] consisted of a charming and unhappy, abandoned by her husband, Helen, from Morte Mariet "a, a charming Prince Hippolyte, who had just arrived from Vienna, two diplomats, an aunt, one young man who used in living room with the name simply d "un homme de beaucoup de merite, [a very worthy person,] one newly granted lady-in-waiting with her mother and some other less prominent persons.
The person with whom, as a novelty, Anna Pavlovna treated her guests that evening, was Boris Drubetskoy, who had just arrived by courier from the Prussian army and was adjutant to a very important person.
The degree of the political thermometer pointed out to the society at that evening was the following: no matter how much all European sovereigns and generals try to pander to Bonaparte in order to make me and us in general these troubles and sorrows, our opinion about Bonaparte cannot change. We will not stop expressing our unfeigned way of thinking on this matter, and we can only say to the Prussian king and others: so much the worse for you. Tu l "as voulu, George Dandin, [You wanted it, Georges Dandin,] that's all we can say. That's what the political thermometer indicated at Anna Pavlovna's evening. When Boris, who was supposed to be brought to the guests, entered the living room, almost the entire society was already assembled, and the conversation, led by Anna Pavlovna, was about our diplomatic relations with Austria and about the hope of an alliance with her.
Boris, dressed in a smart, adjutant's uniform, matured, fresh and ruddy, freely entered the living room and was taken, as he should, to greet his aunt and was again attached to the general circle.
Anna Pavlovna gave him her dry hand to kiss, introduced him to certain faces he did not know, and identified each one to him in a whisper.
– Le Prince Hyppolite Kouraguine – charmant jeune homme. M r Kroug charge d "affaires de Kopenhague - un esprit profond, and simply: M r Shittoff un homme de beaucoup de merite [Prince Ippolit Kuragin, a dear young man. G. Krug, Copenhagen chargé d'affaires, deep mind. G. Shitov , a very worthy person] about the one who bore this name.
Boris during this time of his service, thanks to the cares of Anna Mikhailovna, his own tastes and the properties of his restrained character, managed to put himself in the most advantageous position in the service. He was adjutant to a very important person, had a very important mission to Prussia, and had just returned from there by courier. He fully assimilated to himself that unwritten subordination that he liked in Olmutz, according to which the ensign could stand incomparably higher than the general, and according to which, for success in the service, not efforts in the service, not labor, not courage, not constancy, were needed, but it was necessary only the ability to deal with those who reward service - and he himself was often surprised at his rapid success and how others could not understand this. As a result of this discovery, his whole way of life, all relations with former acquaintances, all his plans for the future, have completely changed. He was not rich, but he used the last of his money to be better dressed than others; he would rather deprive himself of many pleasures than allow himself to ride in a bad carriage or appear in an old uniform on the streets of Petersburg. He approached and sought acquaintance only with people who were taller than him, and therefore could be useful to him. He loved Petersburg and despised Moscow. The memory of the Rostovs' house and his childhood love for Natasha was unpleasant for him, and since his departure for the army he had never been to the Rostovs. In Anna Pavlovna's drawing room, in which he considered being present an important promotion, he now immediately understood his role and left Anna Pavlovna to take advantage of the interest that lay in it, carefully observing each person and evaluating the benefits and opportunities for rapprochement with each of them. . He sat down in the place indicated to him near the beautiful Helen, and listened to the general conversation.
- Vienne trouve les bases du traite propose tellement hors d "atteinte, qu" on ne saurait y parvenir meme par une continuite de succes les plus brillants, et elle met en doute les moyens qui pourraient nous les procurer. C "est la phrase authentique du cabinet de Vienne," said the Danish charge d "affaires. [Vienna finds the foundations of the proposed treaty so impossible that they cannot be achieved even by a series of the most brilliant successes: and she doubts the means that can deliver them to us. This is a genuine phrase of the Vienna Cabinet,” said the Danish chargé d’affaires.]
- C "est le doute qui est flatteur!" - said l "homme a l" esprit profond, with a thin smile. [Doubt is flattering! - said a deep mind,]
- Il faut distinguer entre le cabinet de Vienne et l "Empereur d" Autriche, said Morte Mariet. - L "Empereur d" Autriche n "a jamais pu penser a une chose pareille, ce n" est que le cabinet qui le dit. [It is necessary to distinguish between the Vienna Cabinet and the Austrian Emperor. The Austrian Emperor could never think this, only the cabinet says it.]
- Eh, mon cher vicomte, - Anna Pavlovna intervened, - l "Urope (for some reason she pronounced l" Urope, as a special subtlety of the French language that she could afford when speaking with a Frenchman) l "Urope ne sera jamais notre alliee sincere [Ah, my dear Viscount, Europe will never be our sincere ally.]
Following this, Anna Pavlovna brought the conversation to the courage and firmness of the Prussian king in order to bring Boris into the business.
Boris listened attentively to the one who spoke, waiting for his turn, but at the same time he managed to look several times at his neighbor, the beautiful Helen, who several times met her eyes with a handsome young adjutant with a smile.
Quite naturally, speaking of the situation in Prussia, Anna Pavlovna asked Boris to tell about his journey to Glogau and the position in which he found the Prussian army. Boris, slowly, in pure and correct French, told a lot of interesting details about the troops, about the court, throughout his story carefully avoiding expressing his opinion about the facts that he conveyed. For some time Boris captured everyone's attention, and Anna Pavlovna felt that her refreshment with a novelty was accepted with pleasure by all the guests. Helen showed the most attention to Boris's story. She asked him several times about some details of his trip and seemed to be very interested in the position of the Prussian army. As soon as he had finished, she turned to him with her usual smile:
“Il faut absolument que vous veniez me voir, [It is necessary that you come to see me,” she said to him in such a tone, as if for some reason that he could not know, it was absolutely necessary.
- Mariedi entre les 8 et 9 heures. Vous me ferez grand plaisir. [On Tuesday, between 8 and 9 o'clock. You will give me great pleasure.] - Boris promised to fulfill her desire and wanted to enter into a conversation with her when Anna Pavlovna recalled him under the pretext of an aunt who wanted to hear him.
"You know her husband, don't you?" said Anna Pavlovna, closing her eyes and pointing sadly at Helen. “Ah, this is such an unfortunate and lovely woman! Don't talk about him in front of her, please don't. She's too hard!
When Boris and Anna Pavlovna returned to the common circle, Prince Ippolit took over the conversation.
He moved forward in his chair and said: Le Roi de Prusse! [King of Prussia!] and saying this, he laughed. Everyone turned to him: Le Roi de Prusse? asked Hippolyte, laughed again, and again calmly and seriously sat down in the back of his armchair. Anna Pavlovna waited for him a little, but since Hippolyte resolutely did not seem to want to talk any more, she began to talk about how the godless Bonaparte stole the sword of Frederick the Great in Potsdam.
- C "est l" epee de Frederic le Grand, que je ... [This is the sword of Frederick the Great, which I ...] - she began, but Hippolytus interrupted her with the words:
- Le Roi de Prusse ... - and again, as soon as he was addressed, he apologized and fell silent. Anna Pavlovna grimaced. Morte Mariet, a friend of Hippolyte, turned to him resolutely:
Voyons a qui en avez vous avec votre Roi de Prusse? [Well, what about the Prussian king?]
Hippolyte laughed, as if he were ashamed of his own laughter.
- Non, ce n "est rien, je voulais dire seulement ... [No, nothing, I just wanted to say ...] (He intended to repeat the joke that he heard in Vienna, and which he was going to post all evening.) Je voulais dire seulement, que nous avons tort de faire la guerre pour le roi de Prusse [I just wanted to say that we are fighting in vain pour le roi de Prusse.
Boris smiled cautiously, in a way that could be regarded as mockery or approval of the joke, depending on how it was received. Everyone laughed.
“Il est tres mauvais, votre jeu de mot, tres spirituel, mais injuste,” said Anna Pavlovna, shaking her wrinkled finger. - Nous ne faisons pas la guerre pour le Roi de Prusse, mais pour les bons principes. Ah, le mechant, ce prince Hippolytel [Your pun is not good, very clever, but unfair; we do not fight pour le roi de Prusse (i.e., over trifles), but for good beginnings. Oh, how evil he is, this Prince Ippolit!] - she said.
The conversation did not subside all evening, turning mainly around political news. At the end of the evening, he became especially animated when it came to the awards granted by the sovereign.
“After all, last year NN received a snuffbox with a portrait,” said l "homme a l" esprit profond, [a man of deep mind,] - why can't SS receive the same award?
- Je vous demande pardon, une tabatiere avec le portrait de l "Empereur est une recompense, mais point une distinction," said the diplomat, un cadeau plutot. [Sorry, the snuffbox with the portrait of the Emperor is an award, not a distinction; rather a gift.]
– Il y eu plutot des antecedents, je vous citerai Schwarzenberg. [There were examples - Schwarzenberg.]
- C "est impossible, [It's impossible,]" another objected.
- Pari. Le grand cordon, c "est different ... [The ribbon is another matter ...]
When everyone got up to leave, Helen, who had spoken very little all evening, again turned to Boris with a request and an affectionate, significant order that he be with her on Tuesday.
“I really need this,” she said with a smile, looking back at Anna Pavlovna, and Anna Pavlovna, with that sad smile that accompanied her words when she spoke about her high patroness, confirmed Helen’s desire. It seemed that that evening, from some words spoken by Boris about the Prussian army, Helen suddenly discovered the need to see him. She seemed to promise him that when he arrived on Tuesday, she would explain this necessity to him.
Arriving on Tuesday evening at Helen's magnificent salon, Boris did not receive a clear explanation why he needed to come. There were other guests, the countess spoke little to him, and only saying goodbye, when he kissed her hand, she, with a strange lack of a smile, unexpectedly, in a whisper, said to him: Venez demain diner ... le soir. Il faut que vous veniez… Venez. [Come tomorrow for dinner… in the evening. You need to come… Come.]
On this visit to St. Petersburg, Boris became a close friend in the house of Countess Bezukhova.
The war flared up, and its theater was approaching the Russian borders. Everywhere curses were heard to the enemy of the human race, Bonaparte; warriors and recruits gathered in the villages, and contradictory news came from the theater of war, as always false and therefore differently interpreted.
The life of the old Prince Bolkonsky, Prince Andrei and Princess Marya has changed in many ways since 1805.
In 1806, the old prince was appointed one of the eight commanders-in-chief of the militia, then appointed throughout Russia. The old prince, despite his senile weakness, which became especially noticeable at that period of time when he considered his son killed, did not consider himself entitled to refuse the position to which he had been appointed by the sovereign himself, and this newly revealed activity aroused and strengthened him. He constantly traveled around the three provinces entrusted to him; he was dutiful to the point of pedantry in his duties, strict to the point of cruelty with his subordinates, and he himself went to the smallest details of the case. Princess Mary had already stopped taking mathematical lessons from her father, and only in the mornings, accompanied by a nurse, with the little prince Nikolai (as his grandfather called) would enter her father's study when he was at home. The infant Prince Nikolai lived with his nurse and nanny Savishna in the half of the late princess, and Princess Mary spent most of the day in the nursery, replacing, as best she could, the mother of her little nephew. M lle Bourienne also, it seemed, passionately loved the boy, and Princess Mary, often depriving herself, conceded to her friend the pleasure of nursing the little angel (as she called her nephew) and playing with him.
At the altar of the Lysogorsk church there was a chapel over the grave of the little princess, and a marble monument brought from Italy was erected in the chapel, depicting an angel spreading its wings and preparing to ascend to heaven. The angel had a slightly raised upper lip, as if he was about to smile, and once Prince Andrei and Princess Marya, leaving the chapel, admitted to each other that it was strange, the face of this angel reminded them of the face of the deceased. But what was even stranger, and what Prince Andrei did not say to his sister, was that in the expression that the artist accidentally gave to the face of an angel, Prince Andrei read the same words of meek reproach that he had read then on the face of his dead wife: “Ah, why did you do this to me?…”
Shortly after the return of Prince Andrei, the old prince separated his son and gave him Bogucharovo, a large estate located 40 versts from Lysy Gory. Partly because of the difficult memories associated with the Bald Mountains, partly because Prince Andrei did not always feel able to bear the character of his father, and partly because he needed solitude, Prince Andrei took advantage of Bogucharov, built there and spent most of time.
Prince Andrew, after the Austerlitz campaign, firmly decided never to serve in military service again; and when the war broke out, and everyone had to serve, he, in order to get rid of active service, accepted a position under the command of his father in collecting the militia. The old prince and his son seemed to change roles after the campaign of 1805. The old prince, excited by activity, expected all the best from a real campaign; Prince Andrei, on the contrary, not participating in the war and in the secret of his soul regretting that, saw one bad thing.
On February 26, 1807, the old prince left for the district. Prince Andrei, as for the most part during his father's absences, remained in the Bald Mountains. Little Nikolushka was unwell for the 4th day. The coachmen who carried the old prince returned from the city and brought papers and letters to Prince Andrei.
The valet with letters, not finding the young prince in his office, went to Princess Mary's half; but he wasn't there either. The valet was told that the prince went to the nursery.
“Please, Your Excellency, Petrusha has come with the papers,” said one of the girls of the nurse’s assistant, turning to Prince Andrei, who was sitting on a small children’s chair and with trembling hands, frowning, was dripping medicine from a glass into a glass filled halfway with water.
- What's happened? - he said angrily, and with a careless trembling of his hand, he poured an extra amount of drops from the glass into a glass. He poured the medicine out of the glass onto the floor and again asked for water. The girl gave it to him.
In the room there was a crib, two chests, two armchairs, a table and a children's table and chair, the one on which Prince Andrei was sitting. The windows were hung, and a single candle burned on the table, covered with a bound music book, so that the light would not fall on the crib.
“My friend,” Princess Marya said, turning to her brother, from the bed by which she was standing, “it’s better to wait ... after ...
“Ah, do me a favor, you keep talking nonsense, you waited all the time - so you waited,” said Prince Andrei in an angry whisper, apparently wanting to prick his sister.
“My friend, it’s better not to wake him up, he fell asleep,” the princess said in an imploring voice.
Prince Andrei got up and, on tiptoe, with a glass, went to the bed.
- Or just not wake up? he said hesitantly.
"As you wish - right ... I think ... but as you wish," said Princess Mary, apparently shy and ashamed that her opinion had triumphed. She pointed out to her brother the girl who was calling him in a whisper.
It was the second night that both of them were awake, taking care of the boy who was burning in the heat. All these days, not trusting their family doctor and waiting for the one for whom they were sent to the city, they took this and that other means. Exhausted by insomnia and anxious, they dumped their grief on each other, reproached each other and quarreled.
“Petrusha with papers from papa,” the girl whispered. - Prince Andrew left.
- Well, what is there! - he said angrily, and after listening to verbal orders from his father and taking the submitted envelopes and a letter from his father, he returned to the nursery.
- Well? asked Prince Andrew.
- All the same, wait for God's sake. Karl Ivanovich always says that sleep is the most precious thing, whispered Princess Mary with a sigh. - Prince Andrei went up to the child and felt him. He was on fire.
- Get out you and your Karl Ivanovich! - He took a glass with drops dripped into it and again approached.
Andre, don't! - said Princess Mary.
But he frowned at her angrily and at the same time with pain and bent down to the child with a glass. “Well, I want it,” he said. - Well, I beg you, give it to him.
Princess Marya shrugged her shoulders, but dutifully took a glass and, calling the nanny, began to give medicine. The child screamed and whimpered. Prince Andrei, grimacing, holding his head, left the room and sat down in the next room, on the sofa.
The letters were all in his hand. He mechanically opened them and began to read. The old prince, on blue paper, in his large, oblong handwriting, using titles in some places, wrote the following.
Trip statistics by month and region
Statistics of the number of trips by month
I made a sample of 2500 hikes from 20 travel clubs. It turned out that...
Summer accounts for 66% of trips for the entire year. No wonder summer is the best time to backpack. First, warm and dry; secondly, there is an opportunity to take a vacation for a trip.
autumn there are few trips, because school, studies, work begin, and the weather deteriorates.
in winter ski tours or accommodation at recreation centers prevail, combined with radial outings without heavy backpacks and equipment. Winter accounts for 6% of all trips.
spring sitting at home is unbearable, so we get equipment and plan trips. The weather in the Crimea, Cyprus and the Caucasus is already above zero, which allows you to make simple transitions without fear of freezing at night in a sleeping bag. March is 5% of the total statistics.
In April– a sudden pause (3%) as tourists save up time and money for the May holidays. The end of April is a sharp start to the season of hiking in the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Sayans, Altai, with the capture of the May Day holidays. Those who want warmth go along the Turkish Lycian path or make a transition along the Cypriot Troodos mountains. Also at the end of April, there are many offers where you can go with children. Everyone is waiting for the end of April - both adults and children. Life is picking up pace.
May is distinguished by a fourfold increase in the number of trekking trips - 13% of the total statistics. Campsites are opening, and tourist bases are ready to accommodate tourists. May campaigns are supplemented by campaigns that begin in the last days of April in order to capture the holidays.
The top five most visited regions are as follows:
– First place. Caucasus - 29%. Elbrus and Kazbek attract hikers with their beauty.
– Second place. Crimea - 15%. The proximity of the sea and the mild climate make this peninsula unique and as if created for week-long outings.
– Third place. Northwest - 11%. Residents of the Leningrad region and Karelia are lucky with nature: there are more rivers and lakes than in the Central District. In the suburbs, there is nowhere to go especially.
– Fourth and fifth places. Altai, Baikal and Siberia - 7% each. It's expensive to get there from Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it's worth it. Beautiful nature, and not as many tourists as in other places.
In the media, we are told a lot about some kind of Palestinian Authority, which is constantly fighting against Israel. On the maps, too, such territory is shown, usually in a different color than Israel itself. However, most people do not understand what kind of education it is and whether it can be considered a separate state. To reduce the Palestinian Autonomy to simply Palestine, as is customary with us, is not entirely correct, especially when talking with Arabs and people who sympathize with them, since they call the entire territory of Israel Palestine.
The Palestinian Autonomy consists of two parts that are not equal to each other in any respect. Cisiordan, or the territory of the "West Bank of the Jordan River", refers to the eastern part of the PA near the Jordanian border. According to international agreements, the West Bank also includes the eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City, but in reality, all of Jerusalem is completely subordinate to the Israelis, and the PA begins at the exit from the city. The Gaza Strip is a small area along the Mediterranean Sea near the Egyptian border, in fact a large metropolitan city of Gaza.
Strictly speaking, the PA is not yet an independent state. Although the Arabs talk about how it would be nice to have such a state, there are very few signs of Palestinian statehood now: I noticed my own police and different license plates from Israeli ones. Rather, it would be more correct to compare the Palestinian Autonomy with Chechnya: it is precisely an autonomy within Israel, and a very restless one at that.
The outer borders of the PA (crossings of the Allenby Bridge with Jordan and Rafah with Egypt) are guarded by Israeli border guards and entry there is carried out on Israeli visas. There are Palestinian diplomatic missions in some countries, but they do not issue visas. There are no civil airports in the PA, all fly through Tel Aviv or neighboring countries. Nothing is known about sea communication with Gaza. The state of Israel's internal border with the PA is not the same for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They enter Gaza from Israel from Ashkelon along highway No. 4. There is a checkpoint where a total raid is carried out, everyone's passports are checked and passport data is entered into the Scary Computer. In the future, every time they enter Israel (at any crossing), the border guards will ask why they went to Gaza. However, this is not so important, since, according to my information, for a couple of years, entry into Gaza for foreigners only with special passes. On the West Bank, things are much simpler. The fact is that if the Gaza Strip is a continuous inseparable territory inhabited (after the withdrawal of Jewish settlements) exclusively by Arabs, then the West Bank is something else. There are 5 cities there: Ram-Allah (aka Ramallah), Nablus, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron. These cities, in fact, are the West Bank, the Palestinian administration works there, there is the Palestinian police, and so on. All roads connecting these cities are controlled by the Israeli authorities. So, routes No. 1, No. 60 and No. 90 are entirely Israeli. Small settlements along the highways are inhabited by Arabs, but they can be called Palestinian rather conditionally. There are also so-called illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank. These are not farms for a couple of houses at all, but mini-towns with panel high-rise buildings. There are checkpoints on the border of Israel itself with the West Bank, but they operate only in one direction - to enter Israel, they do not check cars with Israeli numbers. Cars with Palestinian license plates, including buses, are checked, locals are a little nagged, foreigners are not touched, nothing is written into the computer. Israelis often transit through the West Bank, for example, from Jerusalem to Eilat everyone goes along highways No. 1 and 90 bypassing Jericho, and from Jerusalem to Beer Sheva - along highway No. 60 through Hebron. The roads are good, slightly worse than Israeli ones. Israeli buses do not go to the West Bank, from Israel you can get on a regular basis by Palestinian buses, which travel from their own bus station at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem. They say there are also buses from Afula to Nablus.
The only useful language in Palestine is Arabic, all signs and signs are on it. English signs (as well as English-speaking people) come across in tourist places. By religion, the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs (unlike Israelis) are Muslims. The exception is a significant number of Christians in Bethlehem. Shekels are used as money. Prices are slightly lower than Israeli and higher than Jordanian. Dumb in Palestine are the entire Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank - Ram-Allah and Hebron. Bethlehem is the most peaceful city, there are many pilgrims and tourists there.
It is very instructive to visit the West Bank. Sad spectacle. A sharp contrast with Israeli cleanliness and Europeanness is provided by gigantic heaps of garbage near settlements and inside them, shabby, unkempt houses, and general lack of land. Anger can be seen on the faces of the people. Of the pluses, one can note the Middle Eastern atmosphere that is rarely found in Israel, although it is still better to go to Jordan for it.
Bethlehem
A small town on the territory of the Palestinian Authority in the low hills 12 km south of Jerusalem. Known as the supposed birthplace of Jesus Christ. In Hebrew - Bet-Lechem, "house of bread." In Arabic - Bat-Lakhm, "house of meat." Road No. 60 Jerusalem - Hebron - Beer Sheva adjoins the city on the side, but you can get there not only along it, there are several small paths from Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, minibuses run from the Arab bus station for 4 shekels, they pass through the entire city and turn around at the bazaar (aka bus station), which is located at the junction of the city street with the highway at the southern end of the city. From there there are buses to Hebron. When returning to Jerusalem, Israeli cops can check the documents. The situation in the city is calm, there are many tourists and pilgrims, especially before both Christmases.
The main attraction of Bethlehem is the Church of the Nativity in the central square of the city. It is Orthodox, although in terms of it is similar to the Catholic one. There are numerous additions to the church, which give it a strange irregular shape, similar to CHG. The entrance to the church is made in the form of a small hole through which you can get through only by bending over strongly. The main Catholic shrine is the so-called Milk Grotto near the Church of the Nativity. This is a small cave with icons, above which there is a fairly large modern chapel. The city is full of other churches of various denominations. Also of interest are the central streets, where cheerful Arab life is in full swing and all sorts of things are sold.
In contact with
The west bank of the river is a region in the Middle East.
In the course of the year, they were occupied and unilaterally annexed by Transjordan (Jordan after their annexation) in 1950, which gave them the name "West Bank" to distinguish it from the east coast, which was its main territory before the war.
To the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank, Jordan granted their citizenship, which some of them still have, and the Jewish inhabitants of the territories occupied by Transjordan fled or were expelled by Transjordan to Israel.
The unilateral annexation was condemned by many countries, including most members of the Arab League. The USSR recognized the legality of the annexation. In terms of international law, the West Bank was under Jordanian occupation. No resolutions on such Jordanian actions as the occupation and annexation of the West Bank of the Jordan, the expulsion of Jews, the destruction of dozens of synagogues, and others, from 1948 to 1967. The UN was not accepted.
In the course of 1967 was occupied by Israel. Since 1994, following the signing between Israel and the PLO, parts of the West Bank controlled (PNA) established as a result of these agreements.
From the point of view of the UN Security Council, the territory of the West Bank of the Jordan River is under Israeli occupation. From Israel's point of view, it "has rights to the 'West Bank'" and considers it a disputed territory until negotiations are completed. After the Six Day War, Israel began to create settlements in the West Bank in which Israeli citizens live. The UN Security Council considers the creation of such settlements contrary to international law and demanded that Israel not create them, Israel does not agree with this. At the same time, Israel never announced the annexation of the territory of the West Bank (except) and stated that it could not be responsible for observing the rights of citizens in territories not controlled by it.
The area of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is 5640 km², which is 27.1% (within the borders of 1949) or 25.5% (taking into account the annexed territories) of the territory of Israel.
According to CIA statistics, the population of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) is 2,514,845. Of these, about 2,090,000 are Palestinian Arabs and about 430,000 are Israeli Jews.
Major historical events
- Until the 13th century BC e. on the territory of the western bank of the Jordan River there were several city-states of various peoples.
- During the XIII-XII centuries BC. e. these territories were and have since become part of the . The name "" was given to the territory that had departed from the tribe of the Jews (in Jewish terminology -).
- In the XI century. BC e. this territory became part of the capital of which the city was at first, and then became.
- After the collapse of the united kingdom of Israel in the X century. BC e. two kingdoms were created on its former territory - Judea and. The Israeli kings founded the new capital of their kingdom - the city of Samaria. The territory adjacent to the new capital began to be called.
- Jewish statehood was finally destroyed by the Roman Empire during the period of Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century BC. n. e. after . The land of Israel was renamed by the Romans into the province of Palestine, after the name of one of the peoples of the sea (, Heb. פלישתים) who lived in it in the past.
- Over the next 18 centuries, this territory was alternately part of the Roman Empire (until 395), the Byzantine Empire (395-614 and 625-638), the Arab Caliphate (614-625 and 638-1099) , possessions of the Crusaders (1099-1187 and 1189-1291), Egypt (1187-1189), the Mongol Empire and the Khorezmians (1244-1263), Egypt (Mamluks) (1263-1516), (1516-1917) and (1917-1948).
Modern history
- Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine, almost the entire West Bank was to become part of an Arab Palestinian state. The rest (Jerusalem, Bethlehem and their environs) was to become an enclave under UN control.
- As a result of the Arab-Israeli war of 1947-1949, the territories of Judea and Samaria were occupied and in April 1950 unilaterally annexed by Transjordan (Jordan after the annexation), which gave them the name "West Bank" to distinguish it from the east coast, which was its main territory before the war. Jordan granted West Bank residents their citizenship, which some of them still retain. The inhabitants of the Jewish settlements in the territories occupied by Transjordan fled or were expelled by Transjordan to Israel. In 1953, King Hussein proclaimed East Jerusalem the alternative capital of the kingdom and an indivisible part of Jordan. However, only Great Britain and Pakistan recognized the unilateral annexation from all countries of the world; many countries, including most members of the Arab League, have condemned it. In terms of international law, the West Bank was under Jordanian occupation.
- In 1954, Jordan passed a law granting the right to citizenship to everyone (except Jews) who had Palestinian citizenship before May 15, 1948 and who permanently resided in Jordan from December 1949 to February 1954 ...
- During the Six Day War (1967), the West Bank was occupied by Israel and has since been formally under its military occupation.
- In 1988, Jordan abandoned its claim to the West Bank in favor of a future Palestinian state. Jordan confirmed its rejection of the West Bank in 1994 when signing a peace treaty with Israel. At the same time, the refusal of Jordan from the territory of the West Bank of the river. Jordan (including East Jerusalem) in anyone's favor has no legal force, both because of the non-recognition of its rights to this territory during the period of occupation, and because of its inconsistency with the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan (1994), in chapter 3 of which it is recognized that the borders between states should correspond to the borders that existed during the period of the British Mandate, without taking into account the change in the status of the territory that occurred when it came under Israeli military control in 1967.
- In 1993, the Oslo Peace Accords were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, resulting in the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. For a number of years, 17% of the territory of the West Bank was transferred under its civilian and police control, and another 24% under civilian control only. 59% of the West Bank remained under Israeli military and civilian control.
- In 2003, Israel began building the separation barrier.
- In August 2005, Israel evacuated 4 settlements (Ganim, Kadim, Sanur and Homesh) from the northern part of the West Bank (northern Samaria) under the Unilateral Disengagement Plan.
Borders
The eastern border is formed by the Jordan River, in the west the border is formed by the green line (the ceasefire line between Israel and the Arab armies of 1949). Israel erected a separation barrier along the West Bank border. In many places, the barrier runs deep into the West Bank and deviates from the 1949 ceasefire line. Israel explains the construction of the barrier by the need to protect its population from the incessant incursions of suicide bombers into Israel since 2000. The construction of the barrier is actively protested by the Palestinians, since the barrier creates difficulties for movement, separates settlements from each other, and land from villages, de facto cuts off large areas of the West Bank in favor of Israel. Some Palestinian cities literally found themselves surrounded by a barrier on all sides. The existence of the barrier is one of the reasons for accusing Israel of apartheid.
On political maps published in the USSR, the West Bank (within the boundaries of the UN resolution of 1947) from the beginning of the 60s began to be painted over in the colors of Jordan, while the Gaza Strip (including the coast to Ashdod, as well as part of the Negev along the border with Egypt) and the territory between Lebanon and the West Bank (Galilee) continued to be called, in accordance with the UN resolution, the territories of the Arab state. In connection with the proclamation of the State of Palestine in 1988, the territory of the West Bank was declared part of it, and on Soviet maps (as well as current Russian ones) the so-called. “Palestinian territories” (despite the recognition of the Palestinian state by the USSR on November 18, 1988, such a state did not appear on the maps; there are also no references to Palestine in the tables attached to the atlases with information about the states of the world). In view of the ongoing conflict situation in the region, the real borders and status of the West Bank of the Jordan River are interpreted by the opposing and sympathetic parties in different ways. However, the UN position remains unchanged in that these territories are not the territory of Israel, but are intended for the Arab state of Palestine.
Name
Cisiordan
Most Romance and some other languages use the New Latin name "Cisiordan" (Cisjordan or Cis-Jordan), literally "on this side of the Jordan". This name is partly justified by the fact that the word "shore" is not very applicable to mountainous terrain. The territory on the opposite bank of the Jordan is called Transjordan, respectively, and today coincides with the state of Jordan.
Judea and Samaria
Prior to the emergence of the term "West Bank", during the British Mandate of Palestine, the region was referred to by the historical name "Judea and Samaria". UN Resolution No. 181 of 1947 on the division of the British Mandatory Territory also mentions part of the region of Judea and Samaria, referring the West Bank to the territory of the Arab State.
The Israelis most often use the historical name "Judea and Samaria", taken from the Tanakh - (Hebrew יהודה ושומרון), also using the abbreviation "Yosh" (יו "ש), but sometimes (especially when it comes to international agreements) they use tracing paper " West Bank” (Hebrew הגדה המערבית “a-gada ha-maaravit”).
Until 1948-1949, the concept of "West Bank of the Jordan River" was absent. After this region was designated in the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and Transjordan, the name "West Bank" (Eng. West Bank) began to be used first by the Jordanians, and then passed into use in English and many other languages.
According to J. Lighter, one of the leaders of the settlement movement, “Jordan called these territories West Bank to erase the linguistic and historical connection of the territory of Judea and Samaria with the Jewish people.
Photo gallery
Helpful information
West Bank
Arab. الضفة الغربية
Hebrew יהודה ושומרון
translit. Yehuda VeShomron
lit. "Judea and Samaria"
abbr. יו״ש
or הגדה המערבית
lit. "West Shore"
Legal status of the territory
From the point of view of the UN Security Council, the territory of the West Bank of the river. Jordan is under Israeli occupation.
Israel disputes the definition of the territory of the West Bank r. Jordan (including East Jerusalem) as "occupied", insisting on the international term "disputed territory". The main arguments in favor of this position are the defensive nature of the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and the Six-Day War (1967), the absence of recognized international sovereignty over these territories until 1967, and the historical right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. A similar position is held by a number of Israeli and foreign politicians and leading lawyers.
After the occupation, Israel did not offer citizenship to the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank and did not annex the territory (with the exception of East Jerusalem, which was officially annexed with the offer of citizenship to local residents), but began to establish Jewish settlements there. The creation of these settlements has been repeatedly condemned by the UN and many states of the world, including the United States. The Israeli public organization "B'Tselem" claims that the free entry of Arabs into Jewish settlements is prohibited, without specifying that this is mainly due to the security of their inhabitants and the terrorist attacks carried out by Arabs in the settlements. A number of sources compare the situation in the West Bank to apartheid. A number of other sources reject this view, stating that the restrictions placed on Arab residents of the West Bank are solely for Israel's security. The issue of the status and continued construction of settlements in the West Bank is one of the key issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In November 2009, the Israeli government, under pressure from the US administration, as a gesture of goodwill, froze the construction of new houses in settlements (except East Jerusalem) for 10 months. This gesture did not lead to the resumption of peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and in September 2010, despite the protests of the United States and a number of other states, construction in the settlements was resumed.
Much of the West Bank Jordan today is administered by the Palestinian National Authority.
Demographics
As of early 2009, the total population of the West Bank is approximately 2,825,000. Of these, about 364,000 are Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship.
Religious composition
- 75% - Muslims
- 17% - Jews
- 8% - Christians, etc.
Near the city of Nablus (Nablus) there are remnants of the Samaritans who inhabited Samaria from antiquity. Their total number is about 350 people.
Statistical data
- Population growth: 2.13% (44th in the world)
- Birth rate: 24.91 births/1000 population
- Mortality rate: 3.7 deaths/1000 population (211th in the world)
- Literacy rate: 92.4%
- Number of children: 3.12 children/woman.
