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Israel’s appropriation of land explained
January 24, 2016 by J-Wire Staff
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Israel’s plans to appropriate a large tract of fertile land near Jericho being denounced by UN General-Secretary Ban-Kimoon have been explained by Regavim’s Ari Briggs.
Ari Briggs
The report published by Australia’s Sky News states that Israel’s Defence Ministry offshoot COGAT had emailed Reuters advising them that 154 hectares of land had been taken and “the lands are in the final stages of being declared state lands”.
Former Sydneysider Ari Briggs Regavim’s Director international relations, told J-Wire: “In pre-1967 Israel, like most countries around the world there was either public land or private land. In Judea and Samaria, the land registry was not completed by the British during mandate times resulting in areas which are not private or public land. They are called non-surveyed land.
As land should be either public or private, this non-surveyed land go through a surveying process to establish whether it is private or public.
Under Ottoman law, the basis of land law in Judea and Samaria, this is a short process which favors the government.
Under the civil administration this process is extensive and any signs of Arab inhabitation or prior agricultural work and the land is registered as private land.
This is not only achieved by surveying the land in its current state but by researching all historical aerial photos and maps.
The specific land in this case, in the Jordan Valley, has gone through this extensive surveying process and has reached the final stage where the government publicises its finding and asks for public comment and appeal on its pre final decision to register the land as public.
Obviously this is not annexation or any other grand scheme as discussed in the press and by foreign government spokespeople. This also is of no relevance to a peace agreement, unilateral withdrawal or the so-called two state solution. In each and every agreement, whether the land is public land or private land it has no effect on whatever is agreed and effected between the parties.”
Wikipedia defines Regavim as an Israeli NGO that describes its mission as “to ensure responsible, legal, accountable & environmentally friendly use of Israel’s national lands and the return of the rule of law to all areas and aspects of the land and its preservation”.
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That all sounds pretty fair and reasonable – but it
Won’t be long until someone comes up with some
(Doubtful) Evidence that the land belonged to the Arabs or
The Greeks or the Turks or the Romans or the
Australians for that matter. Anyone owned that
Land but the (rightful-owning) Israelis – that’s what
The media will put up next!