THE MIDDLE EAST

and students. From 1967,
Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) maps showed the West
Bank, including Jerusalem's
Old City, as Jordanian ter-
ritory. This contradicted both
U.S. policy and the U.N. par-
tition plan. (See map 1).
In 1971, the State
Department also asked the
U.S. Board of Geographical
Names to officially label the
2,200 square miles on the
west bank of the Jordan
River "The West Bank."
One man, Martin Miller of
Maryland, was bothered
enough by the government
maps to do something about
it. In 1982, Mr. Miller wrote
a series of articles in the
Baltimore Evening Sun poin-
ting out that Jordan had no
legal claim to the West
Bank.
Michael Barnes, then a
Maryland state represent-
ative, took up the cause.
"It was evident that the
maps were incorrect," says
Mr. Barnes, now an attorney
in Washington, D.C. "They
took what amounted to a po-
litical position."
Mr. Barnes contacted the
CIA. Initially, the intel-
ligence agency did not ac-

knowledge the error, he
says. Only after Mr. Barnes
made numerous phone calls
did the CIA agree to change
its maps.
Today, the CIA map does
not identify the West Bank
as Jordanian territory. But
it does label the area "West
Bank, Israeli occupied, sta-
tus to be determined." (See
map 3)
Since the establishment of
Israel, U.S. and U.N. offi-
cials have produced numer-
ous maps tracing specific
details of the state's devel-

opment. A CIA map from
September 1984 shows
"Israeli developed areas in
Jerusalem," including
"Israeli-developed area(s)
beyond the Armistice Line."
A U.N. map from 1988
lists all Israeli settlements
in the administered ter-
ritories.

T

he Bible's first refer-
ence to maps appears
in Ezekiel 4:1, where
the prophet is told to make a
plan of Jerusalem under
attack. Maimonides included

a sketch of Eretz Yisrael, the
land of Israel, with his
response, and Jews were early
map makers of ocean coast-
lines.
Among the early Jewish
map makers who sketched
Eretz Yisrael were Abraham
ben Jacob, an Amsterdam
engraver whose map had the
first Hebrew lettering;
Aaron ben Hayyim of Grod-
no, Poland, whose map of
Palestine appeared in 1839;
and Hayyim Solomon Pinia
of Safed, Israel, whose map,
complete with Hebrew text,
was published in Poland in
1875.
Because of its religious
significance, Eretz Yisrael
was a favorite subject of map
makers throughout history.

4. This map, from a 1981 travel book on
Jordan, does not identify Israel,
though it shows Israeli territory. The
book includes a chapter on "East
Jerusalem and the West Bank."

5. Syria's map, showing the Golan
Heights as part of Syria.

6. From Maps on File (Martin Greenwald
Associates), which cites its source as
the United Nations. These maps are
frequently used by students. It shows
the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank as occupied
territory. Jerusalem is shown as the
capital of Israel.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

27