An interesting land dispute will be revived before the Land Court here on December 21, when the court hears the complaint of a Turkish lady, Geuzide Hanoum, daughter of Hairi Bey, who was Kaimakam of Haifa forty-five years ago, against the Carmelite Convent on Mount Carmel.
The lady, who is married to an Englishman, Mr. Lermitte, employed with the Iraq Petroleum Company, entered suit in 1931, against the Convent and 28 persons, contending that the land bequeathed to her by her father included that on which the Convent stood. She claims about 70 dunams, whose value is estimated at £20,000, Proof of the claim is a Turkish title-deed made out in her father’s name to an area of 3 dunams. She asserts that the land on which the Convent stands and the other land come within the scope of this deed since in Turkish times areas were registered for smaller sizes than they actually were owing to the desire to evade payment of taxes, against the Convent only.
At the first sitting of the Court early in 1932, it decided that as each of the 29 respondents had separate title-deeds, suits should be brought against each. The complainant abandoned the cases against the 28 others and brought suit against the Convent only.
The Convent produced in court an earlier deed than that of the complainant’s and for a larger area, namely 750 dunams.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
