BACKGROUND

On 5 June, just hours after it became clear that Bibi Netanyahu would become the next Prime Minister of Israel, another Jewish settler family moved into the Arab neighborhood of Silwan, just outside of Jerusalem's Old City. Silwan has been targeted by the Elad settler group since 1991, which has forcibly taken property or obtained property titles through fraudulent means in this ancient Palestinian village. The political intent behind this settlement drive, which is supported by the policies of the Jerusalem municipality, is to change the demographic balance in Jerusalem and to push Arab residents out of the area.

A variety of methods have been used by settler groups to obtain property titles in this village. Many properties have been declared "absentee property", a legalism used to obtain Arab properties by removing the right of ownership for refugee Palestinians forced into exile. The Absentee rationale also applies when the original owner dies and his or her inheritors live outside Jerusalem or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. A property that has been classified as Absentee is put under the jurisdiction of the Custodian of Absentee Property and thereby often sold to settler groups.

In other cases, Palestinians sell their property to Arab middlemen, who work secretly with settler's groups. These middlemen, known in local terminology as collaborators, buy the property legitimately and then re-sell the land or homes to Jewish buyers.

In the case of Silwan, the settler's group Elad has steadily been obtaining property titles, through dubious methods, to land in Silwan in order to settle Jewish families in this village. This settler's group, in addition, has already been targeted and exposed by a Justice Ministry investigation. The Klugman Report, where the results of the investigation were published, reveals a long history of financial wrong-doing on the part of Elad, including illegally buying Arab properties with funding provided by the government The illegality and the brutality with which these purchases and subsequent evictions are carried out underline the human tragedy of these policies, and illuminate how this steady displacement undermines the social and economic fabric of this village.

In the first case, on the night of October 9th, 1991, eleven Jewish families invaded Palestinian homes in Silwan. It was consequently revealed that these properties, located near the archeological site of the historic City of David, had been previously declared "Absentees' Property" and transferred from their Arab owners to Jewish settlers of the Elad group. The settlers, along with heavily armed police, came in the middle of the night and forcibly evicted the tenants, destroyed or otherwise damaged the tenants' property while removing it, and barricaded themselves into part or all of the homes. They then hired armed guards and guard dogs, and live to this day in heavily guarded compounds, sometimes sharing the same house as the original Arab tenant.

After a long series of litigation by attorney Avigdor Feldman, retained by the Land and Water Establishment, the High Court finally ruled that the settlers had improperly taken portions of the houses (although the legality of the Absentee property concept was not questioned), and ordered the Jewish families to remove themselves from some percentage of the house (the percentage that was owned by an Arab still living in Jerusalem and therefore not considered absentee). The High Court's decision has yet to be carried out, as the police force lacks a corresponding political body with the will to evict settlers. Thus the settlers remain in violation of Israeli law.

CASE DESCRIPTION

Attempts continue on the part of Elad to obtain Arab properties in Silwan. Rima Zeidani, a single mother with a family of 5, has lived in a home in Silwan belonging to the family of Mr. Mahmoud Daoud Hussein Khalil since 1984. Recently, the lawyer for the settler group Elad, Mr. Eitan Geva'a, sent an eviction notice to Ms. Zeidani claiming that the home had been sold to Elad. The titles to the property, however, were obtained illegally, and LAWE has accepted this case as both a humanitarian case on behalf on Ms. Zeidani and as a legal issue, as the methods used for selling the property are illegal. LAWE considers this case even more important, as the issue of Arab property ownership directly relates to the political policies pursued by the Jerusalem municipality to settle Jewish families in Arab areas, thereby depriving Palestinians of essentially their heritage.

In 1995 during a visit to Silwan village from Chicago, Mr. Mahmoud Khalil, with the permission of his brothers and three of his five sisters, signed the first contract to sell the belongings inherited from their father. The agreement consisted of a house with 4 rooms, 2 storerooms and land. The inheritance should have been divided between the 3 brothers mentioned above and 5 sisters.

The sale took place in the following way: Mr. Mahmoud Khalil transferred his property to a designated middleman, a Mr. Mohammed Khader Salhab. Mr. Salhab is well-known in the Jerusalem area as a collaborator with the Israeli government, as a gambler, and as a broker in properties for Israeli Jewish settlers. Although some relatives of the brothers warned against this person and advised against the sale, the brothers disregarded this advice. To facilitate this illegal property exchange, the brothers denied that they had sold the property until Mr. Khalil and his family had left the country.

The sale of this property is illegal on two counts. First the family never formally registered its inheritance with the appropriate authorities, and thus ownership was never legally transferred to the inheritors. Secondly, all family members must approve the decision to sell the property. In this case, two of the five sisters refused to sell their shares in the property. Their brother, Mr. Mahmoud Khalil, sold their shares without their permission, and without distributing the proceeds equitably. In addition, it seems that Mr. Khalil was aware of the activities of Mr. Salhab and understood that the property would be sold to Jewish buyers. This in itself underscores corrupt nature of the transaction.

Therefore the tenant, Ms. Zeidani, and the two sisters who refused to sell, requested legal aid from Land and Water Establishment. LAWE referred the case to Israeli attorney Avigdor Feldman, who has handled the Silwan cases in the past. The case against the eviction order, and concerning the legality of the sales transaction, is now in the District Court in Jerusalem.

LAWE is currently searching for the legal fees needed to pursue this case to the fullest. The legal fees, including retaining Atty. Avigdor Feldman, comes to $15,000 plus VAT. LAWE considers these cases in Silwan as critical test cases, both against illegal land transactions but also to test the political will of the Jerusalem municipality to carry out orders of its judicial system. The political significance of placing Jewish families in Arab villages, under the protection of the Israeli police but living there against Israeli law serves as a powerful reminder of the eventual aims of the policies of the Jerusalem municipality. LAWE feels the case is a very strong one and, given that Silwan has come under increasing assault, must be pursued.

Fund Needed: $15,000 + VAT