HAARETZ EDITORIAL TODAY: Israel must return what was stolen from
Palestinians- "After years of evasion, legal tricks, forged documents
and unfulfilled pledges, even the (Israeli) High Court came to realize
that the state cannot be trusted, not to mention the settlers, to
voluntarily agree to return the land they plundered from their
Palestinian owners. Amona was born in sin in 1997, when a group of
settlers established residence in an area that had been earmarked for an
archaeological site and a Mekorot Water
Company reservoir. Cease and desist orders issued by Civil
Administration inspectors in 2004 halted building for four years, but it
resumed in force despite new stop-work orders. In 2006, after the High
Court ordered the demolition of Amona’s permanent structures, the
settlers made clear that they were not bound by the court’s authority
and they turned the “battle for Amona” into a national event in which
they violently confronted the police. If there was no alternative to
demolition, they would make Amona a “national trauma” that would
threaten any future plans to evacuate outposts or settlements. The
government of Israel cannot continue to avoid carrying out the High
Court’s ruling, according to which “there is no possibility of
authorizing the construction, even retroactively,” — a recognition of
the tricks the cabinet could try. Two years is sufficient time to find
alternative housing, and it would be best not to not wait until the last
moment. The Palestinian landowners have waited too many years for the
Israeli wheels of justice to turn. They have the right to have their
property returned to them, with appropriate compensation."
The West Bank outpost of Amona. Photo by Olivier Fitousi
