Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., February 25, 2008 Adar1 19, 5768 | | Israel Time: 14:37 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 02:40 25/02/2008 In rare ruling, court orders settlers off Arab family's land By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, West Bank  Atef Ahmad, from the village of Saniriya, east of Qalqilyah, admits that when he turned to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court to request that settlers be removed from his family's property, he did not really think anything would come of it. His neighbors told him it was a waste of time. His elderly mother wanted nothing to do with the Jews. In the end, nine family members agreed to the requests of human rights activists working for Yesh Din, and took a chance. They provided attorney Michael Sfard with power of attorney and forgot about the whole matter. Ten days ago, Magistrate's Court Judge Irit Cohen confirmed that the 11 residents of the Shaarei Tikva settlement had agreed to leave the property of their own will. After failing to convince the court, which rejected their claims that Atef's father had sold the property when Atef was merely 6 years old, the settlers gave up. Advertisement "We did not believe in the Israeli legal system," Atef, 41, says in fluent Hebrew. He works at the Keter factory in the Barkan industrial zone. "Now I tell every Palestinian whose land was taken from him not to be afraid, and to go to Israeli court. There are honest Israelis, and you can find justice." But Sfard is not as enthusiastic. He says he cannot recall a similar case in recent years, where Palestinians succeeded in having settlers ordered off their property by the courts. The attorney says Palestinians are usually deterred by their ignorance, lack of resourcefulness, and lack of trust in the Israeli justice system. Had Yesh Din not insisted, the Ahmad family also would have simply let it go. The family's troubles came in bursts. Initially there was the separation fence, which kept them from their 30-dunam olive grove, which sat between the new fence and Shaarei Tikva. In order to get to their land, they had to ask the settlement's security officer to open the gate. If he wanted to, he did. If not, he went to lunch. A short while later came the horse ranch. Youth from the settlement took over a dunam of the family's land, set up a corral and rode horses there. The Ahmad family turned to the police and asked for assistance. As is common, the police tried to mediate, asked to see ownership documents, and then asked for more permits. A month passed, and then a year, and the Ahmad family decided to give up. They were worried that if they "caused trouble," the settlers would make it even more difficult for them to access the olive grove. Fifteen months after turning to the courts, an agreement was reached whereby the settlers would surrender the land by February 1, 2009, and would pay $100 per day of delay. Over the 11 months until the land is restored to its owners, the settlers have also promised to allow the Ahmad family unfettered access to its olive grove Bookmark to del.icio.us   And the Oscar goes to... Olmert is pulling for Beaufort, saying 'it's time Israel won an Oscar.' Battling on foreign soil Israeli Americans voted Clinton, but Obama won the global primary.   1.   DANGEROUS PRECEDENT:ARABS WILL REMOVE OLMRT,RAMON,SHARON,PERES,BG 03:33  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 25/02/08   2.   First step 03:37  |  jjvanka 25/02/08   3.   A heartwarming story... 04:44  |  Veritas 25/02/08   4.   GTFO Squatters 05:26  |  POP 25/02/08   5.   Ahmad family land 05:59  |  victor 25/02/08   6.   The Law Spoke 06:05  |  Jane 25/02/08   7.   # 1 to the grand voice... 09:13  |  eric 25/02/08   8.   The well known land fraud. 09:18  |  EGW 25/02/08   9.   ONE word of concern for all the optimism! 09:26  |  eric 25/02/08   10.   I just hope 10:42  |  rm 25/02/08   11.   & when will the court evacuate all the land thieves from the WB!? 11:21  |  Free Palestine 25/02/08   12.   yesh dinim 11:53  |  yoni 25/02/08   13.   There must be somebody... 11:54  |  Murray 25/02/08   14.   LOOOOOOONG OVERDUE RULING! 12:10  |  TripleJump 25/02/08   15.   EGW - Israel only Occupies West Bank, it does not own it 12:13  |  Mr. Know-it-all 25/02/08   16.   why the delay? 12:43  |  yehuda 25/02/08   17.   yoni.... 13:04  |  yehuda 25/02/08   18.   I AM GLAD 14:31  |  Nicole 25/02/08

Today Online Gaza protest of Israeli siege yields disappointing turnout Responses: 134 Burston: Palestine's ultimate doomsday weapon - non-violence Responses: 99 Avi Issacharoff: Mass Gaza march a win-win situation for Hamas Responses: 34 Obama`s top adviser: Israel and Arabs must negotiate own peace Responses: 39 Akiva Eldar: AIPAC does not even bother to rally for two-state solution Responses: 16 Rosner's Domain Iran Could Have Enough Uranium for a Bomb by Year's End (WTR) Poll: Is it time for Israel to end the blockade in Gaza? What America wants from an operation in Gaza Guests: Jewish women don't want to be shut out U.S. victims of Palestinian terror await gov't stance on compensation More Headlines 14:33 Boy moderately-seriously hurt in Qassam strike on Sderot 14:32 Two people seriously hurt, one lightly wounded in blast 13:59 Gaza protest of Israeli siege yields disappointing turnout 09:42 Qatar willing to broker cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas 09:21 Obama`s top adviser says does not believe in imposing a peace settlement 12:34 Canadian Jew loses bid to have passport show 'Jerusalem, Israel' 13:56 Wife's lover stabs spurned husband after being caught in act 04:33 ANALYSIS: Mass Gaza march puts Hamas in a win-win situation 08:30 Israel to boycott UN conference on human rights and racism 11:55 Terrorism is un-Islamic, say Muslim scholars in India 11:20 High Court to rule Tuesday on appeal to quash Katsav plea bargain 10:17 Israeli Oscar hopeful 'Beaufort' pipped by Austrian entry Previous Editions Select Day 24 feb 22 feb 21 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb 15 feb 14 feb 13 feb 12 feb 11 feb

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