1881 document suggests Palestinian ownership of Susya
Source: Times of Israel
In light of new internal review, Israeli military administration to reevaluate demolishing West Bank village, report says
ontradicting the official stance of the Israeli army and government, an Ottoman land ownership document dating back to 1881 suggests that the territory on which the Palestinian village of Susya is located does in fact belong to the residents of the area, Haaretz reported Sunday.
The report cited an internal review offered by the Civil Administration, Israel’s military governing authority in the West Bank, last week.
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last month that the Civil Administration had the right to demolish Palestinian homes in Susya because they had been built without authorization. Susya’s residents argue that they had no choice but to build illegally, because the Civil Administration rarely grants permits to Palestinians in the West Bank’s Area C, a zone controlled by the Israel Defense Forces as per the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The Civil Administration’s refusal to grant building permits to the residents of Susya was based, among other issues, on the perceived lack of land ownership documents. However, the 1881 Ottoman-era document was recently deemed to be both authentic and legally valid by a top staff officer in the Civil Administration, Moshe Meiri, who is responsible for the management of land in the West Bank. Meiri stated that the land specified in the document includes the area of the Palestinian village.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/1881-document-suggests-palestinian-ownership-of-susya/
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