Tennessee’s legislature has voted to change references in state documents to the biblical regions north and south of Jerusalem to “Judea and Samaria.”
The term, which has always applied to the region in Israel, will replace references to the “West Bank,” which was invented and used by the international community following the liberation of the region from the Jordanians in the Six-Day War of 1967.
“The ideological and cultural conflict over Judea and Samaria represents a broader civilizational struggle between Judeo-Christian values,” state House Bill 1446 and its Senate companion Bill 1663, known as the “Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act.”
The bills say the term “West Bank” is a “deliberate attempt to erase the Jewish identity of Judea and Samaria, and to obscure the deep historical, religious and legal connections of the Jewish people to the land.”
Both houses passed their respective bills on April 9, by votes of 24-8 in the Senate and 68-21 in the House of Representatives. The measure now heads to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, for his signature.
The law mandates that any tax-funded communications from state agencies or official state materials use the historical nomenclature, rather than the more recent internationally recognized term.
Debate over the legislation largely hinged on criticisms that the measure erased Palestinian heritage or amounted to biblical indoctrination, with others saying that the legislature has more pressing, relevant matters at hand.
The bill is similar to one passed in Arkansas last April. A similar effort this year in Florida died in the Senate Rules Committee.
