Israel Absentees’ Property Law (see Absentees’ Property Law)
Updated 2023-12-08
Absentees’ Property Law – Israel The Absentees’ Property Law was enacted in 1950 by the Knesset, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel in May 19481234. The law retroactively legalizes all actions taken under the emergency regulations by treating them as if they had been taken on the basis of the 1950 law. The law declares that any property situated within the post-war boundaries of Israel and owned by an Arab who had left the country between November 29, 1947 and May 19, 1948, or by a Palestinian who went abroad or to an area of Palestine held by hostile forces up to September 1, 1948, lost all rights to that property. The Absentees’ Property Law was the main legal instrument used by Israel to take possession of the land belonging to the internal and external Palestinian refugees, and Muslim Waqf properties across the state. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Israeli+Absentee+Property+Law&form=ANNTH1&refig=068a9f43fa3e4c5faa5e64375edc3f69
2022-01-21 Explained: How Israel’s Absentees’ Property Law keeps Palestinians from their homes With more than a dozen pages and 39 articles, the Absentees’ Property Law is one of Israel’s founding texts, granting the state the power to confiscate and impound Palestinian properties and assets that they were forced to leave behind in 1948.
The law, which applies only to Palestinians, is draconian and has remained a stable policy for numerous Israeli governments over the years, legal experts told Middle East Eye. This week, Israel has used the law to justify the eviction of the Salhiya family and the demolition of their house in occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The Absentees’ Property Law puts Palestinians at a disadvantage from the start, branding them absentees even if they are present in the country or hold Israeli citizenship.
The law was issued in March 1950 by the government of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Israeli leaders had to deal with vast swathes of lands and thousands of properties in more than 500 towns, where their Palestinian population was emptied by Zionist militias during the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948 and the establishment of Israel. They also had to handle the assets – including cash, stocks, furniture, books, companies, banks, and other movable assets – left behind by almost 800,000 Palestinians who fled and ended up in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. These lands and properties lie in modern-day Israel. Their original owners are primarily refugees, but some are internally displaced and now living in Israel.
The tone of the law was addressed primarily to the new settlers of Israel, prompting them to report whatever Palestinian assets and properties they had taken to the Custodian of Absentees’ Property. Failing to do so could lead to a fine and, in some cases, imprisonment. Before 1950, Israel had several emergency laws to deal with these properties and assets. But following the UN’s adoption of resolution 194 in December 1948, which enshrined the Palestinian right of return and called for financial compensation for property loss or damage, Israel was faced with the task of dealing with the large-scale looting carried out by new settlers. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestinian-absentees-property-law-eviction-homes-explained
2021-07-The draconian law used by Israel to steal Palestinian land In early May, more than 50 Jewish families packed their bags and moved to a hilltop in the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territory. They quickly erected modular homes, a synagogue, a nursery, and even dug a playground to claim a piece of land they neither purchased nor inherited.
All settlements or outposts – a backdoor to keep claiming Palestinian land after Israel committed to freezing settlements in the Oslo Accords in 1993 – are deemed illegal under international law. The Evyatar outpost stood out because it was illegal under Israeli law, too. Last week, the settlers were finally evicted and the Palestinians celebrated it as a victory of their resistance. Analysts, however, warned that celebrations were premature and unwarranted.
Al Jazeera spoke to several experts who said the eviction did not reflect a change of Israeli policy and only displayed how the Israeli state deploys its instruments to facilitate systematic theft of Palestinian property. Instead of being reprimanded by the state for illegally confiscating land that did not belong to them, the settlers were made a promise.
The Israeli media reported Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new prime minister and a staunch supporter of illegal settlements, offered the settlers a deal – the state would ascertain whether the land can be classified as “state land” and if yes – the conclusion the state is expected to arrive at – it would be handed over to the settlers even though it lies in Palestinian villages.
The settlers leave; the houses remain; the army puts up a military post; the government starts the process of declaring state lands,” Ofran said. Israel legalises such outposts or settlements by deploying a draconian interpretation of the Ottoman law that if the land was not cultivated for several years in a row it would become the property of the state.
Yet the state might just confiscate it for the settlers, as it has done hundreds of times. Israel has settled 441,000 settlers in 280 settlements on more than two million dunams – one dunam equals 1,000 square metres – of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It has passed a series of discriminatory laws to be able to confiscate Palestinian property. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/8/how-israel-backs-settlers-to-confiscate-palestinian-lands
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