For two decades, Joshua Waller has lived in Judea and Samaria. He says the name most of the world uses for it was never neutral. “One of the worst lies we’ve personally combated is the lie of the ‘West Bank,'” Waller, of the American Christian organization the Israel Guys, said this week. “For 2 billion Christians around the world, that was one of the most sinister lies,” one that flipped the tide toward the idea of a Palestinian state.
Waller’s comments came at the opening of a new visitor center near Shechem, erroneously referred to Nablus (a remnant of Greek and Roman naming it Neopolis, which means ‘New City,’). This marks the latest step in the Israel Guys’ over 20-year presence in the region. The organization brings American Christians to live and work alongside Jewish communities in what it calls the biblical heartland, an area where, according to Waller, an estimated 85% of the Bible’s events took place, including Mount Gerizim, Mount Ebal, the Dotan Valley, Hebron, and Shiloh.
The visitor center is designed to introduce people from all over the world to the region’s biblical sites and to the communities living there. Waller framed the project as part of a broader effort to challenge what he described as widespread misinformation about Judea and Samaria in international media.
“Everybody talks about the lies and so much misinformation constantly spewed all over the world against Israel,” Waller said. “We’re here to combat that and say there’s amazing things happening in Judea and Samaria, and we want the whole world to know about it.”
Christian families have partnered with Jewish ranches in the region for years. Waller cited the Waller family’s own multi-generational connection to the area as part of that ongoing relationship.