PM, settlers reach compromise on Migron

[Donald Ian Rankin]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4179843,00.html

PM, settlers reach compromise on Migron
Settlers agree to vacate structures in West Bank outpost; gov't agrees to turn homes into farm instead of razing them
Yair Altman
Published: 01.23.12, 22:46 / Israel News


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a compromise with Migron residents over the removal of the illegal West Bank outpost, a source close to the talks told Ynet on Monday.

The agreement would require Migron residents to vacate the outpost and move into buildings that will be constructed nearby. Meanwhile, the outpost's structures will be converted into a farm instead of being razed. The settlers' new homes are to be built approximately two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the outpost, on Israeli land.

On Monday evening, the sides were drafting a contract that would stand in the High Court of Justice, which ruled recently that the settlement should be dismantled by the end March.

The State also agreed that if the settlers manage to prove the Migron is not built on private land that belongs to Palestinians, they are to be allowed to stay there.

(more at link)

[Donald Ian Rankin]

1. So this means the Palestinians who own the land won't be getting it back, right?

That's not 100% clear from the article, but it's how I read it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. It reads like they want the land in question

to be farmland, not homes, synagogues or places of business. Guessing that is for a potential evacuation need like Gaza 2005?

I don't know how anyone with any stake in this would find this a viable (or preferable) option, but thats what I am reading is happening.

[Jefferson23]

3. Time to evacuate Migron outpost

With the deadline of the High Court of Justice order to evacuate the Migron outpost looming, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered the settlers a compromise. It would involve moving the community's permanent homes, which are on privately-owned Palestinian land, to an adjacent tract that was previously declared "state land."

As a prize for agreeing not to engage in violence against the Israeli security forces who are responsible for enforcing the court order, these criminals would receive the land for free, and without a tender. And until the move is complete, the cabinet (and presumably the State Prosecutor's Office and perhaps the court as well ) would allow them to live in peace on land that the nation's highest judicial instance has determined is someone else's property.


Migron's residents and their political patrons rejected an arrangement reached three years ago between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Yesha Council of settlements. It provided for a new neighborhood in the Adam settlement, for which the state would create the infrastructure. But then, too, the squatters and their political supporters not only rejected the generous offer but threatened to settle accounts with the prime minister and "set the territories ablaze."

This is the price paid by the State of Israel for supporting - through action as well as inaction - the takeover of Palestinian lands, while at the same time undermining the two-state solution and reconciliation with our Palestinian neighbors.

The story of Migron is not only a story of contempt for the law, the legal system and justice; it is also a slap in the face to the international community and a gross violation of a cabinet resolution. In 2003 the government of Ariel Sharon (in which Netanyahu was a senior minister ) adopted the road map peace plan, which required Israel to "immediately dismantle" all outposts established after March 2001 - including Migron.

It has been almost seven years since the cabinet adopted attorney Talia Sasson's report on the outposts. Migron played a starring role in the report, together with a handful of other outposts including some on what has been declared "state land." The removal of the outposts, as specified in the road map, was to have been a cornerstone of trust-building with the Palestinians in preparation for negotiations on a final-status agreement.

Instead of conducting humiliating negotiations with the Migron squatters, the government must now evacuate all the outposts - without delay, and without exception.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/time-to-evacuate-migron-outpost-1.408897

on edit to remove pic caption.