Below are two articles from Israel National News about the continuing saga of Yitzchak Herskovitz’s effort to get his private property back from Arab squatters. Peace Now doesn’t cover this, of course. Their massive database and documentation project is only concerned with gaining more land for Arabs and finally ridding Israel of Jews. Jewish land taken by Arabs and the massive illegal Arab building projects are of no interest to these guardians of peace and justice or the Israeli government.
However, MK Aryeh Eldad has spoken up and told Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to get up and do his job…the story is not over yet.
(IsraelNN.com)
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), in a letter to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, says the police must stop using “intolerable” excuses and get to work to evict Arabs from Yitzchak Herskovitz’s property.Herskovitz purchased the property, in southern Jerusalem between the Gilo (Jewish) and Beit Tsafafa (Arab) neighborhoods, 16 years ago – yet has never been able to move in. The reason: an Arab clan from Bethlehem that refuses to budge.
Despite several court orders, the police have refused to evict the Arabs, using various excuses. The last instance occurred ten days ago, when the police turned down the most recent court order to evict the Arabs because, they said, it was liable to cause Arab riots. The police also cited the holy Moslem month of Ramadan, which begins tomorrow, and the extra manpower needed for the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, as reasons they could not carry out the eviction.
An incensed Eldad, learning of the matter from the continuing Arutz-7/IsraelNationalNews coverage of the story, wrote a letter to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who oversees Israel Police.
“The excuse that the eviction would lead to Arab rioting is intolerable,” Eldad wrote. “This is an unacceptable political decision, expressed in selective law enforcement. It is designed to appease Arab lawbreakers and prevent Jews from actualizing their legal rights.”Eldad also noted an incident that occurred earlier this month, when Jews arrived in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood near French Hill to take possession of Jewish property – but were stopped by police because of concern it might lead to Arab riots.
Police Know How to Evict Jews
“When the courts ordered Jews evicted,” Eldad wrote, “such as in Hevron or at the pogrom in Amona, the police knew well how to amass large forces to carry out the court-ordered evictions.”
Dichter is running for leader of the Kadima Party, in primaries set for Sept. 17. He lags far behind front-runners Tzipi Livni and Sha’ul Mofaz in the polls.“Perhaps it is not unnecessary to remind you,” Eldad wrote to Dichter, “that Israel Police is responsible for enforcing the law equally on all sectors of the population. You may not allow your political inclinations, or the primaries, to sway the law and cause you not to carry out court orders.”
And ten days ago, there was this…
(IsraelNN.com)
A lawyer for Yitzchak Herskovitz, a septuagenarian resident of Kiryat Arba and owner of property in Jerusalem, said Sunday his client will sue Jerusalem police for failing to execute court orders to evict Arab squtters from his property.Herskovitz had hoped to have his Jerusalem property freed of Arab squatters by last week, as the court ordered, but the police said they don’t have the men for the job.
Baruch Ben-Yosef said his client’s motion to sue is a desperate step to force the police to fulfil their legal obligations to execute court orders.
“The police have systematically denied my client of his rights,” he told IsraelNationalNews. “The court has repeatedly ordered them to evict the illegal squatters from his home, but they have always come up with some excuse not to fulfil that order. Maybe being forced to pay a large sum of money will get them to move.”
Fearful of RiotsHerskovitz, a septuagenarian formerly of Los Angeles and now of Kiryat Arba in Judea, bought property in southern Jerusalem in 1992. He has never been able to take possession of it, however, because of Arab squatters living there.
The police have turned down the most recent court order to evict the Arabs because of riots they expect will result. They promise to carry it out within several weeks – or several months.
Though the feisty and colorful Mr. Herskovitz has legal title to the property, located near the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo (Jewish) and Beit Tsafafa (Arab), a clan of Arab squatters says it is theirs. Their claims have alternated between “we received it when the original owner defaulted on a loan” and “we bought it from him.”
Jewish People Could Lose Sovereignty
Meanwhile, the Arab squatters continue to live, rent-free, on the property Herskovitz bought 16 years ago but has still not merited to move into. He is not giving up the fight, though: “I have interests here – but the Jewish People have an even greater interest in this case. If the courts do not enforce this order, it is very likely that this entire area will simply become Arab. When you lose the ability to enforce the law, you lose sovereignty – and the Jewish People are in danger of having that happen right here, in Jerusalem!”
Courts Rule in Herskovitz’s Favor
In 2004, after handwriting and document experts testified that the Arabs’ documents were fraudulent, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled in Herskovitz’s favor. The Arab clan appealed the ruling in the Jerusalem District Court, which also ultimately ruled in Herskovitz’s favor. The squatters then tried another tactic, and in 2006, they sued for ownership of the property. The court has not yet ruled on this claim – but has given a hint of its position by issuing an interim order for the squatters to post bond and pay past rent, or else face eviction.
Arabs Didn’t Pay, Court OKs Eviction, Police Say Not Now
The Arabs did not pay rent or post the bond, and the District Court ruled, once again, that they can be evicted. Herskovitz, in accordance with accepted procedure, applied to the police to carry out the eviction order – but the police turned him down.
Adv. Yaakov Golbert, representing Herskovitz’s interests in the foreclosure and reclamation of the party, told IsraelNationalNews what happened: “A police lawyer called me yesterday [Tuesday], and said that the police simply don’t have the manpower for the job. They’re afraid of riots, and soon [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza] Rice is coming to the region, and soon it will be Ramadan, etc. etc. But she promised over and over that for sure before the High Holidays [nearly six weeks from now -ed.], they will do it.”
Police Ask for Long Delay
The lawyer was actually more generous than an official police letter to the court. The letter stated, “The eviction is a very sensitive, on behalf of a Jew living in Hevron [sic; he actually lives in Kiryat Arba - ed.], and the property is located in [an Arab neighborhood]. It should also be noted that the eviction was set for approximately a week before the onset of the Ramadan month… In my estimation, the [police] deployment for the eviction will be very intensive, because of the expectation of riots after the eviction – and it will lead into the Ramadan fasts. Similarly, it will involve the deployment of many policemen on the day on which U.S. Secretary Rice is expected, which will make it very difficult… Based on this, we ask for a flexible eviction order beginning from Oct. 5, 2008 until Feb. 1, 2009.”
“Not only are they refusing to do it now,” an astounded Herskovitz said, “but they even want to put it off for several months! … And how can the police lawyer make a promise [to Golbert] that they will do it before Rosh HaShanah, when the days before Rosh HaShanah are still in the month of Ramadan?! How can I believe them?”
Asked if he has any recourse against the police position, Golbert said, “Most unfortunately, no. If the police explain that they can’t carry it out, then the court will believe them, and that’s that.”
Possibly Herskovitz’s latest suit against the police will get them to change their mind.
Herskovitz sees it differently. “The police are simply bucking a court order,” he said. “They have made this into a soap opera and a circus. I would like to believe them when they say they will do it in a month – but it’s very hard for me to do so because of how they have stalled and pushed this off so many times in the past, and because of what they are ‘promising’ now.”
