Migron outpost to AG: Let us remain in our homes

Residents of W. Bank outpost pen letter asking to avoid evacuation pending validation of land purchase claims.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Jewish children play at Migron outpost 370 (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Jewish children play at Migron outpost 370
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Migron outpost families on Sunday published an open letter urging Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to support the Ministerial Settlements Committee’s conclusion that they can remain in their homes if their land-purchase claims are confirmed.
In a letter published in Makor Rishon and Ma’ariv, the West Bank families said they expected those who administer the law such as Weinstein to act in accordance with the rules governing its administration, as well as the dictates of humanity and justice.
This should be done even if some officials do not agree with those rules, the families wrote.
The Migron families added that they were loyal citizens of the state rearing their children according to Jewish values and respect for the rule of law.
The 50 families, who live on a hilltop in the Binyamin Region just north of Jerusalem, are in the midst of a stiff battle to save their homes.
The High Court of Justice has ordered the state to evacuate the homes by August 28 because they were built without permits on land classified by the state as private Palestinian property.
Migron families have said some of the lots have been purchased from the Palestinian landowners and that other lots could be reclassified as abandoned property.
But the courts did not uphold either claim.
Last month, the families asked the High Court to allow them to remain in their homes, saying that they recently repurchased much of the property.
The Ministerial Settlements Committee told the court that the families should be allowed to remain in their homes, if the court confirmed the purchase claim.
But at a hearing on the matter last month, state attorney Osnat Mandel said that Weinstein found that conclusion legally problematic.
She asked for time so that her office could work with the committee on its response.
The Ministerial Settlements Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss the matter before it resubmits its position to the court on Sunday.