On Thursday 11 Adar 5773, tens of Jewish land owners in the northern capital will be represented in a petition to the Supreme Court. The panel of justices will be headed by Justice Edna Arbel. The petitioners explain that while they are listed as land owners in the area of northern Jerusalem in question, an area under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem municipality, Arabs have built tens of illegal housing unit, 40 in total, on private land owned by Jews. Their ownership is recorded in the national Tabu land registry.

The petitioners turned to Jerusalem City Hall in 2002 seeking to have authorities enforce the law to protect their land, and then filed with the Supreme Court in 2004. The court instructed Jerusalem City Hall to enforce the law and protect land owners. Now, over a decade since the process began, Jerusalem City Hall has yet to act to protect the Jewish land owners. Jerusalem police and the IDF have prohibited the actual land owners to visit the area, now host to the illegal Arab homes.

In 2009 petition 7369.09 was filed with the High Court by הלשכה לפניות הציבור לענייני מזרח ירושלים, and the justices headed by Justice Procatzia rejected the claim on October 25, 2010. The court claimed that since the land owners were not part of the petition, the case was invalid. [The court does not insist the landowners take part in the claim when Peace Now or other left-wing organizations file land requests on behalf of PA residents.] The court did instruct the state and city (Jerusalem) to formulate regulations pertaining to law enforcement and construction on that area of land within 60 days. As of today, these regulations were not publicized by the national or Jerusalem government.

In 2011 land owners filed a request to hold a demonstration in that area, on their privately owned land, which was rejected by police. They then turned to the High Court to permit the protest, and once again, the request was denied.

In 2012 a petition against the national government and Jerusalem City Hall was filed, demanding a solution to the matter with an emphasis on land that falls under the jurisdiction of Jerusalem City Hall but today, is located behind the partition wall, on the PA (Palestinian Authority) side.

In short, the Jewish land owners are continuing their fight, expecting the nation’s highest court to grant them access to their property as well as ordering the removal of the illegal Arab structures built on the land in question.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)