Israel – DM Approves Settlers Return To Contested House In Hebron Owned By Brooklyn Man

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    Jewish settlers moving belongings into the so-called Beit Shalom, or 'House of Peace,' in the West Bank city of Hebron, 14 April 2014. EFE/EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUNIsrael – Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Sunday gave the green light for settlers to move into a large four story structure in the West Bank city of Hebron, known as the House of Peace (Beit HaShalom), to its supporters and the House of Contention to its opponents.

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    The move expands Jewish property holding in the section of the city under Israeli military and civil control. It is located in a Palestinian neighborhood just outside the Kiryat Arba settlement, on the major road that leads to the Cave of the Patriarchs.

    Morris Abraham, a Jew from Brooklyn, had purchased the building from its Palestinian owners over a decade ago.

    Claiming ownership, settlers initially moved into Beit Hashalom in March 2007 even though the Defense Ministry had not authorized the purchase or given them the permits to live there.

    The Palestinian owners argued that the sale, in any event was fraudulent and turned to the courts.

    In December 2008, when Ehud Barak was defense minister, he forcibly evacuated the building pending the completion of legal appeals. Some 600 Border Police officers and IDF soldiers participated in the evacuation, in which four officers and 23 Jewish activists were lightly to moderately injured. Additionally, at least 20 Palestinians were injured in clashes with settlers in the area of the building.

    In the weeks leading to the evacuation, extremist Jewish activists vandalized the cemetery and the Palestinian homes next to Beit Hashalom.

    In 2012, after initial court victories by settlers, Barak took the first steps toward authorization of their purchase of the structure. He halted those efforts, however, after Palestinian appeals returned the matter to the court.

    Jewish settlers sit outside the so-called Beit Shalom, of 'House of Peace,' in the West Bank city of Hebron, 14 April 2014 as they make a party during settlers' moving into the property, guarded on the roof by an Israeli army outpost. EFE/EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUNIn March, the High Court of Justice ruled that the purchase of the four story apartment building was legal, but only on Sunday, did Ya’alon grant Jewish families from Hebron permission to move in.

    Already on Sunday afternoon hours after receiving permission, did the families begin to move their things in.

    Knesset Land of Israel Caucus chairpeople Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu) and Orit Struck (Bayit Yehudi) commended Ya’alon.

    They added that it is “a victory of justice over the Palestinian Authority’s anti-Semitic law prohibiting sale of land to Jews that breaks ground for the continued purchase of homes and land throughout the Land of Israel.”

    Meretz faction chairman Ilan Gilon said Ya’alon may be responsible for bloodshed as a result of his decision.

    Gilon criticized the defense minister’s decision on Beit Hashalom, saying its “more spit in the public’s face from the extreme right-wing government, which decides during a crisis in talks with the Palestinians to strengthen settlers in Hebron.”

    Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post


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