Community Magazine January 2009

76 Community magazine S ix hundred Israeli police and soldiers forcibly evacuated about 120 Jews from their Hebron home last month. The reason? On the surface it would appear the hullabaloo centers around an ongoing legal controversy involving a build- ing called “Beit Hashalom – Peace house,” a four-story, 40,000 square foot structure. But the murky circumstances behind the recent government action lead many to believe that legal question are being decided based on politics instead of the law. Morris Abraham, a 40-year-old importer from Flatbush, Brooklyn, and his father Mickey, legally purchased the building from a West Bank Arab twenty months ago, after what Abraham describes as five years of expenses and legal red tape. “No one has ever bought land in this region,” said Abraham. “People did not know how to deal with it.” The transactions were filmed as a pre- caution in the event that the Arab owner would deny selling the home or receiving payment… which the seller eventually did. Police investigations, however, determined that the sale documents were valid. When the former owner pressed his case in Israeli court – without any proof to substanti- ate his claim, a status quo was ordered by the court. This allowed the residents to stay, but forbade changing the building or connecting it to the electric grid. Parties involved believe that leftwing ele- ments of the government, which oppose Jewish presence in predominantly Arab Hebron, ushered the largely baseless case all the way to the Supreme Court. In mid- December, the court ruled that the residents had to leave within three days, and the government would otherwise have the legal right to remove them. Defense Minister and Labor Party head Ehud Barak reportedly led the eviction effort. Abraham attributed the decision to several factors, including the “change of guards in America, the appeasement of the UN, and the Labor Party’s slump in the polls.” He charged that ahead of February’s general election, Labor “is scrambling to get votes,” adding that “instead of worrying about rock- ets raining down on Sderot, they think they’ll win approval by evicting Jews.” Abraham said he takes umbrage with the Supreme Court’s changing three judges in the middle of the case, in what he says was an attempt to get a favored outcome for the State. According to one report, retired Supreme Court judge Ya’akov Turkal said that the Court’s decision did not demand the families’ removal, but rather allowed the government to remove them if it saw fit. Abraham has appealed to the lower courts to determine who legally owns the property. Meanwhile, evacuated residents have been billeted in empty homes in nearby Kiryat Arba. Abraham said he is uncertain who will pay for the residents’ relocation. The Battle Over PEACE HOUSE Photos: Morris Antebi Hundreds of community members, rabbis from over 20 shuls and representatives from various organizations,gatheredinAhabaVeAhvalastmonth to show solidarity with the Jews in Hebron who were forcibly evacuated by the Israeli government, from their home Beit Hashalom, last month. Mr. Morris Abraham, the courageous owner of Beit Hashalom and dedicated Hatzalah member, describes the 3-year process of purchasing Beit Hashalom, just one minute’s walk from Mearaat Hamachpela – burial site of our forefathers and emotionally describes the day the 30 families moved into the home only to be forcibly evicted by the government a short time later. Looking on are Rabbi Shimon Alouf, Chief Rabbi Shaul Kassin and Rabbi Greenwald Rabbi Yossi Baumol, a representative of the Hebron fund, raising questions regarding the Israeli government’s policies of restricting Jewish ownership of land in certain parts of Israel, while allowing the purchase of land by Arabs and even sanctioning illegal Arab settlements anywhere in Israel. “The ‘Peace Now’ campaign is perverted for political reasons,” Baumel explained. Chief Rabbi Shaul Kassin, flanked by Rabbi Shimon Alouf and Morris Abraham, leading a recitation of Tehillim and a mi sheberach prayer for Israel. HOW A REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION SPARKED AN INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT. Members of the Hebron Fund Committee Jewish community members signing a petition to voice their objections over the Israeli government’s policies towards Jewish residents of Hebron COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR HEBRON