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.