most hospitable people in
the Middle East."
Persons interested in
visiting Israel might be
tempted to consult a 1984
Traveller's Guide to the
Middle East. Don't bother.
The guide, published in
London, makes no mention
of Israel. It lists only Arab
states. (See map 4).
A more recent and popular
publication, Fodor's, from
1989, includes the West
Bank as part of its guide to
visiting Jordan. The West
Bank is marked "zone oc-
cupied by Israel."
Other maps and atlases
join the Jordanian and
British publications in iden-
tifying the West Bank as
part of Jordan. These in-
clude Japan's Zenkyo's
Atlas; the Kummerly and
Frey Atlas, published in
1978 in Bern, Switzerland;
Kurt Schroeder's map of
Jordan and Lebanon,
published 1966 in Bonn,
Germany; and Canada's Ox-
ford University Press map,
published in 1972.
To get around the confus-
ing issue of how to portray
the West Bank, many maps
and atlases showing
Jerusalem are labeled
"Israel with Jordan."
W hat
childhood
would be complete
without hours and
hours of memorizing world
capitals? Turn off that TV, put
away those comics and get
down to serious study.
Washington, D.C., is the
capital of the United States,
Cairo is the capital of Egypt.
But don't look to maps to
find the capital of Israel.
Since 1949, when Israel's
seat of government was
transferred from temporary
headquarters in Tel Aviv,
Israel has maintained that
Jerusalem is its capital. But
most foreign nations con-
tinue to consider Israel's
capital Tel Aviv and locate
their embassies there.
Some American-made
maps do show Jerusalem as
the capital. Among these are
the 1985 Hammond Gold
Medallion World Atlas. The
Hammond Atlas gives the
status of the West Bank and
Gaza as undetermined.
The 1979 National
Geographic Our World pic-
ture atlas, presumably for
children, also lists
Jerusalem as Israel's capi-
tal. At the same time, it
would seem to suggest that
the West Bank is part of
Jordan. Nations are por-
trayed in various colors,
with the West Bank and
Jordan the same color. The
West Bank and the Golan
Heights are marked with the
same dark lines, apparently
to show Israel's presence.
What some might find
surprising is the large
number of international
maps and atlases — in-
cluding those with the West
Bank shown as Jordanian
territory — that mark
Jerusalem as Israel's capi-
tal. Among these publica-
tions are Spain's Gran Atlas
Aguilar; the Larousse Atlas
Classique of Paris; Italy's
Grande Atlante Geografico;
and Japan's Zenkyl's Atlas.
The Larousse Atlas,
Zenkyo's Atlas and the
Grande Atlante Geografico
also dare to tackle the deli-
cate problem of pleasing
both Palestinians and Jews.
They label Israel, the West
Bank and Gaza both Israel
and Palestine. ❑
10. The 1949-1967 Armistice Line. The
dark area is Israel, the lined areas
are Judea and Samaria.
11. Israel today. The Sinai Desert, which
Israel won in the 1967 War, was
returned to Egypt as part of the
peace treaty. In white: the Gaza
Strip, Judea and Samaria, the Golan
Heights.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29