Israel's High Court ruled today that construction of 60 housing units can commence at Nili, an Israeli community in the Binyamin area north of Modi'in.
Judge Neil Hendel rejected a lawsuit asking for a temporary stop-work order filed by the Arab residents of nearby Dir Elkadis with the assistance several Left wing Israeli groups.The lawsuit claimed that the land belonged to Dir Elkadis.
In actuality, as Attorney Akiva Sylvetsky, legal advisor to the Samaria Regional Authority who represented Nili explained to the Court, the construction is being carried out on state land that was declared as such in 1981. The alleged Arab 'owners' not only didn't object to the declaration at the time it was made, but they also didn't object when Israeli authorities approved the zoning plan that includes building on the land in question. The construction is being carried out with permits granted on the basis of that plan.
Needless to say, the Arab 'owners' had never built anything or farmed any crops on this land they supposedly 'owned', and the objections and the lawsuit only came when construction was announced.In US law, the Arabs would have lost the property even if they had actually owned it in a clear case of what's known as adverse possession...failure to object to a clear and public challenge to title for a significant period of time.
This is an excellent development, as it provides a precedent to toss out other nuisance law suits intended for the sole purpose of keeping Israelis from building homes.
And the location, near Modi'in is likewise a good and symbolic omen. It was in Modi'in that Mattathias, along with Judah and his other sons began the Maccabee revolt that defeated the Seleucid Empire and reclaimed the land of Israel.
Build up the land and defend it, Israel and it will sustain you.let a hundred flowers bloom and a thousand bulldozers roar.
-Selah-
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