Comments on: Knesset rejects ‘land grab’ bill; settlements expand anyway

By: anna

anna — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 07:30:46 +0000

Arib: So I take it Israel is authorizing and subsidizing the building of new homes for the Bedouins whose present homes will be demolished – as they are doing for the settlers?

No? Well what a surprise that is.

What a surprise…

By: Moschops

Moschops — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:57:33 +0000

Let’s face it, this game has been played for 45 Years. “They Protest, We Build”

What ever is Legal is whatever the Israeli government says is Legal.
To put it brutally: In essence, Jews are Legal; Palestinians are Illegal.

By: Arib

Arib — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 06:03:20 +0000

Piotr, you can believe what you like but I have in my hands the British Mandate land registry documents that show clearly Jewish owners on the land Al Zanoog is sitting. Purchased front the Bank Of Palestine in 1932. Of course then registered in the Israeli Land Registry after 1948. Your “big lie” story just has no historical, factual backing……..

By: Piotr Berman

Piotr Berman — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:34:25 +0000

ARIB: “build illegally on private Jewish land”

This is a lie. The land is confiscated land of native tribes that belongs to the state or para-state organizations.

By: Arib

Arib — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:13:38 +0000

You must now be really concerned for those Bedouin villages in the Negev, like Al Zarnoog, built illegally on private Jewish land. With equal application of Supreme court rulings, they now have no recourse left before their own illegal settlement of 350 houses is put on the block to be demolished.

By: Danny

Danny — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:39:47 +0000

Netanyahu is nothing if not a brilliant mach’er – a buyer and seller. You give me 5 homes here, I’ll give you 50 there. And he orchestrates the whole charade in the knesset to actually make him look like a leftist (or so he thinks). Now, he can show Obama and Merkel that he has removed settlers from Palestinian land, while in reality he has built net 45 new settler units. Brilliant! And Obama will pat him on the head and say “Good, Bibi. You done good.” SICKENING.

By: ish yehudi

ish yehudi — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:37:09 +0000

everyone is aware of the location of the houses in ulpana slated for destruction right? it is a single row of houses within the fence of Bet El. Meaning that destroying these houses has nothing to do with entitling a Palestinian to the land they have lost- because the land is within a town boundary and there is no way for them to build or farm… it is an action of principle and to create precedent. A principle which to a degree i agree with, but only if it is applied with a sense of the reality and the common ground.

yes- the rule of law which must reign supreme and i know everyone wants to lash back at the settlers for their lack of respect of authority etc etc.. but destroying houses and costing taxpayers etc is hard to justify in any event- but especially as this land is not destined to return to its owners- by anyones imagination.
Tzedek and the abstract ideals of justice should try to find a better way of fitting into reality– this one reeks of agendas in its ignoring the people on the ground.. Petty politics (not that the right is clean of this- its equally disgustin) but lets try to refine our sense of justice and its application into the sticky situations.

By: XYZ

XYZ — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 08:03:46 +0000

The one thing I don’t understand about this case and that of Migron is that no Palestinians have actually made any claim that the land in question is their property. How can the state and the Supreme Court state that the land is “private” Palestinian land if no one has ever proven any ownership?

By: AYLA

AYLA — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 06:12:51 +0000

it’s 9am. This makes me want to go back to sleep. No news before noon.

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:25:44 +0000

Yes, SH, I was going to point that out if you hadn’t:
.
Netanyahu reveals plan to build 280 housing units in Beit El
Michal Shmulovich, Times of Israel, Jun 4 2012
http://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-government-approves-280-new-housing-units-in-beit-el-as-part-of-givat-ulpana-plan/
.
Netanyahu told his Likud colleagues Monday that the government would build 280 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, as part of a plan to relocate five buildings in the adjacent illegal outpost of Ulpana. The prime minister was trying to convince his party’s MKs not to vote Wednesday for a “regularization bill” that would legalize the Ulpana outpost, and others like it, bypassing a Supreme Court ruling on the issue. Early indications were that the tactic would prove effective, with reports that the bill is set to fail or possibly be withdrawn by its sponsors. On Sunday, Netanyahu had presented an alternative to the bill, a three-point plan to dismantle the five buildings and rebuild them elsewhere within Beit El, a few hundred meters away. The Supreme Court has ruled that they must be demolished by Jul 1. Speaking to the Likud faction on Monday, Netanyahu said Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein had approved the plan to demolish and rebuild the five buildings, constructed on land that the state has accepted is privately Palestinian-owned. He also said the cost of dismantling the five buildings would be between 6 and 7m shekels, and that the cost of rebuilding them would be another 6 or 7m. The 280 new buildings (sic – means apartments – RB) to be constructed in Beit El would fulfill the second stage of Netanyahu’s plan, according to which some 10 housing units would be added to existing settlements for each one demolished.