Palestinians fight to prove West Bank land ownership
Palestinians living in villages near the illegal outpost of Amona are fighting to prove their ownership of the land where a pro-settler campaign is planning to establish its new location.
A stranger landing in Israel and watching the efforts of right-wing Knesset members to prevent the evacuation and demolition of the illegal West Bank settlement outpost of Amona would likely have thought that the security of the State of Israel was at stake.
Although the Supreme Court decided to order the evacuation of the Jewish settlement built on private Palestinian land back in December 2014, the court granted the Amona settlers and the state a two-year extension to organize the move and find an alternative location for its inhabitants. But instead of preparing to implement the ruling, the Amona settlers, their leaders in the Yesha settlement council and the right-wing parties chose to try to skirt the court decision and keep their homes.
One of their moves was the reintroduction of a bill known as the “regularization law,” which failed to pass in 2012. It would prevent the razing of homes built on private Palestinian land by legalizing the settlement. Another is the takeover of lands adjacent to Amona by essentially claiming that these are lands abandoned by "absentee owners." If the owners of such property do turn up, they would receive compensation from the state.
The Amona campaign is currently focused on pushing forward this legislation. As far as the settlers are concerned, this is the ideal solution. On Sept. 17, 25 Likud government ministers, deputy ministers and Knesset members issued a joint declaration of support for the law. Unlike them, the ministers from HaBayit HaYehudi — Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and its chair, Education Minister Naftali Bennett — do not believe the bill will win Knesset approval and are seeking instead to raze Amona and rebuild it on the adjacent land they argue was abandoned.
