#grateful

Regrettably in telling the story of Khirbet Tana you fail to mention that in 2005 the High Court of Justice ruled that the construction of the structures was not legal, and the residents' efforts to overturn the ruling have failed.

If you believe in not upholding Court judgements and prefer instead to incite lawlessness and anarchy by only telling half the story- I don't.

You ask where I am coming from?

I want to see an end to the killing and bloodshed of both Arabs and Jews in a senseless struggle that has been going on for the last 130 years because the Arabs have never been and still are not prepared to tolerate one Jewish State occupying an area that is just .001% of the total area occupied by 22 oil rich Arab States.

The two- state solution to create a 23rd Arab State between Israel and Jordan has clearly failed after 16 years of diplomatic efforts to achieve this solution.

President Obama says determining sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza is an "intractable problem"

I do not think it is.

The return of Jordan to the West Bank will free its Arab residents of Israeli control. If Khirbet Tana comes under Jordan's jurisdiction it can reverse the Court's decision if it thinks fit. The present road blocks and detours will be ended. People will be able to get on with their lives. Arabs who were "Jordanians" until July 28, 1988 will once again be called "Jordanians". They will be citizens of and have passports issued by Jordan and have not one Jew living among them (unless they choose to stay and to accept Jordanian citizenship)

I am happy to discuss the proposal to divide the West Bank between Jordan and Israel as I believe it is now the only solution to prevent a break out of hostilities if it is not swiftly implemented.

I am not going to be diverted by attempts to score propaganda points that have nothing to do with Jordan's return to the West Bank which it last ruled between 1948-1967.

David ,

You say: “Regrettably in telling the story of Khirbet Tana you fail to mention that in 2005 the High Court of Justice ruled that the construction of the structures was not legal, and the residents' efforts to overturn the ruling have failed.”

However, the report states the following:

Quote
This is not the first time that this has happened. In 2005 Israeli forces demolished almost the entire village, leaving only the mosque, built over 150 years previously. Despite the majority of the dwellings having been built several hundred years ago, the military claimed they had been built without permission and thus had the right to demolish. The entire area was categorised as Area C – under full Israeli military and civilian control – in the Oslo Accords of 1994.
unquote

In your reply,
(1) You pay no attention to the claim that buildings that IDF soldiers had claimed were illegal had in fact been there several hundred years.

(2)You are not concerned that IDF soldiers may have made false testimony to the court

(3)You display no compassion for the human beings who have had homes bulldozed and equipment confiscated

(4)You are not concerned about the behaviour of settlers from Itamar who are reported to have threatened residents and contaminated their drinking water by swimming in their well: http://palsolidarity.org/2005/07/109

If you are truly concerned about the “senseless violence” then surely you would want to see justice applied equally and without favour.

Have you heard of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions? This demolition occurred on the 18th January 2010
QUOTE
http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=757
The Municipality of Tel Aviv, accompanied by heavily armed private security forces and police, demolished the Dakkeh family home yesterday in South East Jaffa.

Police arrived at 8am with faces covered and aggressively ordered the family out, pointing weapons at an elderly woman and children in the home. The elderly resident required assistance during the raid but her daughter was denied entry in order to help. ....
CONT...

CONT...
On arrival of local community representatives police removed their masks but refused to display identification throughout the day.

The Dakkeh family have been through the courts to challenge impending demolitions in their neighbourhood that now threaten more than a hundred residents. The properties are owned by resident families and have been passed down through generations predating the State of Israel. Decades ago the land was an orange orchard but today it stands as an urban Jaffa neighbourhood. Despite this, the Tel Aviv Municipality continues to zone the area as agricultural land, rendering nearly all homes illegal even though they are built and occupied by the owners of the properties.

The Regional Court refused to permit the demolitions finding that residents had never been given a reasonable opportunity to build lawfully because the Tel Aviv Municipality had neglected planning in the neighbourhood since the inception of the State. Meanwhile, the Municipality was prepared to issue Plato Sharon's company with a permit to build 1500 apartments should they succeed in ridding the neighborhood of its current owners through compensation offers.

On appeal to the High Court the demolitions were permitted to go ahead on legal technicality, and no judgment was passed on the substance of the residents' argument. Consequently, several more families face impending demolitions in the neighbourhood.

Essentially, this is a settlement plan for Jaffa not unlike those underway in East Jerusalem where Municipal planning law is used to displace Arab families in order to make way for Jewish residents.
UNQUOTE

Clearly the justice system is being corrupted. Doesn't this concern you?

# grateful

Your quote from the article on Khirbet Tana makes no mention of the Court decision in 2005. It is a disingenuous piece of writing designed to deceive and mislead - as appears to have been its affect on you.

Your latest case in Tel Aviv deals with another Court decision which was not accepted by the Arabs - aided and abetted by others for whom the rule of law is similarly not their priority.

You state:"Clearly the justice system is being corrupted. Doesn't this concern you?"

Quite frankly this is an inane allegation to make. Hundreds of cases have been decided by Israeli Courts in favour of Arab applicants. Even the Tel Aviv case you refer to was decided in their favour in the first instance but overturned on appeal. This is not an unusual occurrence in most democratic countries where the rule of law is respected and observed.

Your claim therefore of justice being corrupted is simply utter nonsense.

Are you yet prepared to discuss how the hatred,bitterness and resentment can be ended?

Clearly the two-state solution cannot be implemented because Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been unable to reach agreement after 17 years of trying.

Perhaps your next post could be addressed to that issue - especially regarding the suggestion that the Palestinian Authority be replaced by Jordan as Israel's negotiating partner to determine the future sovereignty of the West Bank.

You may even have a better suggestion so let's hear about it.

grateful,

Israel’s constitutional change of 1992:

Professsor Yifat Holzman-Gazit, Land Expropriation in Israel: Law. Culture and Society (Ashgate, 2007)

Holzman-Gazit examines the undemocratic land expropriation philosophy applied by the Supreme Court to both Arabs and Jews alike from 1948 until the 1980s; then analyses the important constitutional change of 1992 and its impact on the legal treatment of property rights under Israeli law. She demonstrates the application of these laws.

In conclusion, Holzman-Gazit recommends such laws be implemented for successful management of any global project.

Khirbet Tana 2005:

The dwellings comprised of stone or concrete blocks covered with metal sheets , as you say “built several hundred years ago” ... no sanitation. Livestock was kept in caves. Because of the temperature, these dwellings were not lived in for the entire year. The community, as a whole with their livestock , moved annually to Beit Foureek.

With due process the inhabitants of Khirbet Tana were provided with notification of demolition and the right to appeal under article #13741. None was made. The buildings were demolished except for the Mosque and a cement building. Prior to demolition, Israeli soldiers neatly arranged all school furniture, including chairs and blackboard against the Mosque wall. Hardly evidence of malice.

you state:

Khirbet Tana 2010:

“... ... built on a military training ground, “endangering the lives of those present”.

Surely a valid reason for demolishing these structures.

Report: ‘No way home: The tragedy of the Palestinian diaspora’ (30 October 2009)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-way-home-the-tragedy-of-the-palestinian-diaspora-1806790.html

“... Palestinian economy that is kept afloat by the world's highest per capita receipts of foreign aid. ...”

A question raised: Why, after 60 years and billions of dollars in foreign aid, ‘not one refugee camp in the West Bank or Gaza has been replaced by modern housing’ .

The Palestinian Authority must bear much responsibility for the squalid living conditions endured by Palestinians under its authority.

Read the Report in full - a definitive condemnation of Arab States and their ill will towards Palestinians. I have to agree with david singer, but Jordan’s attitude to Palestinians bodes ill ...