Legitimising Israel's seizure of Arab territory

"[unclear: Wi] occupied territories?" (in reference to the [unclear: w] Bank and the Gaza Strip).

"We stand on the land of liberated Israel" (said while standing in an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank).

Israel has occupied and held the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the 1967 war. The Arab population in these areas have been brutalised by the occupying troops. Houses of whole families are blown up if just one member is arrested for suspected guerilla activities. Curfews are being declared more often. Passes are needed to travel from these territories to the rest of Israel for Arabs. These territories were never part of the UN mandate territory of Israel set up in 1948. Previously Israeli governments have pretended that they occupied these areas for security reasons and would give them back as soon as their security was 'guaranteed'. Now Begin has made the conquering of these territories a religious mission — he calls it the liberation of old Judea and Samaria. Disregarding the Arab populations who have made their living there for years, Begin is now talking of the "many Jews who will come to make the land bloom,"