UN and EU semantic war in Judea and Samaria backfires

Many travel agents, tour operators and airlines seem to have been unwittingly caught up in the Arab-Jewish conflict as the case of Australia's national airline  Qantas has exposed.

Websites like Reservations.com (image below), Champion Traveler and Zen Hotels have also been using the term "State of Palestine" to identify the location of holiday destinations in Judea and Samaria.

Qantas is currently conducting an investigation:

Other travel websites use the term "Palestinian Territories" to pinpoint the location of holiday spots in Judea and Samaria.

The United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) have been using the term "occupied Palestinian Territories" for the last 20 years to define the territories known as Judea and Samaria (West Bank), East Jerusalem and Gaza ("Territories").

These Territories should be re-labelled the "Disputed Territories" as explained in 2002 by Dore Gold - former Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN (1997 -1999):

... the use of "occupied Palestinian territories" denies any Israeli claim to the land: had the more neutral language of "disputed territories" been used, then the Palestinians and Israel would be on an even playing field with equal rights. Additionally, by presenting Israel as a "foreign occupier," advocates of the Palestinian cause can delegitimize the Jewish historical attachment to Israel. This has become a focal point of Palestinian diplomatic efforts since the failed 2000 Camp David Summit, but particularly since the UN Durban Conference in 2001. Indeed, at Durban, the delegitimization campaign against Israel exploited the language of "occupation" in order to invoke the memories of Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War and link them to Israeli practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The right of the Jewish People to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in these Territories – part of their ancient and biblical homeland 3000 years ago - was specifically granted by the:

• San Remo Conference and the Treaty of Sevres in 1920
• League of Nations Mandate for Palestine in 1922