While the decades-old national struggle between Jews and Arabs for land in the Land of Israel continues with no end in sight, one determined Jew is waging a stubborn battle for his own piece of Jerusalem – holding his finger in the dyke to ensure that his land does not fall into Arab hands.
Yitzchak Herskovitz, 78, bought the property, between the neighborhoods of Givat HaMatos and Beit Tsafafa, over 20 years ago, yet has not merited to live there even one day. An Arab clan from the Bethlehem area has been found by two Israeli courts to have illegally taken over Herskovitz's property, and to have brought false evidence in the course of attempting to prove their own ownership. Despite these rulings, years of legal wrangling by the Arab clan, the Salahs, have enabled them to continue to reside on property not theirs – nor have they totally fulfilled the court’s condition that they pay $250 of monthly rent to a third-party account.
Israel National News spoke with Herskovitz on Tuesday:
Q. Where is your case holding now, Mr. Herskovitz?
A. We are now waiting for the Supreme Court to confirm the rulings made in the past by two lower courts. First the Jerusalem Magistrates Court has ruled that the property is mine, as registered in the tabu [property records]. Then later, after the trespasser/squatters challenged the decision in the Jerusalem District Court, that court also ruled that the property is mine. Both courts stated clearly that the “evidence” produced by the Arab clan was fabricated and fraudulent.
The Arabs also changed their story: First they claimed the property was theirs because the previous owner, an Armenian, had defaulted on a loan they had given him; then they claimed they had bought it from him… The Arabs produced a document allegedly signed by the Armenian – but the court determined that it was a forgery.
Despite all this, the Arabs have brazenly appealed yet again – this time to the Supreme Court - causing yet another delay in my regaining of my property. As if 16 years have not been enough! What’s worse, however, is that they keep on producing the same document that has been proven to be a fake; this is real chutzpah!
Q. Have any eviction orders ever been issued for the squatters?
A. Most certainly. The most recent one was scheduled for last week, instructing the police to evict all five squatters – the parents who claim ownership, and their three adult sons (even though there are many more people living there…) But after the parents filed this Supreme Court appeal, the police told me it wouldn’t be worth my while to have the three sons evicted, because the parents would still remain there, waiting for the Supreme Court decision…
So now I am left without eviction orders, hoping that this latest stalling-tactic appeal to the Supreme Court will not take very long.
I want to note that the District Court took into account my age and the fact that this case has been dragged out so long, and handed down its ruling relatively quickly – only three months after the final hearing. The Supreme Court, too, just moved up its hearing from Dec. 26 to Dec. 14; I hope that in total, it will not take more than a few weeks…
Q. Have the Arabs been represented throughout this period by the same lawyer?
A. No, this is their fourth one - an Arab attorney from Jerusalem, who in fact once told me that he’s not “like the other lawyers” and that he always tells the truth… Yet just a few weeks ago, the court fined him 5,000 shekels for having claimed that my lawyer had agreed to a certain delay, when in fact she had done nothing of the sort.
Q. When did these Arabs arrive on your property, and from where?
A. Some time around 1984, the Salah clan arrived from the Bethlehem-Tamra area and began squatting on my property. We know this from the Israel Lands Authority and aerial photography. How they arrived is an interesting – and illegal – story:
The security officer of the Jewish community of Nokdim, an old-timer in the area, told me that the Salahs had had a violent dispute – ending in at least one death - with another clan regarding grazing rights in the area, and were then forced to run away. They found shelter, of all places, in my property – and have not left since. When I originally found them living there, I asked the police to take action. The police came and questioned the squatters, who said that they had received permission from the local mukhtar to live there! It is still unbelievable to me, to this very day, how the police allowed them to live there simply because the mukhtar said so – and even though they did not have Israeli ID cards! How can it be that the police do not enforce the law?!
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Jerusalem Land-Owner to Sue Police
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