On August 2, 2011, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a “death sentence” for the Israeli village of Migron. It must be dismantled, its houses demolished, and its families evicted. On Monday, September 5, demolition began and three houses were destroyed. Due to legal petitions, the demolition was postponed pending review of the Court’s procedures. On November 7 the Court reversed its decision and withdrew its “death sentence.”
What happened?
Migron is a small Israeli community situated in the hill country about five miles north-east of Jerusalem. It was established in 2002 as a bedroom community within easy commuting distance from Jerusalem. Today it is home to about 500 people.
Shortly after Migron’s construction, the Israeli self-styled human rights group, Peace Now, began working with several West Bank Arabs who claimed that their families had for generations owned the land upon which Migron sits. They claimed that this land had been given to them by King Hussein of Jordan. Under King Hussein and his father, King Abdullah, Jordan illegally occupied the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, but had no legal basis for Jordanian sovereignty. Therefore Hussein had no legal right to gift West Bank land to anyone since neither he nor the State of Jordan held legal ownership. The Supreme Court chose to ignore this inconvenient bit of legal reality and political history.
Peace Now submitted a petition on behalf of the Arab claimants in October, 2006. Court deliberations and interaction with the State went on for several years. The Migron residents claimed that they purchased the land legally and had bona fide proof of ownership. The Court chose to disregard the whole issue of proof of ownership and handed down a decided in favor of the Arab claimants. The Court ordered the army to remove the Israeli inhabitants and destroy all structures. Read the rest on:
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