Access Denied: Palestinian Access to Land in Israel - Softcover

McKay, Fiona; Hussein, Hussein Abu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184277123X ISBN 13: 9781842771235

Publisher: Zed Books, 2003

Synopsis

The struggle for land has been a key element of the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine thoughout the past hundred years, and remains intense to this day. While international attention focuses on Israeli settlements that have encroached on to hitherto Arab land in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which lie legally outside Israel‘s boundaries, there is another dimension to the land question, as this book makes clear. Nearly one-fifth of Israel‘s population is Palestinian. This book examines the extent and means by which Israeli land policy today restricts access to land for these citizens within the 1948 boundaries of the State of Israel.

Its authors -- one a Palestinian lawyer and Israeli citizen practising in Israel, the other a British international human rights lawyer who worked in Israel for many years -- examine the system of land ownership, the acquisition and administration of public land, and the control of land use through planning and housing regulations. What emerges is the extent to which the law is being used to restrict access to land by Israeli Palestinians and the discrimination that this entails for those citizens who are not of Jewish origin.

The book argues that domestic and international law, which should operate to protect Palestinian land rights, have failed to do so, and that Israeli land policies breach international legal standards, including human rights norms.

About this title

About the Author:

Hussein Abu Hussein is a Palestinian lawyer who practices in Um El Fahem, one of the largest Palestinian communities in Israel.

Fiona McKay is a solicitor and international human rights lawyer.

Review:

The Palestinian Question is essentially about competing claims to land, both within the occupied territories and Israel itself. This carefully written and thoroughly researched study shows how Israel has succeeded, by means contrary to international human rights standards, in reserving 94 per cent of the land of Israel for the exclusive use of its Jewish population. The dispossession of the land of the Palestinians within Israel by discriminatory laws and practices is examined in the context of Palestinian history, Israeli law and international standards. This excellent study serves as a timely reminder that the Palestine Question is not only about the occupied territories - it is also about the plight of Palestinians in Israel itself.' John Dugard, University of Leiden; Special rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights on Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory In all settler colonies, control over land is in the heart of the conflict that will inevitably ensue between the natives and the settlers. Israel, being a settler colony is no exception to this rule. Its protracted conflict with the Palestinians, whether refugees outside their homeland or internal refugees, is focused on the control of land. This carefully researched book is the definitive work on the various modalities Israel has devised and utilized to systematically colonize Palestinian land, to secure control thereon, and to frustrate any attempt by the Palestinians to reclaim their properties.' Anis F. Kassim, Consulting Editor, The Palestine Yearbook of International Law

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 184277123X
• ISBN 13: 9781842771235
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336