Dozens of residents of the Binyamin community of Migron made unannounced visits to homes of government ministers on Saturday night, and asked them to prevent the community’s planned demolition.
The ministers who were visited were Limor Livnat, Silvan Shalom, Gilad Erdan, Yisrael Katz and Yaakov Neeman.
They agreed to meet with the residents, who came along with their children. The residents asked the ministers to work with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to establish a team that would work to legalize the community.
Migron came under a demolition threat after ultra-leftist group Peace Now filed a motion to the Supreme Court on behalf of several Arabs, who demanded that Migron be demolished because it was allegedly “built upon their private lands.” The Supreme Court ruled that the community must be demolished by March of 2012.
However, the court case took a dramatic turn after the Arabs who claimed the land is theirs withdrew their lawsuit when they were unable to present proof of ownership.
The Attorney General subsequently admitted that “the residents of Deir Dibwan cannot validate their land claims in Migron.” The residents reminded the government ministers of this fact during their meeting.
Migron resident Chaim Teitelbaum told Arutz Sheva, “The ministers must understand the legal injustice behind the destruction. There are families with children in the community that contribute to the country in every aspect: in the army, in society and in welfare. The ministers should look them in the eye and, as government representatives, should take responsibility for the decision to destroy our homes. There is no reason to uproot and destroy the community and they have the ability to find the legal and political solution for this.”
Nachi Eyal, head of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel and who heads a group called “Legalizing the Communities”, told Arutz Sheva that Saturday evening’s visits were the first in a series of visits to homes of government ministers.
“The ministers should recognize the names and the faces of the young children and their parents who face an expulsion decree and work with Netanyahu in order to find the solution,” Eyal said. “It is not a legal problem but a political one, and if Netanyahu wants he will find the proper solution.”