Sebastia Disagreement

The project began with the occupation of Masudiya station by Gush Emunim, an Israeli settler organization, which led to the Sebastia agreement. The Sebastia agreement is a document signed between Gush Emunim and the Israeli government that legitimates the settlement movement by the Israeli government even though it is illegal under international law. It was a turning point that opened up the northern part of the West Bank for Jewish settlement. The station was on the Hejaz railroad, which originally connected the Middle East, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. The Gush Emunim occupation of the station is not only an entry point to further land grabs in the northern West Bank but also a foreshadowing of further control of Palestinian access to their own lands in the area as is the case in Sebastia, an archaeological site and living village northwest of Nablus in the West Bank.