Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., March 06, 2008 Adar1 29, 5768 | | Israel Time: 00:48 (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

Demolition derby By Meron Rapoport Tags: Tel Aviv District Court  On paper, this is a Tel Aviv neighborhood - its mayor works at Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Hall at Rabin Square and its municipal taxes go into his coffers. But in practice, Pardes Daka is a small village that has somehow survived between Jaffa's Dalet neighborhood and the town of Bat Yam. An island where a few dozen small homes are scattered about willy-nilly and lack any urban features. "It's nice here," we told our host, 30-year-old auto painter Moussa Daka. Moussa, whose Jewish mother occasionally calls him Moshe, gazed at us with a look reserved for visitors of our ilk. "It's nice all right," he acknowledged, "but we have nothing here. There's no garbage collection, no sidewalks and there are floods." A few years ago, Daka's family home was completely engulfed in a flood. A neighbor's infant drowned. There are no lights, it is dark at night and no one dares to come here. The house doesn't even have an address. This absurd situation exists in other places, mainly in Arab but also in Jewish neighborhoods. Authorities forbid building by residents because "there are no building plans." They hound residents who attempt to replace asbestos ones with conventional roofs, as if they were dangerous criminals. They similarly pursued Daka after he built an additional story atop his parents' home, even though the building is registered in their name at the Israel Land's Administration. Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen, the Tel Aviv District Court judge who heard Daka's case, finds no humor in these circumstances. "The Tel Aviv Municipality is holding an entire neighborhood hostage," she ruled. Agmon-Gonen referred to the situation in Pardes Daka as a case of "Gulliver among Lilliputians," in which residents grapple with a mighty giant in the form of the municipality. "A typical breath [by the municipality] is enough to blow the plaintiff's home into oblivion," the judge wrote in her decision to delay demolition orders until a future, undetermined date. Advertisement Seven years ago, Daka launched construction of the second floor of his parents' home. He did not approach the municipality beforehand because he knew it did not grant building permits in the neighborhood and intended to sell the land to developers. After he received demolition orders, Daka arranged for a court settlement, which compelled City Hall to delay demolition by two years while he attempted to obtain a permit. He fulfilled his obligation and requested the permit. That request was denied, as expected, and half a year ago workers arrived to destroy the new floor. The law is the law. But a few dozen young Jews and Arabs, entrenched in Daka's home on demolition day, thwarted the operation. Police agreed to send the bulldozers home, and Daka was given a second chance. Attorney Shay Rosiansky successfully appealed to the court on Daka's behalf for a delay in the demolition orders. Rosiansky's argument was amazingly simple: The municipality admitted that it had not granted building permits in Pardes Daka since 1996, so how could it demand that Moussa Daka request one, knowing that his request would be denied? Where was the city's good faith? Had Daka been more familiar with the legal community, he would have known that he could expect a positive ruling from Judge Agmon- Gonen. "Mega corporations and authorities on alert - the big troublemaker has found a place for herself in Tel Aviv's District Court," read a headline in Globes shortly after she was appointed to the bench last June. With a doctorate in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Agmon-Gonen earned the title "troublemaker" during the years in which she worked as a registrar in the Supreme Court and as a judge in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. Retired Supreme Court president Aharon Barak introduced her to the Supreme Court, but they later parted ways when she continued to the Magistrate's Court, where she created more than a few enemies. The State Prosecutor's office and police did not like the fact that she freed detainees when police failed to meet conditions of arrest. District Court judges did not like thinly veiled criticisms of their work that appeared in her rulings. "She is a nonconformist judge. She doesn't feel that she owes anyone anything," says attorney Yossi Arnon, a central player in the Jerusalem branch of the Israel Bar Association. "Agmon-Gonen did not believe that the system must receive preferential treatment. She is among the judges who prefer justice to law." Dangerous roofs Agmon-Gonen's ruling in the Pardes Daka case is, to say the least, nonconformist. The judge wrote that the "criminal" here is the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality - not the man who built without a permit in a place in which it was impossible to obtain one. "The municipality does not have the right to repeatedly cite the importance of observing regulations in planning and building proceedings when, for years, it has not made it possible to act as mentioned," Agmon-Gonen wrote. "In this state of affairs, rule of law is actually compromised by the actions, or more precisely the inaction, of the respondent [the municipality]." "That judge is brave," says Dr. Alexander (Sandy) Kedar of the University of Haifa's law faculty, an expert on the connection between land law and distributive justice. He maintains that since the establishment of state lands, authorities in Israel use planning as a vehicle to "Judaize" neighborhoods or specific regions. This system is also applied to impoverished Jewish neighborhoods that attempt to integrate "strong populations" - a euphemism for the wealthy. "It is easy to bring down an entire neighborhood: Don't connect it to infrastructure, don't build sidewalks and then people become criminals," he explains. There is a similar situation in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Dar al-Hanoun, in the Wadi Ara area. The authorities refuse to recognize the village or change the zoning of its land from agricultural to residential status, although it was established on private land, before the creation of the state. That makes any building in the village illegal and subject to demolition. "The practice of freezing building permits exists mainly in mixed [Arab and Jewish] cities in neighborhoods that were Arab neighborhoods before 1948," notes Dr. Emily Silverman of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology's Center for Urban and Regional Studies. "This exists in Acre, in Ramle, in Jaffa and it also applies to Jews housed in these neighborhoods after the War of Independence, as in the case of Kfar Shalem [a South Tel Aviv neighborhood]." Aharon Maduel, secretary of the Kfar Shalem neighborhood council, is well aware of this state of affairs. "I know of almost no one who has been granted a permit to build in Kfar Shalem since 1948," he notes. "They've frozen this neighborhood. People knew they didn't stand a chance of obtaining a permit and they were turned into criminals. Shimon Yehoshua [a neighborhood resident killed by police gunfire during an attempt to demolish his home in the mid-1980s] was even murdered because of this." Maduel says the goal of this policy was to cause residents to leave, thus lowering the amount of compensation paid to them. He says that even now the city does not permit residents to replace dangerous asbestos roofs with roofs made from safer materials. The municipality considers such a move to be a building violation. But after the Pardes Daka ruling, the city may think twice. 'Catching hell' Nonetheless, Agmon-Gonen's ruling may also provide an opening for utter bedlam. "It is untenable to breach building and planning laws completely," explains Kedar. "It may be supermarket developers without a permit who take advantage of that breach rather than some poor resident of Kfar Shalem." Former Supreme Court justice Mishael Cheshin believes that Agmon-Gonen's ruling was "extraordinarily brilliant." Under normal circumstances, a judge would be obligated to approve demolition and it is even possible that this is anchored in law, Cheshin explains, but Agmon-Gonen found a creative solution, which required boldness on her part, because it flies in the face of convention. Cheshin, who describes himself as Agmon-Gonen's "friend" (her first husband was Cheshin's law partner), believes that the ruling has tremendous significance. He points out the example of East Jerusalem, in which the municipality forced residents to violate building laws for years. Cheshin also sees the risk inherent in the ruling: "There may be unbearable, horrible repercussions. This may create chaos and a situation in which 'whoever is stronger prevails.' People will force authorities to face facts on the ground." Despite that, Cheshin is not certain that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality will appeal to the High Court of Justice, he says, because "they may catch hell." Attorney Rosiansky rejects Cheshin's "chaos theory": "[Agmon-Gonen's] ruling does not give rise to anarchy. It does provide an incentive to authorities to avoid reaching a situation like the one in Pardes Daka. Can you imagine a landowner in [the wealthy Tel Aviv neighborhood of] Ramat Aviv waiting 11 years until they devise a master plan? He'd bombard the press with faxes and the court with lawsuits. I hope the municipality invests money in architects who will plan the neighborhood rather than in lawyers who will appeal Agmon-Gonen's ruling." "The court ignored the fact that this is massive construction without a permit and that it is forbidden for an individual to build something before receiving a permit," the municipality stated in response to that ruling. "The court 'punished' the authorities while granting a prize to everyone who is building in Pardes Daka without a permit, and also to all the potential builders everywhere in the city where there is no currently valid municipal building plan." There is no argument regarding the facts: There is at present no way to acquire a building permit in Pardes Daka and it is "not known" when this will be possible. The city officially says that it "is impossible to live with" the ruling and therefore approached the State Prosecutor's Office to appeal to the High Court. Municipal officials believe the court will not "annul the Building and Planning Law with mere words." They are thus prepared to take the chance that it will deny their appeal and turn Agmon- Gonen's ruling into a precedent. But if that happens, the municipality says that "at least we will be aware of the working environment in which we operate." City Hall is particularly irked by the conclusion of the ruling, in which Agmon-Gonen expresses her hopes that "tomorrow, residents of Pardes Daka will rise to a new dawn." Indeed Moussa Daka tells us that since the decision, "I am a new man." But being a new man in Pardes Daka is apparently a relative matter. For instance, Daka preferred not to be photographed. "I don't want to anger the authorities," he explained. It is apparently enough that Agmon-Gonen has done so. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Girl power Female MKs learn martial arts in order to defend themselves against sexual assault. Not Jewish enough U.K. Jewish school gets sued for barring pupil over mother's non-Orthodox conversion.

Today Online Eight killed in terrorist attack at Jerusalem yeshiva Responses: 98 Olmert: Talks with Syria worth serious consideration Responses: 93 Settlers agree to leave several illegal West Bank outposts Responses: 110 Gaza humanitarian situation said at worst point since 1967 Responses: 206 Soldier killed in strike on IDF jeep near Gaza border Responses: 134 More Headlines 00:29 Eight killed in terrorist attack at Jerusalem yeshiva 23:58 Abbas slams Jerusalem attack; Israel: Peace talks will go on 00:42 Jerusalem yeshiva student: I shot the terrorist twice in the head 23:58 6 Islamic Jihad militants killed in separate IDF actions in Gaza 22:05 Soldier killed, three others hurt in attack on IDF jeep near Gaza border 18:20 Hamas: Cease-fire deal must include West Bank 20:21 Swastika daubed on grave of 18th-century rabbi in Poland 20:50 Who leaked the details of a CIA-Mossad plot against Iran? 18:27 U.K. Jewish school sued for barring pupil over conversion 20:53 UN Human Rights Council condemns IDF actions in Gaza 23:51 Barak refuses to exempt 1,000 Haredi men from army service Previous Editions Select Day 06 mar 05 mar 04 mar 03 mar 02 mar 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb 22 feb

Special Offers Advertisement Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Long-term Israel programs MASA is your gateway. More programs. More grants. NEW! Dan Boutique Jerusalem Hotel Hip Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. Attractive Introductory Rates 7589 rockets fired so far HELP US TO HELP THEM Marina Royale Herzelia Pituach Your Luxurious Suite While Staying in Israel Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved