The Yesh Din organization has filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of Arab residents of Shomron. The NIS 1.5 million lawsuit was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, explaining the Shomron community of Migron, located in the Benjamin Regional Council district near Psagot, was built on private Arab land which were expropriated by the state.
 
The suit cites the states failure to prevent settlers from building on the private Arab land, in addition to the army’s failure to execute eviction orders and remove the community from its present location.
 
According to attorney Michael Sefarad, the state in 1999 permitted entry onto the Arab land to “erect a cellular telephone antenna” which eventually led to the establishment of the new Jewish community. Since then he explains, the land owners have been denied access to their land.
 
The lawsuit blames “political considerations” for the state’s failure to remove the settlers, citing the area is now home to over forty families and some 60 buildings.
 
In the summer, the Yesha Settlement Council agreed to a plan to relocate Migron but it was stated that prior to removing the families and their homes, the government must first erect a new community that will be ready for their occupancy upon leaving the current community.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)