Adalah demands that Israel Land Authority register properties of Arab citizens on JNF lands in Carmiel

In December 2013, Adalah sent a letter to the Israel Land Authority (ILA) demanding that it immediately registers the properties of Nizar Bakri and Qassem Bakri. The two brothers, who are Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, bought apartments in the Carmiel region of Haifa in 2010, but have been unable to register their properties with the Israeli Land Registrar because the Jewish National Fund (JNF) owns the lands on which the apartments are built.

Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara argued in the letter that the delay in the registration of the Bakris’ properties is a result of clear discrimination by the ILA towards Arab citizens. In a letter to the Bakris explaining the delay, the ILA stated that: “At issue is a minority lessee and the land on which the apartments are built belongs to the Jewish National Fund, and there is a need to implement a swap between the authorities. There has been a request to execute what was requested but it will take considerable time.” Attorney Bishara also emphasized that Jewish residents who had bought apartments in the building were able to register their properties without delays or obstacles.

Adalah further argued that the JNF’s policy of differentiating between Arab and Jewish citizens violates the ILA’s obligations to treat all citizens of Israel on an equal basis regardless of national belonging. The delay in registration is also a violation of the owner’s right to property and causes the buyer significant financial hardship by denying this right.

The JNF enjoys huge influence over land distribution policy in Israel, nominating, for example, half of the members of the ILA Council. Since 1948, large tracts of Arab-owned land have been confiscated or appropriated under law and taken into the possession of the state or Zionist institutions, such as the JNF, for exclusive use by Jews, bringing about state control of over 93% of the land in Israel. Although under Israeli law state-owned land cannot be sold, the JNF's special status enables the transfer of lands to it from the state. The ILA has acknowledged that tenders for JNF lands are only open to Jews, claiming that the agreement signed between the state and the JNF in 1961 obliges it to respect the objectives of the JNF, which include settling Jews on lands and properties within the Israeli government's jurisdiction.

Update: On 14 January 2014, Adalah received a positive response from the ILA in which it confirmed that the process of registration for Nizar and Qassem Bakri had begun.

See: Haaretz, “Israeli Arabs face red tape when leasing JNF land”, 23 December 2013

(Pictured: View of Karmiel; photo from Wikimedia Commons)