ILA Leasing Arab-Owned Land in Jerusalem to Ateret Cohanim

ISM, 21/08/07. The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) is working together with the Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to transfer it to the association without a tender. Such is the claim outlined in a petition submitted two weeks ago to the High Court of Justice, and appearing in documents which Haaretz has received. Ateret Cohanim promotes settlement of Jews in and around the Old City, and at times takes over Palestinian assets in East Jerusalem so as to "Judaize" that area.

The land in question, an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti, is in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. From the documents received, it emerges
that the ILA has signed a contract with Ateret Cohanim for "the
agricultural cultivation" of the land, even though the association has
no experience in such work.
The documents indicate that the contract was signed even though the
land that the ILA leased apparently does not belong to it and the
Interior Ministry recognizes that the Palestinian landowners "have an
interest" in it. A senior source at the ILA has said the contract was
signed in order "to keep the territory in Jewish hands."
In the petition it is claimed that an authorized official at the ILA
"acted to advance the interests of Ateret Cohanim," to prevent the
Palestinians who claim ownership of the land from developing it. The
petitioners define the ILA action as "corrupt" and are asking the
attorney general to investigate "the involvement of Ateret Cohanim in
governmental decision-making."
In March, 40 years after declaring its intentions to do so, the state
formally expropriated the land, at the request of the ILA. Former
finance minister Abraham Hirchson signed on the plan to expropriate
the property under the rubric of "acquisition for public needs."
In its petition to the High Court, the Palestinian landowners, the
Arab Hotels Company, asks for the expropriation to be prohibited
because it was done "for an extraneous, illegitimate, racist and
discriminatory purpose ... An illegitimate and corrupt hand has worked
hand in glove with the authorities or other elements to harm the
petitioner's rights, and to disinherit the petitioner for purposes of
leasing the land to Ateret Cohanim."
Kerem Hamufti is named for its former owner, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the
mufti of Jerusalem. According to Israeli and Jordanian documents, in
the 1960s it was purchased by the Arab Hotels Company of East
Jerusalem.
After the area was annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War, the
Finance Ministry stated its intention to expropriate the land "for
public purposes," but this was never carried out and the Palestinian
owners continued to cultivate it. Several times over the years an
Israeli court confirmed that the company is indeed owner of the
property.
About seven years ago the Palestinian owners submitted to the planning
authorities a request to build a hotel, a conference center and a
cultural center on the land. Architect Moshe Margalit, who drew up the
plan, relates that at the time the District Planning Commission
confirmed that the East Jerusalem company has ownership rights to the
land. The Interior Ministry confirmed to Haaretz that the company has
been allowed to continue the planning as it has been proved that it
"has an interest in the land."
Municipal blessing
>From the summaries of meetings concerning the property at the Interior
Ministry, it emerges that representatives of the ILA were present, but
did not mention they had leased the land to Ateret Cohanim or that it
belongs to the ILA.
Margalit relates that the Palestinian landowners' plan was presented
"to the most senior people at the Jerusalem Municipality" and received
their blessing. The petition also states that the mayor of Jerusalem
at the time, Ehud Olmert, and his deputy, Yehuda Pollack, the chairman
of the Local Planning and Building Committee, supported it.
However, at a certain stage, relates Margalit, it seemed that Ateret
Cohanim also submitted a plan for this parcel of land: Two years
beforehand, the ILA had granted permission to Irving Moskowitz, the
American Jewish millionaire who supports Ateret Cohanim, to plan a
neighborhood on Kerem Hamufti. A person close to the association aims
to build 250 housing units there, and pressured ministers in former
prime minister Ariel Sharon's first government to approve it.
In June, 2000, immediately after the plan by Moskowitz and Ateret
Cohanim was revealed, the landowners' attorneys applied to Jerusalem's
Local Planning and Building Committee with a request to dismiss the
scheme because "those who submitted it are not the owners of the
land."
The committee told the attorneys that the plan had been "shelved."
A few months ago the Arab Hotels Company received notice from the
Magistrates Court, allowing it to evict a Palestinian who was
squatting on the land. However, on the day of the eviction, the Amidar
company, on behalf of the ILA, filed a demand to stop it.
While the ILA and Amidar acknowledge this was indeed a matter of a
squatter, a senior source at the ILA has told Haaretz that the
Palestinian "was working with Ateret Cohanim." The source explains his
presence was necessary "to prevent theft of land by Palestinians."
The current petition says the state owns about 20 percent of Kerem
Hamufti under the Absentee Property Law, as it belonged to Al-
Husseini, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.
However, the Palestinian landowners' lawyers insist that the law does
not apply to the property because it was purchased from the Al-
Husseini family before Israeli rule began in East Jerusalem in 1967.
Attorney Danny Kramer, the representative of the official guardian of
absentee property, is also a signatory to the petition, which states
that the guardian has no connection to the land, and also that the ILA
has been leasing it to Ateret Cohanim "for some years now."
In its petition, the Arab Hotels Company argues that the low lease
being paid by Ateret Cohanim is proof that this is an "artificial
contract." The association is paying NIS 42.5 per dunam (which comes
to NIS 1,278 for the entire parcel of land), although it is in a
prestigious location.
The ILA's official response to Haaretz states that the contract with
the Jewish association was signed "more than five years ago"; a senior
ILA source says the contract was signed "at the beginning of the
1990s."
At the ILA they were not able to explain how the entire plot of land
was leased to Ateret Cohanim, despite the fact that even the ILA
itself says the state owns only 20 percent of it. The ILA explains the
fact that they dealt with the association without a tender by saying
"it was the only applicant." Concerning Ateret Cohanim's lack of
experience in agriculture, the ILA says: "It is not stipulated
anywhere that the minimal condition for submitting an application for
cultivation is prior experience."
Based on past High Court of Justice rulings saying that if the state
does not implement an expropriation order for many years, it's
possible to annul it, the Palestinian landowners are asking the court
to issue a show cause order, requiring the state to explain why it
should not prohibit the expropriation in this case.