NYN | Articles
By Dr. Fayez Abu Shamala
The West Bank, occupied by the Israeli enemy since 1967, was not truly lost with the Israeli Knesset’s vote on Wednesday afternoon to approve a draft resolution calling for the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
The West Bank has been lost and has effectively become Israeli territory ever since the Arabs remained silent about its occupation — 48 years of settlement, resettlement, and altering the landscape — during which Israel practically imposed its sovereignty over the West Bank. This includes the separation of Jerusalem from the West Bank and its annexation to the Zionist state in 1967, followed by the declaration of Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel in 1980 — all met with Arab silence, submission, and humiliation.
The Israeli Knesset passed the decision to impose legal, civil, administrative, and political sovereignty with a majority of 71 members. The parties Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, and Blue and White, led by General Benny Gantz, abstained from voting. However, their abstention does not indicate opposition to the decision; rather, it reflects a preference for a quieter, more systematic approach to full control without media uproar.
Only 15 Knesset members opposed the annexation decision — the Arab parties and the “Democrats” party led by Yair Golan — leaving 105 out of 120 Knesset members effectively supporting the annexation of the West Bank.
The draft resolution states that “Judea and Samaria” — i.e., the West Bank — are “an inseparable part of the historical, cultural, and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people.” It further claims that cities like Hebron and Nablus, and settlements such as Shiloh and Beit El, represent “the historical continuity of the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel.”
This confirms that the idea of annexing the West Bank is not merely a political one — it is religious, rooted in the Torah. This spiritual, political, and practical annexation of the West Bank reveals the deceit behind talk of a two-state solution and the illusion of a Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. It is nothing but a mockery of the Arabs and a cunning deception of the Palestinian people.
If we look back at history, we find that the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization — which claims to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — was the one that encouraged, allowed, and opened the gates for settlers to dominate the West Bank administratively and practically, not just militarily. International coordination and cooperation became the tools that enabled settlers to cling to West Bank land, allowed the Israeli army to occupy the region without consequences, and empowered Israeli intelligence to dismantle any Palestinian resistance.
Today, we can say — boldly and tearfully — the West Bank is lost. Any narrative to the contrary is deceptive and false. The West Bank is lost, and I assert that the Israeli Knesset would not have dared to annex the territory without American approval. This bitter decision could not have happened without U.S. consent.
I further claim that the annexation of the West Bank was an American bribe to the Israeli enemy in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal. For Jewish theology, the land of the West Bank holds far more significance than the “cursed” land of Gaza, as referred to in Jewish scripture.
Without flattery, and with bitterness and sorrow, we say: Farewell, O Land of the West Bank.
We shall mourn your loss and separation as we mourned the Nakba of Palestine in 1948.
Dark and grim days lie ahead for our people in the West Bank.
And the responsibility for the loss of our holy sites and homeland lies squarely with those who imposed themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
A Palestinian writer from Gaza
