The land court at Tulkarem today ruled that the Palestine government was entitled to sell the Wadi Hawareth lands to the Jewish National Fund. This important decision may facilitate immediate possession by the Jewish Fund. The land court had previously held that the title of the Jewish National Fund was in perfect order but possession was prevented by administrative measures.
The Wadi Hawareth lands of 45,000 dunams were bought by the Jewish National Fund with $1,000,000 in funds raised by Canadian Zionists. When the purchase was made most of the Arab tenants had already evacuated but a number of squatters refused to move. The Jewish National Fund obtained an order for their removal from the land court but the government interposed objections.
Rather than antagonize the Arabs the Jewish National Fund let the matter rest. The present decision ends the matter and the Fund can occupy the land.
On this same matter the High Court has dismissed the complaint of four of the squatters, pointing out that the purchases had fulfilled all the conditions of compensation to the tenants and entitling the land court to order the Jewish National Fund to take possession. Whether the governor has the right to sell the land to the Jewish National Fund the High Court has not yet decided.
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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.
