What do people mean when they refer to The Occupied Territories of the Middle East?
The ‘Occupied Territories’ refers to land lost by Israel’s Arab neighbors, and gained by Israel, in the Six-Day War of 1967. They include Judaea and Samaria (previously occupied by Jordan, and now known as the ‘West Bank’), the Golan Heights (previously occupied by Syria), and the Gaza Strip (previously occupied by Egypt). Interestingly, while these territories were conquered by Jordan, Syria and Egypt in 1948 to the time they were gained by Israel, the territories were not refered to as ‘occupied’ by the international community. Furthermore, the people living in those territories before 1967 were not called ‘Palestinians’ as they are today; they were called Jordanians and Egyptians. How things change…
