After the Six-Day War, Israel counted the populace of the territories it had taken over in the recent war. On October 3rd 1967 the Central Bureau of Statistics  (CBS) published its initial findings – so the document we’re presenting today was actually never classified at all. We’re posting it here not because it’s been secret all these years, but simply because we’re not aware that it’s online. So now it is.

The document starts out by explaining its methodology: a one-day curfew was placed on each of the various areas, and hundreds of Arabic-speaking census-takers tried to reach every single home (except what they called the ‘wanderers’, presumably the tent-living Bedouin). Every family filled out a form and received a form of confirmation; 20% were asked to fill out comprehensive questionnaires. Since the populace expected potential benefits to accrue from being counted, the CBS reported that compliance had been very high.

The census was taken in August (beginning on the Golan Heights) and September.

On the Golan 6,400 people were enumerated, 2,900 of them in Magdel Shams.

In northern Sinai 33,000 people were counted, 30,000 of them in El-Arish; the Bedouin of the vast Sinai desert were not counted.

In Gaza the census found 356,000 people, about half (175,000) in refugee camps.

On the “West Bank” there were about 600,000, not including East Jerusalem.

(The population of East Jerusalem has been counted, since the Six Day War, in the column of Arabs in Israel, not in the occupied territories. This creates some amusing results, most noticeably when western media outlets who would never accept Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem routinely count its Palestinian population as part of the 20% of today’s Israeli population who are Arab; present-day demographic statistics routinely double-count the 300-plus Arabs of East Jerusalem as being both part of Israel’s Arab population and the population of the West Bank.)

Beyond the simple numbers, the editors of the report point at a number of possible explanations for the numbers. In Gaza, the Egyptian data from 1965 had about 100,000 additional people, or 25% more than the Israelis counted. Since only a few thousands left as a consequence of the war, and many of them were Egyptians from Sinai and not Gazans, the report assumed someone had been inflating numbers, perhaps by failing to register deaths.

The Jordanian numbers from 1961 were also larger than those identified here, and the editors felt this probably expressed a significant phenomenon of migration during the Jordanian period and after the Six Day War.

The populace of all the territories was very young, children between 0-14 making up the largest group in all areas. the editors were struck, however, by the imbalance between young men and young women; their conjecture being that the relative lack of young men reflected large-scale emigration of laborers.

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Following reports in the Israeli press on IDF reserve and enlisted soldiers complaining about their humiliating experiences during countless incidents of being hit, pelted with rocks and firebombed and being unable to react on account of the IDF rules of engagement, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Ganz on Tuesday said “there is no intention of changing the rules of engagement.” This despite the fact that so many soldiers have testified that their lives are in danger during those incidents, and that often their only realistic option is to hide or flee.

One soldier quoted his superior officer as saying: “I prefer to visit you in hospital than in court.” (Read: IDF Latest Response to Arab Riots: ‘Nerf’ Bullets).

The chief of staff said that he and the defense minister give their full support to Central Command Chief, Gen. Nitzan Alon, who is considered by many Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria as the core of the problem, because of his leftist views.

Lt.-Gen. Ganz said: “If we loosen the reins, there will be an escalation in Judea and Samaria and we will lose control. We have to improve the manner by which we train soldiers to act according to the existing rules.”

I’ll cite here once more the IDF Spokesperson’s Office’s explanation of the apparent conflicts and outright suffering and humiliation, not to speak of life endangerment, faced by soldiers trying to do their jobs facing violent Arab demonstrators. The response reads like something written by a team of legal and psychological experts:

“The IDF forces in Judea and Samaria are challenged daily by a complex reality requiring professionalism and determination together with judgment. The rules of engagement in Judea and Samaria facilitate an appropriate range of responses to a wide variety of threats faced by IDF forces and they are tested occasionally according to evaluations. It must be stressed that taking immediate action against violators of the public order and popular terror activists does not negate determined and effective action, and at its root lies the understanding that as small a number of injured as possible would help guard the security stability in the region.”

In this reporter’s view, the extra training required to better train IDF soldiers to comply with the above might as well include three years of law school.

The chief of staff was responding to complaints from right wing MKs on the Foreign and Defense Committee, about what is emerging as a third intifada in Judea and Samaria, engineered by the Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority.

“I don’t like the signs against Gen. Nitzan Alon,” Ganz added.

So now it’s mutual.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid will grant nearly $14 million in aid to Ariel University.

The money, which was pledged by the previous finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, will be transferred in two stages, Haaretz reported Sunday.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein earlier this year blocked the transfer of the money, which had been approved during the election campaign.

About 40 percent of the money will be transferred in August following passage of the new budget, according to the newspaper, and the rest after the start of 2014.

Ariel University Center was recognized by Israel’s Cabinet as an accredited university in September 2012 when it became Israel’s eighth university.

In July, the Ariel center was recognized as a full university by the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria, which was established in 1997 after the Council for Higher Education refused to discuss academic issues concerning Judea and Samaria.

The Judea and Samaria council’s 11-2 vote came despite a recommendation against approval by the planning and budget committee of the Council for Higher Education, as well as opposition from the country’s other seven universities and public figures who objected to upgrading a college in Judea and Samaria.

Nachman Klieman and his wife Ruchama made Aliyah in 1977. After twenty years of living in Rehovot, his family moved to Neve Tzuf in Judea and Samaria. Klieman refers to this move as his second Aliyah.

Neve Tzuf is an orthodox Jewish community of 260 families that is rich in Jewish history. It is also one of the possible areas where the biblical leader of the Jewish people, Joshua son of Nun, was buried. According to Klieman,

In the center of our community stand the remains of one of the largest ancient olive oil and wine press sites. Eight large circular pressing areas including drainage and collection channels were found including an adjacent mikva for the ritual purification of those who processed the wine.

Not too far away from Neve Tzuf are the wine presses of Rama, which are mentioned in the Talmud as the location where grapes for use in the Temple were produced.

Klieman describes his community with glowing terms,

Our community lacks for nothing and has a clinic, grocery store, 4 Synagogues, an active cultural program for children and adults, the central swimming pool for the area, and public green areas in its center aside from the natural forests that surround it.

We love the sense of community, purposefulness and ideology, the security and freedom we feel within the community, children and youth are able to walk around in the evening without fear, there are planned activities and shiurim for all ages. There is the feeling that if you want to be alone you can but if you don’t just knock on your neighbor’s door and you’ll be welcomed.

Nevertheless, despite the appeals of living in such a close-knit and warm community, there are hardships associated with living in Judea and Samaria. Whenever he drives, he always needs to be on extra alert because “our Palestinian neighbors decide to remind us from time to time that they still know how to throw stones at passing Israeli cars.” The fact that Klieman lives about an hour away from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, makes driving to such important places not so easy.

Unfortunately, as someone who lives on the front line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Klieman has personal experience when it comes to Palestinian terrorism. “Our 23 year old daughter, Esther, who was living at home with us at the time volunteered at Lev Binyamin (a non-profit organization for children who are physically and mentally challenged) to organize a pre- Passover camp for children of the Binyamin area. Esther’s plan was to provide free time for the parents of these children and to enable them to prepare for the Holiday,” Klieman explained.

On March 24, 2002, I drove Esther to the bus stop near our home for the opening day of camp and I remember that magnificent smile as she looked at me from behind the large windshield of the bus. Five minutes later, a cell of 4 terrorists standing on a hill overlooking the road, fired automatic rifle fire at the civilian bus. Their only motive was to kill or injure Israeli citizens. One bullet penetrated the roof and struck Esther in her seat penetrating her heart of gold. According to the young girl who sat next to her as well as others on the bus, Esther died instantly.

After the tragic death of his daughter, Klieman quit his job working as the head of public relations for El Al and devoted all of his time to supporting Israel. He spoke on behalf of victims of terror for various audiences in the United States and worked as a shaliach part-time for Keren Yesod in South Africa. Then, after doing all of this work, about four years ago, Klieman experienced another family tragedy, when his 26-year-old son died of a heart attack.

According to Klieman, upon the death of Gavriel,

I felt lost and looked for a new direction to seek the strength and purpose I needed. Gavriel had begun to develop the idea of an Israeli based website just before he died, a site he named U-Boutique.com that would promote the creations and handicrafts of hundreds of Israeli artisans and designers to overseas markets. I gained the strength I needed when I began to look into the idea of turning Gavriel’s dream into a reality.

Since then Kliemen has accomplished just that.

Today, my eldest son and I are working to promote Israeli creativity and design by helping small businesses market their products overseas. Gavriel’s dream of U-Boutique is a reality, and I couldn’t ask for a greater feeling than seeing the creative works of Israeli artists, artisans, and designers of jewelry, Judaica, fashions, and art being purchased by Jews and Christians who seek to support Israel and its’ economy.

To explore Nachman Klieman’s online market of made in Israel products visit: U-Boutique.com.

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The United States pushed itself into the nitty-gritty of Israeli domestic procedures Wednesday by sending a United States embassy official to Supreme Court hearing on a Peace Now petition to destroy the Givat Assaf outpost in northern Samaria

Peace Now was thrilled at the unprecedented involvement in Israel’s domestic affair’s while nationalists were aghast at the implied pressure on Israel judges to approve the Peace Now appeal.

The United States considers a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria an international issue, but to actually attend a local court hearing, especially one initiated by the Peace Now organization, is implicit support for the leftwing group and could affect the court’s verdict.

It is clear that the embassy official, Andrew Schut, was not on an exercise in civics 101.

His appearance at the hearing, although he did not make any comments, comes three weeks after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry personally called Michael Oren, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, to complain about Israel’s recent decision to consider recognizing four Jewish communities in Samaria instead of destroying them.

The United States justifies its interference in anything concerning the right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria.

How far can the American government plant delegates in Israel’s system to force its own policies on Israel?

Perhaps next week the Obama administration will send a representative to sit on a Knesset committee discussing Judea and Samaria.

The latest chutzpah is an escalation of a policy that is aimed at removing Jews from Judea and Samaria and areas of Jerusalem where the Palestinian Authority wants sovereignty.

It started out in a much more subtle form.

Twenty years ago, when I was in charge of security in the community where I live in the southern Hevron Hills, an elderly couple – immigrants from South Africa who converted to Judaism at a relatively late age in life – moved a small housing unit to a deserted and barren hill across from the community where I live.

That was around 1993, after the Reagan administration backed the Madrid Conference that developed into what has been misnamed as the peace process.

One evening, I received a phone call from the U.S. Embassy.

“Hi, there,” said the friendly voice. After exchanging a few pleasantries that I started my journalism career not far from his home town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, he said, “Our satellite noticed that one of those ‘caravans’ on the hill, referring to a small three-room and pre-fab trailer home without wheels.

“I was just wondering where they get their water en electricity,” continued the good ‘ol boy from down south. “Do y’all provide them with that? he asked.

I usually am not at a loss for words, but I was flabbergasted that the U.S. Embassy would call me – at night, no less – about a lonely hill.   I eventually sputtered out that I did not have much information for him.

If the American people, even the leftists, knew how deeply their government is involved into building up an Arab-only presence in Judea and Samaria and “eastern Jerusalem, they would be screaming their lungs out.

Around three years ago, when I was writing for Arutz Sheva, a Jewish Press blogger, whose name I will keep anonymous, called me up one day with a shocking story.

She had bought some old file cabinets from the U.S. Embassy in an auction. When she brought them home, she found some of the drawers were filled to the gills with documents and letters from the U.S. Information Agency that exposed the American government’s attempts to undermine a Jewish presence and to help the Palestinian Authority create a “Palestinian” culture.

Given the history of the State Department’s disgust for  Jews living where the administration wants Arabs, and only Arabs, to live, Schut’s appearance at a Supreme Court is not surprising.

Peace Now chairman Yariv Oppenheimer was ecstatic.

He explicitly stated that he understood Schut’s presence at the hearing as a silent but clear statement to warn Israel to think twice before recognizing the outposts in question.

And although the word ”outpost” conjures up a few wild-eyed radicals living in a circle of wagons, Givat Assaf is a community of more than 20 families working and living like every other normal person in the world.  They live on land that was purchased from Arabs, but like all such purchases, Peace Now insists that the Arab sale was a forgery.

It’s an amazing concept. Why would someone firebomb a grave…and an ancient one at that?

I just read a news article that Arabs have thrown 290 firebombs (and or planted explosive devices) at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem in the last six months alone (that doesn’t count hundreds, perhaps thousands, before that).

I actually know the answer as to why – it comes back to that concept of hating all that is different from them and worse, an attempt to erase any one else’s past. Okay, I got that…sick…but I got it.

But seeing that headlines also reminded me of an article I wrote a decade ago. Only, it wasn’t about Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, but her son, Joseph’s tomb in Nablus (Shechem).

In February, 2003, Arabs rioted and burned the grave/tomb of Joseph, son of our patriarch, Jacob and his beloved wife, Rachel. Joseph was buried in Shechem after his bones were exhumed by the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt – a promise fulfilled not to leave his bones in a foreign land. His bones were carried through the desert, until they were brought home to rest in the land of his fathers. Only today, his tomb is found inside a Palestinian city. To get there is nearly impossible and only accomplished with an army escort, under strict protection.

Rachel was buried, according to tradition handed down over the centuries, in Bethlehem. You can get to her grave site, but you need to leave your car in Jerusalem and take armored buses – silly…it’s only a few hundred yards. The area around the tomb has been fortified, cement barriers erected to protect those wishing to pray beside her grave.

Back then – in 2003, I wrote an article, “Rachel is Crying.” I thought of that article as I read the news about the firebombs. Then it was Ariel Sharon as prime minister when they attacked and burned Joseph’s tomb and now, as they attack Rachel’s tomb it is Bibi Netanyahu.

Writing in 2003, I asked that Sharon either defend the tomb of Joseph, or go in and remove the body and rebury him near his mother’s grave in Bethlehem. Nothing was done to defend the tomb, to bring his body to Bethlehem. Jews sneak in to visit Joseph’s tomb under heavy guard, usually at night. It’s ironic that some 10 years later, it is Rachel’s grave that has come under attack.

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The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) lifted a gag  order on Tuesday and revealed it arrested two Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells in the Hevron area before they could carry out plans to murder an Israeli and use the body as a bargaining chip to gain the release of jailed terrorists.

The exposure of terrorist cells has grown at an alarming rate. Less than two days before the gag order was lifted, the IDF raided the home of a wanted terrorist near Shechem and confiscated hundreds of rounds of ammunition, IDF uniforms and protective vests, a gun and knives.

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells operated in the village of Bani Naim, located five miles southeast of Hevron and near Highway 60 that runs from Kiryat Arab-Hevron to the southern Hevron Hills and Arad.

The Hamas cell had targeted a nearby Jewish farm, where it planned to murder a Jew and hide the body until it could win the release of Palestinian Authority terrorists and security prisoners.

Security personnel confiscated instructions for building explosive devices, one of which already had been completed.

The Palestinian Authority has remained silent after every exposure of a terrorist cell. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas  previously has alternately denounced terror while justifying “resistance.”

The Palestinian Authority is committed to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, but the IDF usually carries out arrest operations.

The Jewish Press asked the IDF if the PA was involved in the recent counterterrorist actions.

“There is ongoing coordination with the Palestinian security forces. We cannot discuss specifics,” a spokeswoman answered.

Behind the vague statement, there are several possibilities.

– the PA is afraid that terrorists will turn their guns on them if it is known that the Arab security forces are cooperating with Israel;

–  the Palestinian Authority security forces are restricting their actions to hauling in criminals and giving out traffic tickets; or

– Abbas is letting his lack of condemnation of the terrorist plots as a sign of encouragement for “martyrdom,” in tandem with PA media incitement for attacks on Israelis.

Take your pick.

I learned from here that:

Prof. Mustafa Kabaha [Kabha], Department of History and Philosophy at the Quds Open University [his Ph.D., Aranne School of History, Tel-Aviv University and that 'Quds Open University' is just the Israeli Open University], said that the Israeli occupation seeks to blur and thieve the Palestinian identity and history…Israeli authorities started renaming the Palestinian towns, cities and streets in order to impose the Israeli ideological, religious, and national control over the Palestinian territories in an attempt to falsify the land’s history…Kabaha revealed that there is an Israeli committee specifically charged with Judaizing and changing the Palestinian Arab names.

P.S.  I have his book -  The Role of the Press and Journalistic Discourse in the Arab Palestinian National Struggle, 1929-1939 – on my shelf, actually.

About that committee – no revelation required.  It is well known.

But as to who is a-thieving, and stealing and expropriating historical identity, first of all, “Palestinianism” is a model of disinventivity nationalism.  Not only do they invent their own narrative but they disinvent Jewish history.

The Tomb of Rachel. Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs. The Temple Mount. Jerusalem Denial.  The whole UNESCO campaign.  All, and the entire Land of Israel, have been the subject of incessant Islamic reinvention.

My home town – Shiloh – became Seilun and the Pal. Minister for Archaeology denies its past.

With “intellectuals” and “academics” as he, they aren’t going anywhere fast.

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