Landmark Litigation Challenges Israeli Land Takeover
The Jerusalem Post has reported that five Palestinians, with the help of human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, are suing the State of Israel over their failure to act on illegal land takeovers. The lawsuit will focus on the outpost of Migron, established in 1999 and subsequently expanded to include permanent settlements in 2003. The lawsuit is to target the State of Israel for “betraying its legal and moral obligations and refraining from protecting the plaintiffs and their property and, instead, is helping the thieves by its actions and lack of action.”
This is an interesting story to follow, because the five Palestinian plaintiffs have put the Israeli government’s back against the wall. Sfard has publicly stated that the Israeli government
had confirmed that the land upon which the Migron housing was built was recorded in the land registry as Palestinian-owned land; that the outpost was illegal; that the government had issued demolition orders on all the building; that no one was authorized to build Migron; and that the only question at issue was when to evacuate it.
At the same time, reports show that the government supplied over 4 million dollars to build the Migron settlement. Settlers at the outpost have stated that they do not intend to leave, and the outpost’s legality is based upon government investment. The Israeli government will be forced to decide whether to back their citizens or uphold the plaintiffs’ rights.
Gavin Yerxa
