The Unclaimed ‘Private Arab Lands’ in Judea and Samaria

In the heart of my town, at the end of my block, are nine houses that the Supreme Court has ruled must be razed within a few months. Why? Because, the High Court says, “they are located on privately-owned lands.”

Why is no one in the media asking: How can it be that a full 90% (!) of the homes that the Supreme Court ruled must be razed have no claimants? Never did that Ahmed or Sa'id come and say, “This is my land!” If he exists, why doesn't he come and claim it? There has already been a court case, and he has won; now all he has to do and come and say, “It's mine!”

The answer is that the subject of, “private lands,” is, on the whole, a total lie. Most of these lands never actually belonged to any Arab. So how were they registered in the names of private Arab individuals?

In 1950, King Hussein of Jordan decided to annex Judea and Samaria to Jordan. For some reason, possibly in order to shore up his regime, Hussein decided to organize the lands [over which he had no recognized claim] by simply dividing them up as gifts to various individuals. He started the process in the Ramallah area, the area of Binyamin – where Ofrah, Beit El, and many other Jewish towns are now located. Whatever parcels of land were left over, King Hussein gave to the local mukhtars, so that they would register them in the names of their village residents.

“Thus was created a situation in which people had land in their names, but they never saw it, never knew about it, and certainly never invested even one shekel in it [or paid taxes on it.]

“Ninety% of the lands are simply unowned, no matter how many times the falsehood is repeated.
“But what about the 10% that truly are privately-owned? In such cases, the policy must be exactly as it is everywhere else in Israel: The owners should be compensated [rather than tearing down homes].

[The Palestinian Autonomy] told their fellow Arabs: ‘You are not allowed to sell your land. We are in the midst of a national struggle, and you cannot do with this land as you wish. If you do, you will die.’

In other words, the Arabs changed it from an issue of “individual” ownership to a national issue. If so, there are no more privately-owned lands.

In this national struggle, then, of the Arabs against the Jewish People and the State of Israel, we will try to purchase, or officially annex, lands; and to do what we can to settle the Land of Israel and build our communities.

It is totally dishonest to relate to these lands as if they are privately owned, when in fact the matter is one of a struggle between peoples over the Land of Israel.

Tragically, Israel’s Supreme Court has chosen to side with Israel’s enemies with their spurious claims over its citizens’ welfare.