The Story of Beit HaShalom

Beit HaShalom was purchased by a Jewish donor from the United States for use by Hebron residents via a middleman for the sum of almost a million dollars.  The house is a huge, four-story building situated on the road between Kiryat Arba and Ma'arat HaMachpela.  Its strategic location controls both the pedestrian and vehicular access roads between the Machpela area and Kiryat Arba.. 
   
The fact is that the IDF were the first "settlers" of Beit Hashalom. Even before the current residents moved in, the IDF used the roof of the building as an observation post.  When Jewish civilians first moved into the building, the IDF commanders officially announced that the Jews living there are not a threat to security; on the contrary: the Jewish presence in that building contributes to the security of the area.

When the residents entered Beit HaShalom about a year and a half ago, the Arab seller rushed to make it known that he did not sell the house.  This is standard procedure - he did not want to be found guilty of helping Jews. Despite this, the Israeli police checked the documents and confirmed that the purchase by the middleman was lawfully executed. Israeli police then presented the seller with a film documenting the sale. In light of this evidence, he changed his story and claimed that he did sell the house, but immediately canceled the deal. The police found that his "cancellation" had no legal basis and that the sale remains valid. 

It has been made abundantly clear that the Jews bought the house at full price and that their presence contributes to the security of the area.  Because there was absolutely no legal reason to expel these Jews from their home, Defense Minister Amir Peretz tried to find another excuse.  He employed a new racist, anti-Semitic regulation called the "order of disturbance regarding the use of the land."  According to this order, any Jew in the area is considered to be a disturbance, unless he can prove otherwise.  The settlers are appealing the order and it is now being discussed in military court.

At the same time, the residents are proving their ownership of Beit HaShalom in the properly authorized civilian court – the District Court. 

But the government is in a hurry.  After a year and a half of Jews living in Beit HaShalom, the State Attorney's office suddenly announced that a portion of the documents proving the sale were forged.  This accusation shocked the residents of Beit HaShalom, but more than that, it angered and hurt them.  They demanded the right to carry out a professional examination of the documents themselves in order to prove their legitimacy.   The State Attorney's office refused to let the documents be inspected by a professional of the residents' choosing.  They marked the documents as "classified" and the Beit HaShalom residents were left without any ability to defend themselves against this fictional claim. 

Only very recently were they allowed to check the documents.  The documents were submitted to an expert chosen by the Hebron residents.  This expert submitted a new professional evaluation. He found many defects in the reports submitted by the Israeli police CIS department. Even more so, the new professional evaluation stated, that even according to the defective findings of the CIS, there is no doubt the deal has been executed.  The Arab seller lied, probably out of fear for his life in view of the Palestinian Authority ubiquitous death sentence which threatens anyone who sells a house or land to Jews .

However, those high-up in the State Attorney's office have proven their goal. The ejection of  the residents of Beit HaShalom is all-important; exactly which justification is chosen is immaterial.

In the latest Supreme Court hearing, Justices Beinisch, Procaccia and Jubran opened with the clarification that even if the house was purchased lawfully, there is still room to issue a command to "expel the intruders," and that is because they forced the hand of the seller, Rajabi.

In response to this new approach, the Beit HaShalom residents submitted to the Supreme Court and the State Attorney's office new proof:  an audio recording of the seller, Rajabi, having a friendly conversation in which he admits the following facts:  

1.  He sold the house to a middleman chosen by the Hebron residents and he received the full sale price.

2.  He carried out renovations in the building at the request of the middleman and was paid for this work. 

3.  He was under pressure from Palestinian intelligence services.

In view of this indisputable proof in which the seller flat-out states that he sold the house to the Jews, one would think that this would end the question of who really owns the house, and who was responsible for the repairs and maintenance of the building, and that finally, the case would be found in favor of the Beit HaShalom residents.

The recording was also widely distributed to the media and over the Internet. 

No less than 51 members of the Knesset signed a letter to Attorney General Mazuz, in which was written:

"As public representatives, we believe that the recording strengthens the disturbing questions regarding the court’s motives to expel the residents and owners from the building.  It seems that the residents have provided substantial proof of their claims, but cannot use them to defend themselves purely because they have to defend themselves in the Supreme Court (which, sitting as the “High Court for Justice” does not necessarily operate according to structured protocols). It is only because the court takes upon itself to rule on the morality of the case that the residents may find themselves removed from a property purchased at great expense.

"This result is a terrible miscarriage of justice and offends all moral sensibilities.  An atmosphere of heavy, blatant discrimination and injustice pervades the entire process.  As representatives of the community we warn that the current proceedings and effect, as stated above, could significantly impair public trust in the legal system."

"The lack of willingness of the State Attorney's Office to reconsider its actions and ignore all that has transpired raises question marks as to their true motives…We request that you reconsider the issue of ownership and thereby preserve and protect Israeli democracy."

However, the fact is that the expert testimony and recorded confessions submitted, as well as the petitions of Knesset members and academicians, made no impression on the Attorney General's staff.  They just won’t let the facts deter them. They announced that "there is no new proof which affects the requirement to vacate the property," and they submitted a new request to the Supreme Court to hurry the decision allowing them to evict the rightful tenants of Beit HaShalom.

What could bring the State Attorney's Office to such an extreme and unreasonable stance? The explanation may be found in the words of the director of the department for Supreme Court petitions Osnat Mendel, who in her Knesset appearance admitted that "it is due to the fact that  the property to be vacated (by Jews) is in Hebron…"

Now we wait.  The last High Court hearing ended without any decision.  No new date was set.  It is not known when the decision of the judges will be made. What we do know is that the decision to force the evacuation could be made right away only because the initial evacuation petition was submitted on the 29th day of the 30 day time frame, thus freezing the legal situation. Therefore, the State will have the opportunity to carry out the evacuation within 24 hours, if and when approved by the Court. This is the reason the residents of Beit HaShalom, unfortunately, have already had to start preparing in every way possible for the threat of evacuation.