Response to a post on Wikimaps where "LionAlquds" wrote on Bet Shemesh: Occupied Palestinian Land.
No: Not occupied Palestinian land.
Just a side note: Bet Shemesh has prominent Arab citizens, living in it, see later in details.
Bet Shemesh is not occupied palestinian land: All the following can be seen clearly on aerial images published in the book: A second look at the land of Israel - a comparison of Aerial images from world war I, by Prof. Ben Zion Kedar. (Many of these images can be seen on his documented speech on youtube.)
And he is definitely NOT a white-washer of the local Arab history
From Hartuv and southward (up to the railway) was Jewish owned land, bought with full money - formerly called the Samuel Plantation, bought by the first owner of Haaretz.
The train station was Turkish, funded by Jewish money, and later, during World War I, became British
property. It is now a national service, serving Jews and Arabs, of Muslim Christian or Jewish faith alike.
The houses of Beit Natiff - a town evacuated from its Arab residents by Arab forces in 1948 are a national park near Ramat Bet Shemesh, NOT part of the city of Bet Shemesh.
The houses of the newer Givat Sharet and Nofei Aviv where purchased from the owners: the Greek Orthodox church, owners of Beit Gamal (or Jamal) monestery.
The last time houses where on that site was during the Jewish second temple period, and until 300 ce there where still Jews living there! - It then became uninhabited, and was left so. It was a A Cohen priestly town with ritual baths near each home as uncovered by recent diggings.
The "old" Bet Shemesh was founded on the British military camp, itself founded in 1917 on no mans land on the hill south of the railway.
The Bet Shemesh police station is a "Tagart" outpost built by the British on Jewish owned land, confiscated, and documented as such.
The village of Deir Abban is the Yishii village and not Bet Shemesh. We could discuss that too, but if we concentrate, it's outside our issue.
Ramat Bet Shemesh Alef (A) is built on the mountains above the secondary neighborhood of Beit Natiff (today Kibutz Netiv HaLamed Heh). It was not lived on since the time of the temple 700 years before Mohamed, and was used as a Jewish burial site. Also ancient wine making facilities where found on what is
now Dalia road. I don't suppose they are Muslim? (Aside of the fact that they are from 2000 years ago, a bit before there WHERE Muslims or Arabs who claim they are "Palestinians")
Part of Ramat Bet Shemesh Bet (B) is occupied in part by anti-zionist ultra-orthodox Jews some from Neturei Karta others Satmar Hassidim. You may find a hearing ear by them with your claims. They are siting on lands bought from Zanoah village, founded near the remnants of a Canaanite city, captured according to the Bible by Joshua, and later re-inhabited by Jews at the beginning of the second temple as noted in the book of Nehemya. Are you claiming in the name of the Canaanites?
So, which part of Bet Shemesh exactly is occupied "Palestinian" land?
Or are you referring to the partition plan? I thought the Arabs never have and still don't accept it?
More details:
The "old" center of Bet Shemesh was a British military outpost. No one lived there. During the 1948 war of Israel's independence, when 7 major Arab armies came to conquer (and leave in there own hands... as they in fact did: Gaza strip was Egypt, the west bank was 'Jordan' - no "Palestinians" mentioned till 1967), a truce was reached where half of the outpost was held by Jordanian soldiers, and half by Israeli ones. This situation continued almost until the closing of the war, when the border (and truce) where moved eastward.
The ancient Tel Bet Shemesh, was found to have never been re-established since the time of the FIRST TEMPLE (so all 400 years of the second it was left uninhabited). Remnants show that it was inhabited by Jewish believers from the time of antiquity, about 1300 years before Mohamed. In fact Tel Bet Shemesh is one of the major points of dispute with Bible Revisionist Historians who are claiming that there were no King David or Solomon, and at most, if there ware, they only lead a small and poor kingdom of Judea,
without the larger 'Kingdom of Israel' to the north.
So it is a Jewish town, never re-established by Arabs (or anyone else) since the Jews were expelled during the first temple.
Deir Raffat was land owned by Christians (the Latin Patriarch) and rented out to Muslim workers of the nearby monestary. Today it is a Jewish school, that pays rent to the Christian land owners.
It is true that the people of Deir Raffat were expelled from their homes in three waves. During WWI some were expelled for assisting the German (and Turkish) forces. Most of the men were required to leave with Kaukji's retreating army after his death. The last and total evacuation occured after the Israeli 1948 offensive for reopening the way to Jerusalem began. Jordanian (Leage) and Kaukji militiamen called for the retreat of civilians to refugee camps near Bethlehem. As far as I understood, Israeli forces where not involved in this, and in any case, the claims should to land usage should be to the Catholic church.
Hartuv (today Nacham) was bought with full money. So was the Samuel-Gardens plantation. The Turks spared the village because they were treated well by the civilians. At the beginning of the 1948 war a truce was set between the Jewish villagers and the nearby Arabs of Artuf to the north. But plans to massacre the Jews of Hartuv were received from various sources (among them neighboring Arabs of Artuf). The village was evacuated at night, lead by Aba Kovner a famous WWII partisan and later member of Kenesset (the Israeli parliament). Kaukji a Syrian Arab leader of local para-military fources laid siege on Jewish Jerusalem, effectively cutting it off from food and water. The newly founded Israeli forces opened an offensive to allow free movement to Jerusalem. They found the agricultural plantation and the village burnt to the ground. The Arab residents of Artuf had been moved out for Kaukji's para-military fighters. These fighters retreated to Jerusalem.
The houses of Bet Shemesh itself are on an area that was a military camp, and before that was last occupied by Jewish civil residents till about the year 250 ce, as proven by the findings especially burials.
Today, Beit Shemesh has prominent Arab citizens living in it. The chief city gardener, most of the town's
pharmacists, para-medical staff, and many of the Doctors. Arabs and Jews work and live together in this city, in the supermarkets and warehouses, at the factories and hi-tech companies. The town is predominantly Jewish, but there is no known discrimination. I live in Bet Shemesh and have several Arab neighbors.
You may want to discuss Ramat Bet Shemesh Gimel (C). There the only findings are of Kanaanites, and Egyptian outposts. Is that your claim for occupied Palestinian land? BTW: Where do YOU live? What is the history of YOUR home? And how come you cannot even pronounce the name of your supposed homeland? (In Arabic you wrote Falastin with an F).
Reminder: The 'Me' in 'The Land is for Me' is the Abrahmic God, and not any of the people...
