PA daily op-ed: Balfour Declaration was a "historical crime," Israel's founders were foreign "invaders"
Headline: “The Israeli Parliament law – officially joining the global terror front”
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
“‛The Regularization Law’ [which was ratified by] the Israeli Parliament while [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu was in London in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) (sic., while in London on an official visit, Netanyahu was invited to the celebrations which will take place later this year –Ed.) appears to be something leading to a new crime. [It happened] 100 years after the original crime, when Great Britain gave invaders the land of Palestine, not even a centimeter of which was under its ownership. And now, the descendants of the dynasty of the sin and the historical crime are giving what does not belong to them to the foreign settlers and invaders, and are preventing the original residents of the land – the Palestinian Arabs – from their full right to it, and do not allow the establishment of peace in two states.
Therefore, what is new in the Israeli Parliament law is it being a new albeit slow Holocaust – but this time the victim is us, the Palestinians – and it being an expression of a secret plan to destroy us, as a copy of the crime their ancestors in Europe committed against the Indians on the American continent.”
Regularization Law: Israeli legislation to validate land registration in the West Bank, when a Palestinian claims to own the land upon which an Israeli community resides. The legislation only applies to communities that were established in good faith - i.e., without prior knowledge that the land was privately owned by Palestinians - or with Israeli government consent. The law validates the registration of the land for the Israeli community, and provides a mechanism to compensate Palestinian claimants if their claims are proven correct.
Compensation: Palestinian claims of ownership to land where an Israeli community exists will be heard by an Assessment Committee, composed of a representative of the Israeli Justice Ministry, the Israeli Defense Ministry, and the local Civil Authority. In cases of proven claims, the Palestinian owner will be entitled to compensation of up to 125% of the value of the land before the community was built, or alternative plots of land, according to his choice.
The law does not apply retroactively to cases already heard by the Israeli Supreme Court. The law was ratified on Feb.6, 2017, but was frozen by the Israeli Supreme Court on August 17. The final hearing is slated to take place in late 2017.
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
“‛The Regularization Law’ [which was ratified by] the Israeli Parliament while [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu was in London in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) (sic., while in London on an official visit, Netanyahu was invited to the celebrations which will take place later this year –Ed.) appears to be something leading to a new crime. [It happened] 100 years after the original crime, when Great Britain gave invaders the land of Palestine, not even a centimeter of which was under its ownership. And now, the descendants of the dynasty of the sin and the historical crime are giving what does not belong to them to the foreign settlers and invaders, and are preventing the original residents of the land – the Palestinian Arabs – from their full right to it, and do not allow the establishment of peace in two states.
Therefore, what is new in the Israeli Parliament law is it being a new albeit slow Holocaust – but this time the victim is us, the Palestinians – and it being an expression of a secret plan to destroy us, as a copy of the crime their ancestors in Europe committed against the Indians on the American continent.”
Regularization Law: Israeli legislation to validate land registration in the West Bank, when a Palestinian claims to own the land upon which an Israeli community resides. The legislation only applies to communities that were established in good faith - i.e., without prior knowledge that the land was privately owned by Palestinians - or with Israeli government consent. The law validates the registration of the land for the Israeli community, and provides a mechanism to compensate Palestinian claimants if their claims are proven correct.
Compensation: Palestinian claims of ownership to land where an Israeli community exists will be heard by an Assessment Committee, composed of a representative of the Israeli Justice Ministry, the Israeli Defense Ministry, and the local Civil Authority. In cases of proven claims, the Palestinian owner will be entitled to compensation of up to 125% of the value of the land before the community was built, or alternative plots of land, according to his choice.
The law does not apply retroactively to cases already heard by the Israeli Supreme Court. The law was ratified on Feb.6, 2017, but was frozen by the Israeli Supreme Court on August 17. The final hearing is slated to take place in late 2017.
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.