Update on Land Owner Fighting To Remove Arab Squatters

(Israelnationalnews.com) We present to our readers an update by Yitzchak Herskovitz about his battle to remove the Arab squatters and regain control of the Jerusalem property he purchased 15 years ago:

Yitzchak Herskovitz speaks:

This question has been asked of me many times: What's happening with that property of yours in the Arab-populated Jerusalem neighborhood of Bet Safafa?
 
(Those who don't know the full story can read it here:)

Photo: Yitzchak Herskovitz at his winery

The honest answer is that two months ago, in August 2008, the Jerusalem District Cout issued an eviction order against the Salach squatters, because of their non-payments of rents due to me. After the Salach clan paid the 17 months' worth of back rents, the judge allowed a stay on the eviction order, pending the outcome of the second trial.
 
You might ask: What second trial?  Why are there two trials on the very same issue of ownership?
 
History:
In 1993, I purchased this property - in southwest Jerusalem, near Gilo - from an absentee owner living in Los Angeles. That same year, I also initiated my lawsuit against the existing trespasser. I sued the Salach clan for the possession of my property. This was a simple case of eviction based on my ownership of this property. After I bought this property, the ownership became a matter of fact. The Property Registration Office (tabu) had recorded the sale to me, and also recorded the ownership in my name. This made it quite official.
 
In 2004, after many years in court, I received a judgment in my favor, ordering the Salach clan off of my property. Soon afterwards, the Salach clan filed an appeal on that judgment - and lost the appeal in 2005. 
 
Yet the Salach clan was able to come up with a very clever and intricate legal trick, and sued me for ownership on this same property!  Even though the court had just ruled that the property was mine and that the Arab clan must get out, the Salachs were able to claim, "No, we're filing a new court suit! We claim the land is ours!"
 
This lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Jerusalem, was based on the same bogus loan document that had been proven to be a fraud and a fabrication in the Magistrates Court.
 
To further the legal morass I found myself in, the judge ruled that since this was a separate lawsuit, he has to hear this case from the very beginning!   He insisted on personally hearing and weighing all the evidence once again.
 
My lawyers attempted to fight this.  Why should the same issue of ownership be judged twice in two different courts? We said that the evidence that was submitted and approved in the Magistrates Court is good enough to prove the same case in the District Court.  My attorney wanted to fight this out in the Supreme Court, but I refused to do so as there were many good reasons not to do so.
 
Our last day in court on this new case was September 15, 2008.  On that date, four persons came to testify on my behalf and presented their evidence.  A fifth person who was unable to show up (because he was testifying in another case at the time) was the handwriting expert. He was to show, as he did in the previous case, that their document was a fraud and a fabrication.

When will the next court date be set so that the handwriting expert can testify? That's what we are waiting to hear - but the court is taking its time in giving us a date for our next day in court.
 
Meanwhile, it's been 15 years since I bought the property, yet have not been able to take possession - because the Arab squatters, and their attorney, have learned how to abuse our legal system to their advantage.
 
I leave it now for the Arutz-7 listeners and readers to respond and post their comments.