Israel Supreme Court: Settlers can no longer gain possession of land by farming it

[Jefferson23]

Large tracks of West Bank land are farmed by settlers under the aegis of an old Ottoman law - the new ruling will allow the Civil Administration to order their eviction.

By Chaim Levinson

The Israeli Supreme Court set a precedent on Tuesday ruling that an Ottoman law, under which settlers could get custody of agricultural land by showing they had been farming it for a decade or longer, was not enough to grant ownership of the land.

The case in question involved a petition against Michael Lessens, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, who had been working a plot of land close to the settlement. The head of the Civil Administration issued an order stating he had illegally taken possession of the land and evicting him from it.

snip* On Tuesday, Dorit Beinish, former president of the Supreme Court, issued her decision in the case, supported by judges Miriam Naor and Edna Arbel, accepting the plaintiffs’ appeal. According to the court ruling it is not enough to invade land and hold it for over ten years - the land needs to be “honestly taken.”

Large tracks of land in the West Bank are farmed by settlers under the aegis of the Ottoman law. The new ruling will allow the Civil Administration to order their eviction.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-supreme-court-settlers-can-no-longer-gain-possession-of-land-by-farming-it-1.419804

[Jefferson23]

1. State to offer Migron residents to move to temporary West Bank location

Security officials feverishly seeking way to resolve evacuation of illegal outpost following High Court's rejection of the state's compromise deal.

By Chaim Levinson

Israeli officials are ready to offer the residents of the West Bank outpost of Migron to temporarily move to a mobile home site on Sunday, just hours after the High Court of Justice rejected a compromise between Migron and the state that would have postponed the evacuation of the settlement to 2015.

The court's decision was reached unanimously by a panel of three Supreme Court Justices – Asher Grunis, Mirian Naro and Salim Joubran – who ordered the outpost demolished by August 1.

In the ruling, drafted by justice Naor, the court stated that it had the authority to postpone the date of the original order's execution, adding, however, that it saw no need to do so in this case.

Later Sunday, Haaretz learned that security officials were feverishly weighing potential courses of action following the court's decision.

In the past, the state offered Migron residents to move to a temporary site until a permanent one is established, but they denied the proposal, which led to the formation of the rejected compromise deal.

Now, in their search for a solution that could provide a social solution to the outpost's residents, security officials are expected to offer them to move to a caravan site in the settlement of Geva Benymain (also known as Adam) until permanent housing is completed in a yet-to-be-determined location.

Writing in the court's ruling earlier Sunday, justice Naor wrote that the Migron issue represented one of the "most difficult and extraordinary cases in regards to illegal outposts. The outpost is sprawled across extensive land, all in the possession of private and orderly Palestinian ownership."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/state-to-offer-migron-residents-to-move-to-temporary-west-bank-location-1.420657

[azurnoir]

2. Sharon first announced that Migron would be evacuated in 2003 and here we are 9 years later

Evacuation orders

Ariel Sharon announced that Migron would be dismantled in 2003.[18] On 17 December 2006, the Israeli government, responding to a petition from Peace Now and residents of Burqa and Deir Dibwan, conceded that the establishment of Migron had not received official authorization. On 12 February 2007, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the government to submit a report within 60 days on steps that would be taken to remove the outpost. On 1 May 2007, the government told the court that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had instructed the Defence Ministry to prepare an evacuation plan within the next two months. A 60-day extension was requested.[12] On 8 July 2007, the government requested a further 90-day extension so that the new Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, could formulate his position on the issue.[12]

On 23 January 2008, the government informed the court that “The Prime Minister and Defense Minister have decided that the outpost Migron, which was constructed on Private Palestinian land, will be evacuated within six months, that is until the beginning of August 2008”. In addition the statement also expresses that the Defense Ministry reserves the right to “request from the Supreme Court an extension on this date, if it deems necessary”.[19] The promise was accepted by the Supreme Court on 6 February 2008. On 13 August 2008, the government declared that the Yesha Council had agreed to decide within 30 days to which location to transfer the outpost,[20] on November 24 2008 the government signed an agreement with the settlers to remove the outpost to the settlement of Geva Binyamin. On November 26, the Supreme Court ordered the government to explain within 45 days why it didn't remove the outpost.[12]
2008 Yom Haatzmaut celebration at Migron

In her summation Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch criticized the State “Today you are submitting papers full of promises, but without any knowledge of who will actually see this through in 3 years time, your statements have turned into meaningless words. In your statements you have revealed some of your secrets: you explain how the evacuation will be carried out, but you never actually say that it will be carried out”. On 2 February 2009 the government responded with the declaration that they intend to construct a new neighbourhood in an existing settlement for the evacuees of the Migron outpost. On 28 June 2009, the government submitted an affidavit to the courts, according to which the Ministry of Defense authorized the construction of a new neighborhood in the existing settlements of Geva Binyamin. The construction would include 50 housing units for the evacuees of Migron and another 1,450 units for new settlers.[12]

This page was last modified on 25 March 2012 at 17:49

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migron,_Mateh_Binyamin#Evacuation_orders

should be interesting to see how this pans out

[Jefferson23]

3. Thanks for posting.