MAPPING OUT
International maps and
atlases show little
congruity when portraying
the Middle East.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Assistant Editor
tudents of cartogra-
phy must be confused.
Everyone knows
where the United States is,
right? And every high school
pupil learns the Soviet
Union's borders, that Italy is
shaped like a boot, that
Ireland lies just off the coast
of England.
But deciding what land
constitutes the State of
Israel appears to be more
difficult. Since the state's
founding in 1947, interna-
tional maps and atlases have
shown Israel with a variety
of borders and with different
capitals.
A map from Israel shows
Jerusalem as the nation's
capital city. Many others
denote Tel Aviv as Israel's
capital.
Israel claims sovereignty
over the Golan Heights. A
Syrian map lists the Golan
Heights as part of Syria. (See
map 5)
The greatest discrepancies
among maps are for
Jerusalem and the West
Bank. Parts of the Galilee,
Judea, Samaria and the nor-
thern and western Negev
(including the present-day
West Bank and Gaza Strip),
and the city of Jaffa were
designated in the 1947 U.N.
partition plan as the propos-
ed Arab state. Jerusalem
and its suburbs, according to
the partition plan, were to be
an international zone.
- The Arab countries refus-
ed to accept the U.N. parti-
tion plan. The night after
Israel was established, they
attacked the new state.
In the War of Independence,
forces from Transjordan and
Egypt occupied Judea,
Samaria, the Gaza area and
eastern Jerusalem. Western
Jerusalem became part of
Israel. Transjordan subse-
quently annexed Judea and
Samaria, designating the
territory as the "West
Bank." Egypt retained the
Gaza Strip under its ad-
ministration.
Jordan's claim over the
West Bank was recognized
by only two U.N. member
states, England and
1. A 1982 CIA map of Israel, showing
the West Bank as Jordanian territory.
2. A U.S. Army map from 1973. Tel Aviv
is marked as Israel's capital: the West
Bank is shown as part of Jordan.
3. The 1990 CIA map. Though labeled
the "West Bank," the area is no
longer designated. Jordanian territory.
Jerusalem is shown as Israel's
capital, but with the disclaimer that
this is "not recognized by the U.S.
government."
26
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1991
Pakistan, and was opposed
even by the Arab League
nations. Yet Jordan main-
tained control of the ter-
ritory until the Six-Day War
in 1967. That year, Israeli
forces won the West Bank,
the Gaza Strip (along with
the Sinai Peninsula), the
Golan Heights and east
Jerusalem. The reunited city
was proclaimed the Israeli
capital. Israel formally
annexed the Golan Heights
in December 1981.
Despite the U.N. partition
plan and their initial opposi-
tion to Jordan's annexation
of the West Bank, many
countries today identify the
West Bank as part of Jordan.
Others show the area as ter-
ritory administered by
Israel, land whose "status is
undetermined."
Soviet maps show an Israel
contained within the borders
designated by the 1947 U.N.
partition plan. Everything
else in present-day Israel is
denoted "Arab territory,"
neither part of Israel or Jor-
dan.
American maps of Israel
are inconsistent. U.S.
government maps are the
prototypes for all other maps
produced in the country,
including those made avail-
able to politicians, journalists