A bill that would prohibit the state of Tennessee from using the name West Bank in any official government material to refer to the occupied land that makes up part of the Palestinian territories passed a Senate committee and was recommended for a full vote in that chamber.
Official U.S. foreign policy recognizes the West Bank, an area west of the Jordan River, and the U.S. State Department uses the term to reference the area.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, voted in favor of the bill.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, requires state agencies to identify the region as Judea and Samaria, to support the sovereignty of Israel over the region and to recognize the Bible as a historical document and Israel as the “rightful steward” of the land. It requires state agencies to affirm that the U.S. was founded on Judeo-Christian heritage.
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The term West Bank, the bill states, is a deliberate attempt to erase the Jewish identity of the land.
“It’s just false to say it’s inaccurate,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said in the State and Local Government Committee about the term “West Bank.”
“These terms are unquestionably, as we just witnessed, loaded with political context, loaded with real significance for a dispute where people are dying,” Yarbro continued, “and people continue to die, and we are compelling the use of one of those political terms. That’s a choice, that’s mandated political speech, effectively, and that’s just not what we should be doing.”
While a ceasefire reached in October stopped the deadliest fighting, Israeli forces have continued to carry out nearly daily fire in the West Bank, The Associated Press has reported.
On Sunday night, at least 10 Palestinians were injured in an attack by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, the AP reported. Attacks have continued as the Israeli government has moved forward with new settlements in the West Bank, the AP also reported.
The bill cleared the committee by a 5-3 margin with one present and not voting. The bill has already passed in the House.
Similar legislation has been proposed in at least four other states: Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina. The bill failed in Florida. Arkansas passed a law mandating the replacement of West Bank with Judea and Samaria last year.
A model version of the bill has been introduced by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative nonprofit that publishes template legislation.
Contact politics reporter Ruby Rayner at rrayner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6556.
