LAND GIVES US RIGHTS

Maryrosarios Map of Europe

    In May 2021 a farmer in Belgium mistakenly moves the marker for the French border by eight feet. He was unaware of its significance. This was cause for a chuckle or two. But in some countries this would have international border protection issues. Your rights are based on the laws of the land that you reside it.

The issue of land surrounds authority and rights. As is usual custom it can go to the extreme ends in the Middle East (ME). Nothing in Israel is simple. It is steeped in history! It is said that the issue for Sheikh Jarrah residents is a scaled down version of the situation between Israel and Palestine. 

Let's start with the name. In the Caribbean, countries changed names at different times depending on who ruled it. The Republic of Haiti part of the island of Hispaniola was originally called Aiyiti by the Taino people. The other part of the island was once Santo Domingo under Spanish rule, and Saint Domingue under French rule. Now it is called the Dominican Republic.

The tomb of Shimon Hatzadik, known as Simeon the Just who lived in the third century BCE can be found in Sheikh Jarrah. This predates the Palestinian claim that it was named after a 12th century physician Sheikh Jarrah. 

The situation gained attention in the media because the tenants were not paying their rent. It was reported by the media that Israel was conducting apartheid policies. However the legal title for the property belonged to Nahalt Shimon, an NGO. 

When the Jews started to return, the Arabs started to settle into Israel. On a number of occasions the Jews would buy the land where the Arabs would settle and resell to other Jews at exorbitant prices. The land was registered in trust by Rabbi Avraham Ashkenazi and Meir Auerbach in the Ottoman Empire, Article No 21. 

Even in 1927 Jews thronged to the site. There was a co-existence until 1948 when the Jews were attacked. Jordan captured the area and evicted the Jews. 28 Palestinian families moved in under the Jordan authority. They claimed refugee status as Palestinians. The land was leased to them.

Tomb of Simeon the Just

Israel was attacked in 1967 with this battle referred to as the Six-Day War. Israel regained control of Jerusalem, then it passed a law for Jews whose families were evicted prior to 1967 to show proof of ownership to be able to reclaim their property. This included families evicted either by Jordanian or British authorities. The existing residents were unable to provide such proof of purchase or legal transfer of title.

Aerial attack near the Augusta Victoria Hospital

In 1973, ownership of the property was registered by Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee with Israeli authorities as required by the new law.

In 1982 the Palestinians agreed to Protected Tenant Status which meant that they had to pay a rent and maintain the property. But in 1993 the property owners filed against them for not paying rent and illegally changing the property. Wow! Eleven years later.

Next up in 1997, Suliman Darwish Hijazi, a Palestinian, challenged the trusts’ ownership based on a kushan which is an Ottoman title. He said that he bought the land from a  Jordanian man named al-Bandeq in 1961. 

But the kushan was not specific to the claimed property in Shimon Hatzadik. Through forensic evidence it appeared that the kushan had been altered or forged. There was no proof that al-Bandeq had at any point owned the property. 

Neither during the Jordanian (1961-1967) nor Israeli period (after 1967) did Hijazi act to protect his property rights, by registering it, charging rent, or paying property tax. In 2003, the owners sold the property to an NGO Nahalat Shimon, an Israeli NGO. The ruling was made by the courts but the media carried a different story. The Palestinians did what they usually do.

On a wider scale

The land of Palestine changed hands due to wars and conquerors. In 1516 the Ottoman Empire led by Yavuz Sultan Selim took the land. Jerusalem, Gaza and Nablus were made into states. There were populations in Hebron and in Galilee. They paid taxes and the Jewish population in 1600s was around 10,000. Mostly in Safed. There were North African immigrants as well.   

Egypt returned and took it from them in 1832. But the United Kingdom swooped in and reclaimed it for the Ottoman Empire that same year. 

During the 1800s a lot of traffic came to the land from Britain, France, USA, Russia and Austria. There were even consulates opened in Jerusalem. 

Renewed interests in the land was due to the Suez Canal being opened to international transportation. As the country began to thrive economic immigrants started to enter. The Arabs did not settle in what was Palestine prior to the mid-1850s. Not until they saw the Jews settling and working the land. 

Suez Canal

They did not identify as Palestinians throughout history. As presented in other blogs this was a strategy against Israel. The Ottoman Empire wanted to maintain what they were now seeing as opportunity. 

Despite 401 years of rulership nothing was done to develop the country. However, it seemed as though they were loosing control of the situation and in 1917 fought Great Britain for it. They finally had to recede as far as Baghdad.

It was the League of Nations in 1922 that mandated that the land be in temporary trust and Britain to overseer the well-being and advancement of the populations. They stated that they recognise the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine. 

They were to ensure the establishment of a Jewish nation home for Palestine-Eretz Israel, Land of Israel. About two months later the nations with Great Britain decided that this home would not include the land east of the Jordan River. 

Then the British in a White Paper 1930 and 1939 started restricting the immigration of Jews and the acquisition of land. The 1940 Land Transfer Regulation severely affected the Jew's ability to own land. 

The United Kingdom actually encouraged Arabs to come in while deterring many Jews before the holocaust, lots of blood on their hands for that. They were able to do this as they had a mandate to create two states. But they took sides.

The UN General Assembly announced its resolution to partition Palestine but  on November 29, 1947 Britain stated that they would end their role or Mandate of Palestine effective on May 15th, 1948.  At midnight May 14th, The State of Israel was resurrected. 

Up to 2020, 167 nations out of 193 recognised the State of Israel. USA under Harry Truman was the first and USSR was the second. 

Since 1917 to present day, Palestine has had seven chances to have a separate state, independence and more land. They refused each offer.

 

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