Migron, Mateh Binyamin

Migron
Migron, 2008
Hebrew	מגרון
Founded	1999 (re-founded in 2001)
Council	Mateh Binyamin
Coordinates	31°53′23.42″N 35°16′17.01″E
Migron

Migron (Hebrew: מגרון‎) is an unauthorized Israeli outpost in the northern West Bank. Located 14 kilometers north of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is the largest unauthorized settlement in the West Bank and home to approximately 50 families. The outpost was founded in 1999 and re-founded in 2001 according to Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. According to the 2005 Sasson Report, the outpost was established illegally on private Palestinian land, without official clearance, and received about four million NIS in government funding. Settlements built on privately owned Palestinian land are not only considered illegal by international, but also by Israeli law.

On 2 August 2011, Israel's Supreme Court issued a ruling ordering the state to dismantle the outpost by April 2012. In a 2012 January decision, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court accepted the request by Palestinian plaintiffs to withdraw a civil suit that had been filed in 2008 claiming ownership of the land and ordered them to compensate Migron residents and the State for court costs. Migron’s attorney Amir Fischer claimed the Palestinians did not provide any evidence that they owned the land and withdrew their claim at the moment in the process when they had to provide proof of land ownership. Both Shlomy Zachary who represents the Palestinians along with attorney Michael Sfard, on behalf of Yesh Din, said that the opposite was true.  Zachary said the fact that the withdrawal came at the point in the legal process where proof of ownership was required was coincidental, and both claimed that proof of ownership had already been provided. They cited the Magistrate’s Court's decision, which said "There is no basis to the claim that the plaintiff’s lack evidence to prove their rights to the land" and claimed that the suit was withdrawn because Israel's High Court of Justice had subsequently decided to destroy the outpost. Fischer opposed the permission to withdraw the suit and wanted the court to force the Palestinians to prove their claim.

Location

Migron is located 14 kilometers north of Jerusalem in the northern West Bank, 7.7 km east of the Green line, outside of the Separation Barrier. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is situated on a dominant hilltop over Highway 60, the main road that connects the northern West Bank with the southern areas, between the settlement Ofra and the Shaar Binyamin Industrial Park. It covers an area of 360 dunam (0.360 squarekilometers) of land privately owned by Palestinians.

Migron is named after the village Migron mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Isaiah 10:28 as a village somewhere on the route between Ai and Mikhmas along which the Assyrian army advanced.

Ma'avar Michmash or Migron South is an outpost of Migron established in 2004 with two containers, according to Peace Now.

Population

Migron is the largest unauthorized settlement in the West Bank. It is home to some 50 Jewish families, approximately 300 people who live in about 60 mobile homes.

Legal status

The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Settlements on privately owned Palestinian land are also illegal by Israeli law.

Sasson Report

According to the Sasson Report published by the Israeli government in 2005, Migron was established a few days prior to Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. At first a request for a cellular radio tower on the hill top was filed, and the request was granted by Israel Defence Forces in spite of the fact that the land for which the request was filed was private Palestinian land. Some time later five caravans were placed next to the radio tower and although the caravans had no authorization, no authorization was given to evacuate them. The report also states that the infrastructure for Migron was fully funded by the Housing Ministry at the cost of four million NIS, even though it was on private Palestinian lands, with no statutory planning and no cabinet decision regarding the construction.

Land ownership

According to the Israeli organisation Peace Now, most of the land Migron sits on is owned by a number of Palestinian families living in the nearby villages of Burqa and Deir Dibwan. In July 2008, additional questions were raised as to the ownership of some of the land that Migron stands on. According to a news report, Abd Allatif Hassan Sumarin, who supposedly sold a plot of land to Binyamin Regional Council owned Al Wattan Ltd in 2004, had been dead since 1961. These suspicions were later confirmed by an Associated Press investigation.

Evacuation orders

Rally at Migron on Yom Haatzmaut 5768/2008

The settlers of Migron have been expecting the evacuation of the outpost since Ariel Sharon announced its dismantling in 2003. On 17 December 2006, the Israeli government, responding to a petition from Peace Now and Palestinians from Burqa and Deir Dibwan, admitted that the outpost stands on private Palestinian land and concluded that there was never any authorization from any official granting its establishment. On 12 February 2007, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the government to submit within 60 days an updated report on the steps being taken to remove the outpost. On 1 May 2007, the government informed the court that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed the Defence Ministry to prepare an outpost evacuation plan within the next two months, requesting another 60 days extension in the hearings. On 8 July 2007, the government requested a further 90 days extension, claiming that the new Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, needed time to formulate his position on the issue.

On 23 January 2008, the government informed the court that “The Prime Minister and Defense Minister have decided that the outpost Migron, which was constructed on Private Palestinian land, will be evacuated within six months, that is until the beginning of August 2008”. In addition the statement also expresses that the Defense Ministry reserves the right to “request from the Supreme Court an extension on this date, if it deems necessary”. The promise was accepted by the Supreme Court on 6 February 2008. On 13 August 2008, the government declared that the Yesha Council had agreed to decide within 30 days to which location to transfer the outpost, on November 24 2008 the government signed an agreement with the settlers to remove the outpost to the settlement of Geva Binyamin. On November 26, the Supreme Court ordered the government to explain within 45 days why it didn't remove the outpost.

In her summation Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch criticized the State “Today you are submitting papers full of promises, but without any knowledge of who will actually see this through in 3 years time, your statements have turned into meaningless words. In your statements you have revealed some of your secrets: you explain how the evacuation will be carried out, but you never actually say that it will be carried out”. On 2 February 2009 the government responded with the declaration that they intend to construct a new neighbourhood in an existing settlement for the evacuees of the Migron outpost. On 28 June 2009, the government submitted an affidavit to the courts, according to which the Ministry of Defense authorized the construction of a new neighborhood in the existing settlements of Geva Binyamin. The construction would include 50 housing units for the evacuees of Migron and another 1,450 units for new settlers.

Supreme Court ruling

On 2 August 2011, in response to a petition filed by Peace Now along with Palestinians, Israel's Supreme Court issued a ruling ordering the state to dismantle the outpost by April 2012. Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch wrote: “There is no doubt that according to the law a settlement cannot be built on land privately owned by Palestinians”. It is the first time the Supreme Court has ordered the state to dismantle an outpost in the West Bank. The ruling was denounced by several Members of Knesset, including Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), who called it “hypocritical”, and Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who accused the Supreme Court of denying Jewish land rights. The Yesha Council accused the court of applying a double standard and of needlessly inflaming tensions. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz called the ruling “one of the most serious indictments ever filed against Israel's political establishment, legal system and security apparatus”.

Yesh Din petition

In early September 2011, a force of approximately one thousand police officers destroyed three illegal permanent structures in Migron, built on privately owned Palestinian land in May 2011, arresting six youths among the 200 protesting settlers. The three buildings were ordered to be destroyed by the Supreme Court, following a petition issued by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. In response to it, Jewish settlers set a mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus, on fire.