Israeli Army Radio instructed to call West Bank by biblical 'Judea and Samaria'

Army Radio instructed to call West Bank by biblical ‘Judea and Samaria’

Special thanks to Rima Khalidi

(TEL AVIV +972 Mag) - According to a report in Israel National News, the commander of Israel Army Radio, the national radio station in Israel operated by the Israel Defense Forces, has determined that all the station’s reporters should refer to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria.”  

The report states the decision was made as a result of complaints made by Israel Media Watch that the radio station’s referral to the area as the “West Bank” gives the impression to listeners that the territory does not in fact belong to Israel.

Israel Army Radio is a popular mainstream station in Israel listened to by people from across the political spectrum.

It is thus significant that it is now being directed to use the same terminology used by the settler movement when invoking the Biblical, divine notion of “Greater Israel” that is completely detached from reality, diplomacy and human rights.

Even Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon refers to the area as “the West Bank” in his famous “hasbara” (PR) video explaining why the land is in fact not occupied – but I am all for calling the area “Judea and Samaria.” Since Israel looks like a theocracy and acts like a theocracy, it might as well talk like one too.

Special thanks to +972 Mag

Mairav Zonszein is an Israeli-American native of New York City, living in Israel since 1999. She works as an independent journalist, translator and editor and her research interests focus on the role of Israel in contemporary Jewish identity politics.

She is currently the international media coordinator for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Anything she writes here is her opinion and her opinion alone, and does not represent ACRI.

Mairav’s work has appeared in such outlets as Haaretz, Ynet, The Forward, The Nation, Dissent, The Jerusalem Post, Bikya Masr, and more.

Mairav is active with Ta'ayush, a direct-action Arab-Jewish group whose activism focuses on the impoverished Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills.

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