Time to end the occupation of the squatters in Hebron

Here is an irony for you - from the man who rarely steps outside of Ramallah unless he is heading to Jordan to catch a flight to a more (shall we say), ‘congenial’ place, and then, only under heavy guard to protect him from his peeps. Jerusalem Post

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday visited Hebron for the first time since he took office in 2005 and demanded that the settlers get out. "Hebron is ours, and they have to leave if they want peace," he said.

Nearly four millenniums later, and Abu Mazen thinks it 1099 or 1929 all over again. Here is a news flash – Fuck you.

No Eviction - for now

According to the Jerusalem Post the IDF has decided this would not be an opportune time (owing to the many who are expected to arrive to spend Shabbat in Hebron) to evict the families from Beit HaShalom in Hebron. Although the JPost article does all suggest the eviction will come and alludes to the ‘when’ will be up for discussion on Thursday.

Fearing extreme violence, the IDF does not plan to evacuate the disputed four-story building in Hebron this week, senior defense officials said on Wednesday. Initially it was expected that the IDF would move immediately to forcibly remove the nine families who live there once the court-ordered deadline for their voluntary exit expired Wednesday morning.

According to defense officials, the decision to postpone the evacuation was made due to festivities planned for the weekend in the Jewish section of the city and concern that right-wing activists would barricade themselves in the building, known as Beit Hashalom. It is located on Worshipers' Way, the road that leads between the Kiryat Arba settlement and the Cave of the Patriarchs.

And just what exactly is the Torah reading this week which would inspire Jews to come to Hebron? Nothing less that the Parshah Chayei-Sarah which tells the story of Sarah’s death and Abraham’s insistence on buying the Machpeilah Cave to bury Sarah in for 400 shekels of silver from Ephton the Hittite.

There is an irony here which I suspect even the IDF command and the secular political left echelon recognizes and has decided this is not most politically expedient time to be remembered and associated for evicting Jews from their home in Hebron.

Of course, no one asked me, but I would still like to put out an alternative suggestion for the most appropriate night to come as thieves in the night and carry out this nefarious eviction – providing of course if the Barak and Livni camp cannot be deterred from the utter folly of this course. My vote goes for the after the first candle has been lit on the 25th day of Kislev.

Meaning of the showdown at Beit HaShalom

I have written about Beit HaShalom in Hebron before. I have been reading steadily the most recent developments in the papers and I have been trying to write a coherent post on why the coming showdown at Beit HaShalom is important. Rafi at Life in Israel nails it better than I.I hope he forgive this stranger from far for co-opting most of his post:

Why this is so important to be done now, can only be answered with one word - elections. The left wing government, and the Supreme Court, need to retain their control of the country. They see the populace turning more and more to the right, and that means they are losing control, and their agenda will lose its momentum. The only plan they have to thwart that is by engendering hatred for the "violent settlers who are anti-state".

How do you get people who send their kids to the elite army units, people who are involved in every aspect of the state, people who are involved in settling the land, to appear as anti-state?

The easiest way seems to be by riling them up by knocking down their homes, destroying their villages, and ruining their lives. They never really turn anti-state, as we saw after the Disengagement. They continued to send their kids to the most elite combat units, they continued serving faithfully despite threats and concerns that they would not. But at least for a few days if they can be upset, and shown in the media as being violent, and get some salient anti-government quotes said in the heat of the conflict, then they can easily be branded and portrayed as being anti-state and violent.

So the Supreme Court decides it is time to throw out a bunch of people who paid for their house, with video proof and full documentation. The government says they are going to do it. The residents and their supporters (of which I count myself) start getting upset and defending their position and themselves as being persecuted, and we are heading for a violent clash.

The leaders of the families at Beit HaShalom are warning that the upcoming fights will make Amona look like it was a cakewalk.

And you know what? I hope they break some heads.

The government is very selectively enforcing the law. Their is tremendous illegal construction going on all over the country, some by jews, and most of it by Arabs and Bedouin. As a matter of fact, there is a report by a comittee appointed by Interior Minister Meir Shitreet recommending today that tens of thousands od dunams of land stonlen by Bedouins in southern Israel and illegaly built upon be formally and retroactively approved, even though nobody went through any process of apllying for permits and making it legal. Just wave your hand and make all that illegal construction, and land theft, legal.

Yet here a few people go and pay full price for a house in a city, and nobody has argued that what they did was invalid or illegal, and the governemt is going out of its way to evict them.

If they think this will be a cakewalk, they are wrong.

The problem is that the residents of Beit HaShalom are playing into the hands of the government. The government is trying to get images of violent settlers into the media right before elections. That is the only way to get the left wingers, and even more centrist people, to hate the right wing, call them violent, condemn them and the like right before elections.

But what else can the residents do? Just walk away peacefully? They cannot. If they do that, then there will be more razings, evictions and disengagements around Yehuda V'Shomron.

They need to fight back. They have to defend themselves against the governments selective enforcement and the governments redifa* of the settlers.

And Rafi, sometimes it takes courage just to chose sides and speak out. If my life was my own and I could afford to leave my children; I can think of no better place to be today or in the coming tomorrows than Beit HaShalom.


*redifa translates as repression.

keeping an eye on the house of peace

Update: Ynet News has posted a video tape made by the Hebron Community showing the transaction and sale of Beit HaShalom by the original Arab owner. This should be game, set and match.

I haven’t written about Beit HaShalom since the Hebron Community took possession of the house but it does not mean I have not been watching. The case is now being argued before the Israeli courts with the state alleging the Hebron community forged the documents of sale. Ynet News carries this potential insight into the government’s case.

Leading specialist employed by State's courts as expert on forensic document examination validates papers proving Palestinian owner sold home to Jewish buyers, rejects conclusions of police forensic team as result of substandard scientific work.
(...)
The heated battle over the property centers on the claim made by the Jewish Community, which asserts that it legally purchased the house whereas the State asserts that any proof of its purchase by the Jewish residents was forged.

The State Prosecution based its case on the report issued by the Jerusalem Police forensics laboratory, which examined the documents provided by the Hebron Jewish Community. The community claims that the documents that raised the authorities' suspicions were not the actual contracts proving the purchase of the house but rather supplementary paperwork such as the authorization of the Palestinian notary in Jericho.

The community enlisted the services of document examination expert Dr. Mordechai Vardi, a specialist who serves as the top authority on document analysis for the courts. After reviewing the case Dr. Vardi said the police report which the State built its case on did not comply with the necessary professional criteria and was overly vague; failing to provide detailed explanations for its assessments.

Vardi heavily criticized the fact that the police forensic report failed to acknowledge the most important document, the authenticity of which has not been challenged – the deed signed by the Palestinian owners transferring ownership of the house. According to Vardi there is no questioning the genuineness of the documents and signatures of the Palestinians who made the sale. Vardi said it was probable that the police based their analysis on a so-called 'self-forgery' made by the Palestinians. Meaning that the signatures they provided to the police for comparison's sake were purposely altered to mislead the forensic investigators.

Of course, any Arab convicted of selling land to Jews faces an automatic death sentence within the control of the Palestinian Authority - so would it really be out of the bounds of possibilities that the Palestinians involved would supply the Israeli authorities with forged documents?

Flashpoint - Hebron

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Israeli Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, has come to the conclusion that the best course of action is for the IDF to evict the Jews from Beit HaShalom house by April 19th.

A contentious Hebron home will be evacuated by April 19, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Friday. Sneh told Army Radio that entering the home, which is on the road that links Kiryat Arba with the Cave of the Patriarchs, required permission from the security establishment, irrespective of the legality of the purchase. "The choice of the location for this home is not a coincidence," added Sneh. "It is not in immediate vicinity to the other settlers homes in Hebron." Sneh said that it was part of the "strategy of these people" to change the circumstances inside Hebron.

Security establishment officials were estimating that thousands of police and soldiers would be required for the evacuation operation if a deal was not struck with the settlers to voluntarily evacuate the building. Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced Thursday night that in two weeks he would remove the settlers who on March 19 moved into the new four-story building.

MK Effi Eitam (NRP-NU) said that Peretz had made the decision out of political considerations. "It is plain to see that the defense minister is not acting against the house in Hebron but against the house he is sitting in - the government and the coalition," Eitam told Army Radio on Friday morning. "It is a house which was bought legally," he blasted, adding, "This is real provocation."

Peretz's announcement caught the settlers in the apartment building by surprise. They had assumed that their presence in the 3,500-square meter stone structure was permissible, since, they said, they had legally purchased the structure for $700,000.

In March, the IDF provided security for the entry of the settlers to the structure, located in an area populated by Palestinians. Still, Peretz said on Thursday the settlers' presence was unauthorized because they had not sought permission from his office to enter the building.

Around the time the settlers moved in, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, an observer group, said in a press release that the IDF had informed it that the settlers had entered the building. The army, according to TIPH, said, "The settlers bought the building from the Palestinian owner, and had a document to prove ownership."

A source in the Defense Ministry said that while the sale appeared to be legal, this was immaterial since the important issue was how the settlers entered the building. Peretz, the source said, took a "principled decision to evacuate those who had invaded the home." He did so after consulting with Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, legal advisers and other security officials, said the source. Authorities are now looking for the proper legal tools to evacuate the settlers, the Defense Ministry source said. Peretz said government policy should not be determined by the settlers' purchasing a building, but rather that "it is the government's policy that should determine the purchasing."

I do have to snicker at the suggestion from the Labour party MK's that the eviction is really an "evacuation". Talk about an abuse of language. And what an extraordinary thought that the sale and legal title to a property is immaterial. Peretz’s red roots are showing rather remarkably.

Arutz Sheva has more:

The joy was somewhat doused Thursday night with the announcement by Defense Minister Amir Peretz of Labor that he plans to evacuate the Jews from the building. He explained that even if the sale is legal, the residents had failed to obtain permission from the defense establishment before moving in, as is required in Judea and Samaria. Labor MK Ephraim Sneh seconded Peretz's position.

Peretz has been under fire within his Labor Party for not evacuating Jewish outposts in Judea and Samaria as he promised. His decision was thus greeted by many political figures (see below) as merely serving his own political needs. By Friday, however, it appeared likely that Peretz would have a hard time implementing his decision. MK Effie Eitam said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told him last week that he would not allow Peretz to evacuate the building. "If the building in Hevron was acquired legally," Olmert reportedly told Eitam, "I won't let Peretz evacuate it." Eitam said he met with the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Roni Bar-On (Kadima) on the issue.

"Evacuating this building," Eitam said he told Olmert, "would be against rules of natural justice and the legitimate rights of Jews to acquire property and to live in their homes everywhere in the Land of Israel."

In addition, Kadima MK Otniel Schneller said that most of his party colleagues in the Knesset intend to block Peretz’s "politically-based" plan to evacuate Peace House. Kadima Knesset faction leader Avigdor Yitzchaki also expressed his support for the Jewish residents of Peace House in a visit Thursday afternoon, together with Likud MK Gidon Saar.

"Peretz must not be allowed to throw the whole country into a tizzy because of his own personal political considerations," MK Eitam said, in reference to Peretz's all-but-lost bid to retain his leadership of the Labor Party. Labor will hold party primaries for the leadership late next month.
(…)
Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, head of the Pensioners Party and a veteran defense figure, told Arutz-7's Uzi Baruch today that he supports the Jewish presence in the new building. "The building must remain in Jewish hands," Eitan said, "because it is in territory that is totally Israel. In 1996, an agreement was signed [giving away most of Hevron to the Palestinian Authority - ed.] that essentially divides Hevron [into Jewish and Arab areas]. That agreement stipulates clearly that the road between the Machpelah Cave and Kiryat Arba remains under Israeli control - and therefore this building must remain Israeli."

The Deputy Mayor of Beit Shemesh, Shalom Lerner, visited the new building on Friday and promised support for the residents against Defense Minister Peretz's stated intention to throw them out. Meeting with those currently living in the building, Lerner said, "The residents of Beit Shemesh [40 kilometers northwest of Hevron - ed.] encourage and strengthen you in your efforts to fortify the Jewish presence in Hevron, and they will stand with you here and struggle against any attempt to evict you. Attempts to throw you out stand in opposition to natural justice and the position of most Israeli citizens. I will call upon the residents of Beit Shemesh to join the struggle for this building, so that Peretz - who failed in protecting our security - won't fail in Hevron as well."

Needless to say, the Jewish community of Hebron is prepared to fight the eviction and will appeal to the Israeli high court. The Yesha Council is now calling for the rescinding of the eviction order. And as far as I can determine, Jordanian and Palestinian Authority are still holding under arrest the former Arab former owners.

Beit HaShalom – the House of Peace

Joe Settler is one of my regular reads for a variety of reasons. Joe posted one of the most coherent comment policy statements ever blogged. I don’t comment at Joe’s blog because I have only read 10 out of the 16 required areas of study; and to be honest rather than modest - I only have a rudimentary understanding of some of those 10. But at least I do know who Rabbi Chaim Zimmerman was (unlike another lurker who dared to comment). I will leave it to your imagination which combination of 6 I am ignorant of.

Anyway, I bring this up because Joe carries an update on a couple of posts I wrote about a few weeks ago concerning the purchase of a building and land in Hebron by the Jewish Community of Hebron.

For those link challenged with no short-term memory; two different Palestinian men each claimed to have separate sole title to the land/building; which they respectively accused the "settlers" of Hebron of stealing from them. I have to admit I feel a little odd writing the word “settlers” when referring to Jews in Hebron. I mean, for nearly 4 milleninums, Jews have lived continuously in Hebron (except for brief periods totally less than 350 years spread over nearly 3700 years). How many millenniums or generations have to pass before a settler (or their descendants) are no longer considered a bona fide settler?

Like most things in Israel, it was hard to figure out who was the alleged Palestinian land owner/victim. As far as I could tell, it really depended on which Israeli paper you read. Personally, I liked the guy from the Ynet/Jerusalem Post accounts. The guy had 4 wives and 33 children which was why he needed to build a home of approximately 37,500 square feet as - opposed to really bland character Ha’aretz’s picked.

At the time, I suggested that the underlying rationale for charges of land theft (by whoever was the former Arab landowner) had more to do with the former owner wanting to save his skin and keep the money from the sale. Let’s face it, a man with 4 wives and 33 children needs every penny he can lay his hands on.

The Jerusalem Post carries this brief update on the fate of the former Palestinian landowner:

Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Authority Preventive Security Forces on Thursday arrested a man who claimed ownership of the controversial house in Hebron, taken over by right-wing Jewish activists on March 19, on suspicion of selling the property to settlers.

Joe rightly asks where are the man’s supporters from the left-wing radical groups Peace Now and B'Tselem? No doubt the silence from these groups concerning this man’s fate will be positively deafening, but if ever a man needed a friend - this guy does. They still lynch in the Palestinian Authority.

Ha'aretz is reporting that the Jordian government has arrested another man in connection with this land sale:

One of the suspects is being held in Jordan, and the other in Jericho. PA laws call for a death sentence for anyone found guilty of selling land to Jews.

Hebron's Jewish Committee condemned the arrest, saying, "The arrest exposes once again the anti-Semitic nature of the PA. We call upon the government to accept the racial hatred prevalent in the PA." MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party) called on the government to act for the release of the arrested Palestinians.

I would just like to point out that Jordanian law also calls for the death penalty for anyone convicted of selling land to a Jew - not an Israeli, but a Jew. So who is the Apartheid State now?

Documents, smuckuments!

In a follow-up to Who’s Land is it Anyway? It turns out there are now two competing and conflicting Palestinian Arab claim(s) of ownership for the building the Hebron Jewish community has bought. Arutz Sheva carries this tidbit in its report.

An Arab claiming to be the house's owner denies the house was ever sold to Jews. "The house is all mine," claimed Baez Rajabi, "and I have all of the documents proving it." However, another Arab man, Mohammed Al-Baradei, is also quoted in some media outlets as saying the house is his: "I handed all of the documents over to police after making copies," said Baradei.

Actually, this situation has all the potential of making a highly entertaining read. It seems that left wing Israeli daily Ha’aretz is trumphing Mohammed al-Baradei as owner; while the Israeli left-wing larger daily Ynet News is reporting Baez Rajabi as the alleged owner of the land & building in question.

As much as I would love to watch Ha’aretz and Ynet News slug it out in the press – maybe it would be just easier to rule out which Palestinians in Hebron do not currently hold in their possession a title to the land & building in question. But before we do that – does anyone know how accurate carbon-14 dating is nowadays?

Just who’s land is it anyway?

I have been keeping my eye on a story out of Hebron. Hundreds of Yeshiva students take over an abandoned building which the Hebron Jewish Community claims to have legally purchased from the owner in Jordan. A local Palestinian man claims to possess legal title to the building and maintains he did not sell it. The Jerusalem Post carries this rather account.

The Jewish community of Hebron celebrated Monday evening after 200-300 students moved into a house in a Palestinian neighborhood on the road between Kiryat Arba and the Machpela Cave. According to Hebron Jewish community spokesman David Wilder, representatives of the community purchased the building through an office in Jordan for the sum of $700,000.

Wilder said they planned on calling the house "Bayit Hashalom (house of peace), in the hope that it can be the bridge for better relations." "We feel it is a very important location... it can be a link between the Jewish community of Kiryat Arba and Hebron," said Wilder. He said that although they had not yet decided on the use for the massive building, "it's very, very likely that there will be families there." The building, he added, could also hold a school or offices in the future. Security forces were stationed around the building Monday night but the situation remained calm in the city, often seen as a tinderbox for conflict among Jewish and Arab residents and security forces.

But the occupant of the house, Fayez Rajabi, told members of the B'tselem organization that he did not sell the house to the settlers. Rajabi filed an official complaint with the police on Monday night. Judea and Samaria District Police said they were looking into the issue and checking the documents. Wilder confirmed that the community had turned over to authorities the legal papers documenting the sale and the transfer of ownership.

Since both parties claim to have produced title to the abandoned building - who has the right of it? It’s just not a simple question. It would be reasonably to presume that the alleged Palestinian owner’s (Fayez Rajabi) outrage was genuine if this were Canada. Frequently, there are absentee Jordanian landlords who own actual title to the buildings and land in the West Bank while ‘other’ locals claim the right of ownership by possession. Eventually, if enough time has passed, it is taken as a given in the community, that the one making the most noise has title when it is just not necessarily so.

But let’s make two assumptions. Rajabi did own title to building and land and he did sell it. What would be his possible motivation for launching a very public outcry against the actual sale and then deny all knowledge of it? He might want to keep protect his life and the life of his family.

Frequently, Arabs (both Palestinian and Israeli) who knowingly sell land to Jews are murdered in a very brutal fashion. Even the leasing of land for Jewish use in Israel has resulted in grievous harm. If a Greek Orthodox Patriarch is not immune from persecution by official Palestinian Authority thugs in Israel – what chance does an ordinary Palestinian Arab land owner have?

Let’s look at the other side. What are the odds that the Hebron Jewish Community has forged the papers and title for the land? While I found Palestinian accounts of small home invasions by individual Jews, I have found no evidence on this size or scale. Given the often explosive nature of the Hebron community between Jews/Arabs and relations between the Israeli government and Jews - I would suggest it far more likely that the Hebron Jewish Community would move very slowly to ensure all the ‘I’s’ were dotted and the ‘T’s’ were legally crossed.

The biggest fight the Hebron Jewish Community will have to maintain possession of this land and building will be launched from the Israeli government and by other Jewish left-wing extremist organizations. In fact, B’tselem (an extremist left-wing Jewish group heavily financed and supported by overseas governments) has already launched the opening salvo:

But B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said it was not sufficient simply to check the documents' veracity, and that it was the role of the IDF to prevent the settlers from moving into the house, even if it was legally acquired. "Our opposition in principle is that these settlements should be evacuated anyway and that there shouldn't be these pockets in Hebron," said Michaeli, adding that "other than watching and making sure that [the sale] was done in a legal way, the IDF has the obligation to make sure that settlers don't take over more areas."

There always remains the possibility that the Hebron Jewish Community were the unknowing dupes of a former Jordanian landlord’s malfeasance. Why this story bairs watching in the coming days is because these are not your grandmother’s ghetto-ized Jews who will lie down and die with little resistance or run at the first sign of a struggle or fight. If I were to generalize, I think it would be safer to say characterize these Jews as the modern inheritors of the Maccabee tradition.

Update:

I received an email advising me that it is not a Yeshiva Student group which purchased the building, but rather the Hebron Jewish Community. Consider it duly corrected. By the way, the Hebron Jewish Community has a rather nifty video/display/slide show of the Beit HaShalom building in question.