T. Belman. Liberman worries me. What has “all the world” got to do with it in any event? After the State Department criticized us for announcing a few building plans, I raised the question of whether they had any rights to say what we should be doing east of the greenline.
Of course, they wrongfully claim that settlements are illegal. Or dubiously claim we agreed with them to cease settlement construction, but they have no legal authority to impose their will on us. The same goes for the UN whose only mandate is to keep the peace. Also the UN Charter pledges to maintain “the sovereign equality of all its Members,”
“It can’t be that all the world will come with one request for settlers in Amona and with a totally different request for those living in [Palestinian] Sussiya,” Liberman says.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lberman linked the fate of the West Bank illegal Palestinian herding village of Sussiya with that of the settler outpost of Amona, when he visited the South Hebron Hills on the first day of school Thursday.
“Those who care about the rule of law have to respect our legal system,” he told middle school pupils in the Sussiya settlement.
“It can’t be that all the world will come with one request for settlers in Amona and with a totally different request for those living in [Palestinian] Sussiya,” Liberman said.
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He discussed with the pupils the challenges that he will face in the next half year, with regard to two communities in the West Bank, both of which were built without authorization.
By December 25, Liberman is mandated by the High Court of Justice to evacuate some 40 families who live in the small hilltop community that was built on private Palestinian property on the outskirts of the Ofra settlement in the Binyamin region of the West Bank.
Separately, Liberman must deliver his opinion to the HCJ with regard to the Palestinian herding village of Sussiya. It’s tents and temporary shacks were built illegally on land that is located between the Jewish settlement and an archeological park that houses the remains of a 5th century synagogue.
The international community, including the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, has persistently called on Israel in the last few months not to retroactively legalize settler construction, particularly in outposts such as Amona.
But they have similarly asked Israel to authorize illegal Palestinian construction, particularly in herding villages for Palestinians and Beduins.
On Monday, Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the UN Security Council that the demolition of Palestinian Sussiya would be a sign that Israel wants to annex Area C of the West Bank.
In the past, Liberman has called for the demolition of Palestinian Sussiya. But on Thursday, he struck a more moderate tone as he explained that he has asked the HCJ for a three month window to study the matter.
Should the HCJ agree to the delay, he would deliver his opinion on November 15, one week after the US elections.
He told the pupils that he believed the Palestinians build with “the deliberate intention to divide between [Jewish] Sussiya and the ancient [archeological] site.”
This was done, he charged, “with the support of other nations. Suddenly, it has become a point of controversy with the EU and the US. I receive messages about it from all over the world. Everyone has discovered Sussiya, even the UNSC is interested.”
One of the pupils asked him why he hadn’t already demolished Palestinian Sussiya.
Liberman said that ultimately the village’s fate rested with the HCJ; but that a solution had to be found.
The two groups of people, Palestinians and Israelis, have to live together in this region, he said.
Seven terrorists that killed Israelis that have come from the nearby Palestinian city of Yatta, said Liberman.
At the same time, when a terrorist killed Rabbi Michael Mark of Otniel over the summer, two Palestinians were the first ones to come to his aid and that of his wife and two teenage children who were in the car.
The first, a Palestinian Authority employee, was fired. The second person, a doctor, has struggled to maintain his clinic in the face of a boycott to protest his efforts to help Mark.
“They were human. They wanted to help, but they were punished for this,” he said.
He noted that those in the international community who railed against Israeli actions in Judea and Samaria never seemed concerned that the PA considers the sale of land to Jews a crime punishable by death.
“I don’t see any protests about this,” he said.
He advised that those “in the free world who preach about the rule of law” would do well “to respect our legal system. The law is the same for everyone.”
The legal challenge in both Amona and Sussiya are not simple, he said.
Liberman warned the residents of the Amona outpost that he planned to respect the court’s ruling.
Amona residents have charged that since they built their community with initial nods of approval from the government in 1995, officials today, have a responsibility to find a way to legalize their community.
Liberman said that he has sought alternatives for Amona, like he plans to seek alternatives for Sussiya.
“To the Amona residents I am saying, there is a HCJ ruling and i intend to respect it. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that I won’t respect it. That won’t happen. We will do what the HCJ tells us to do,” he said.
Liberman has pushed for a solution, by which the state would seize abandoned Palestinian property near the outpost,so that he could relocate the community to property lots close to where they now live.
Amona residents and other right-wing politicians would prefer to tackle the issue of illegal homes throughout Judea and Samaria, through legislation that would authorize them en mass. In cases where the homes were built on private Palestinian property, compensation would be offered to the Palestinian landowners.
On Thursday morning, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) called for lawmakers to enact such a law, when he visited a small first grade classroom at the Amona outpost.
“Just seeing you strengthens my belief that we can’t uproot Jews form their land. In a few years I hope to see a large settlement here and I will do my best to ensure that no Jews is uprooted.
He promised the Ministerial Legislative Committee would soon deal with a law to ensure that they could remain in their homes.
“I believe and hope that we will soon be able to resolve this,” he said.
If Lieberman wants to follow international law then ALL Jewish settlement in J/S is lawful and should be encouraged, as called for in the still binding Mandate for Palestine, Article 6.
What does “privately owned Palestinian land ” mean?
Just that an Arab claims it as his own, often quoting ownership from Ottoman rule.
When challenged, as it has been in legal cases, it’s usually thrown out by the courts because of forged documents.
The Sussiya conflict is simply a trial of will between the Israeli government and all the agencies hell bent on taking as much land as possible from Jewish control to create political realities on the ground. That’s why the EU, UN, US etc are going all out to pressurise Israel.
If Netanyahu caves, in or gives any concessions, it will send a very strong message to Israel’s enemies that this is a tactic worth pursuing, and there will be many more Sussiyas.