'Palestinians' registering title to land in Judea and Samaria
Khaled Sabawi, the Canadian-born son of Palestinian refugees, launched Tabo three years ago. Appropriating the Ottoman term for "title deed", the business was built upon a dream of his father's to help Palestinians buy Palestinian land. It is a dream that most of the estimated 5 million scattered Palestinian refugees would consider impossible.
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Sabawi and other critics of the Palestinian Authority would add that Israel's ongoing success in the struggle for territory is aided by the Palestinian leadership's failure to protect Palestinian land. Legal proof of ownership is almost impossible to come by in the West Bank, where 70% of land is unregistered and ancestral property is inherited by dozens of heirs.
Israeli settlements have thrived on this legal ambiguity. "The best way to protect Palestinian land is to create title deeds and we have created hundreds of parcels of title deed land that are now owned by Palestinians. But it was a laborious, arduous, exhausting process throughout which the bureaucracy of the Palestinian Authority – not Israel – has been the greatest obstacle," Sabawi said.
It took Tabo's team of lawyers and engineers four years to register 100 hectares (250 acres) of Palestinian land. In each case, the process started from scratch. It involved negotiating with multiple heirs claiming ownership of a plot of land, agreeing on the borders of that plot, getting an official map of the land approved by the council and then applying for a title deed to legalise ownership.
The Tabo website invites prospective buyers in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the far-flung diaspora on a virtual tour of every plot of registered land with a 180-degree view from the site, its height from sea level and slope gradient. Plots are sold for $13,000 (£8,600) to $80,000 and can be paid off over three years.
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In Farkha, where 90 plots of land have been sold through Tabo, the council is cautiously supportive of the initiative. Tabo has paved roads and extended water and electricity networks to reach their plots of land. "The newcomers will probably help our economy and it's better that the land is not in the hands of settlers. But Sabawi is not buying our land because he likes our blue eyes. He's got a good business going," said Hassan Abdullah Hajaj, a council leader for 16 years. Most villagers, he said, sold land to Tabo for $5,000 per 1,000 sq metres or less out of economic necessity.
Unlike Hajaj or Sabawi, the Dabbaghs still cherish an optimistic ideal of Palestine. Ali is an eye surgeon specialising in diabetes and plans to open a clinic in Farkha. The couple have hired an architect to design their home, even though they have yet to receive permission from the Israeli authorities to live in the West Bank. When Ali last flew to Tel Aviv, he was refused entry, despite a British passport.
"At least 10 of our friends and relatives have bought land through Tabo after we told them about it. Some don't even plan to live there – they feel they are protecting the land just by owning it," Sana explained. Ali added: "For me it was just something I took for granted. I knew I was going to end up in Palestine. If, God forbid, I don't get to, at least now I know my children can."In other words, a 'Palestinian businessman' living abroad is taking advantage of local 'Palestinians' by buying their land on the cheap and selling it to wealthy 'Palestinians' who also live abroad. Imagine the outcry if the 'settlers' did something like that. But as long as all they're doing is recycling land on which 'Palestinians' already live, I'm not sure it matters.
I went to the tabo site (linked above) and started to fill out the form until I saw that I would have to fill in a credit card number, and give two references in 'Palestine.' I guess that's how they keep the Jooz out.
Anyone have a credit card number you don't mind giving 'Palestinians'?
Labels: Arab land grabs, Judea and Samaria, Palestine
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:15 PM
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