Law and land sales in Palestine debated
Law and land sales in Palestine debated
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP): The Palestinian legislature began debating yesterday a radical law which would declare all sales of land in "Palestine" to Israelis as "national treason."
The "Property law for foreigners" threatens "maximum punishment" for Palestinians who sell land to Israelis and would also bar property sales to non-Israeli foreigners unless the deals received prior approval from the Palestinian Authority council of ministers.
The elected 88-member legislative council launched its debate amid a crisis in the peace process caused by Israel's policy of expanding Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian areas.
The debate also coincides with a controversial crackdown by Palestinian security forces against Arabs who sell land to settlers.
In a bid to avoid violating interim peace agreements with Israel which prohibit the Palestinians from adopting any laws which would harm "Israeli interests," the bill makes no explicit reference to Israel, Israelis or Jews.
Its provisions refer only to "occupiers," defined as "the government of occupation, its civilian and military institutions and its individual citizens."
"Any past or future deals with the occupiers concerning properties in Palestine are considered null and void," said the draft bill.
The text left the notion of "Palestine" undefined, apparently to avoid referring specifically to Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem which under the interim peace accords falls outside Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.
But some legislators asserted the law concerned all territory which fell under the pre-1948 British mandate of Palestine, including present-day Israel.
"Any Palestinian who sells land in violation of this law will be considered to have committed national treason and will receive the maximum punishment," the draft states.
The document does not spell out the meaning of "maximum punishment," but legislative sources said this referred to a 1967 Jordanian law which imposed the death penalty for sales to Jews of land captured by Israel in the 1967 war.
"Any foreigner who violates this law will be prosecuted on charges of harming the national interest and will receive a life sentence," it added.
The law also forbids anyone from acting as a middleman in land sales which violate the draft's terms and it sets out procedures to regulate land sales between Palestinians.
The Israeli government has already said it would consider any Palestinian law on such land sales as a violation of peace accords and null and void.
Palestinian Authority officials provoked an international uproar last month by announcing that they would begin using the Jordanian law to prevent sales of Palestinian land to Jewish settlers.
Three land agents suspected of selling property to settlers were subsequently found murdered in the West Bank town of Ramallah and a number of others have been detained.
The deadly crackdown sparked sharp protests from Israel, which has issued arrest warrants for Palestinian security agents suspected in the deaths of two of the land sellers.
The United States called on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority to withdraw the death threat and the U.S. congress threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian entity over the affair.
For Palestinians, the sale of land in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to Israelis strengthens the Jewish state's claim to the occupied territories and undermines their goal of creating an independent state.
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations broke down three months ago over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy of expanding Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land.