How will the application of Israeli law to Jewish communities affect regular people living there? - by Naomi Kahn

Thus far, the debate has failed to explain how sovereignty—or a lack thereof—impacts the lives of the people living in Judea and Samaria, no matter who they are.

Naomi Kahn..
JNS.org..
05 August '20..

The debate surrounding the application of Israeli law to Judea and Samaria—all, part or none of Area C—has taken up quite a lot of the airwaves, columns of print, seemingly endless hours of public discussion and debate and international diplomatic energy.

Thus far, the debate has been high-brow, focusing on geopolitical scenarios, legal rights and wrongs, ethics and history, but has failed to explain how sovereignty—or a lack thereof—impacts the lives of the people living in Judea and Samaria, no matter who they are. When it comes down to it, how will the application of Israeli law to Jewish communities in what is known as Area C, the portion of the disputed territory designated for full Israeli jurisdiction under the Oslo Accords, affect regular people living there?

To sharpen the focus on this seemingly simple question, we must first understand the current reality—the “temporary” situation that has existed since June 1967, and the mechanisms through which Israel continues to administer this territory and to oversee the lives of its residents.

After Israel’s crushing victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israeli government was apparently frightened by its own success. Rather than taking the natural, normal, standard steps that have always been taken by governments to secure their own borders after a war of self-defense, Israel did not restore the originally intended and internationally recognized borders of the Jewish State by reinstating its sovereignty over the liberated territory of Judea and Samaria—which had been occupied illegally by Jordan for 19 years. Instead, Israel voluntarily placed this territory in a state of limbo, relegating its status to “disputed territory” and placing it under military rule. The law that would be enforced in these areas regarding property rights, it was decided, would revert to the system enacted by the last known sovereign—in this case, the Ottoman Empire.

Unbelievable as this may seem, Ottoman Land Law continues to be the law of the land in Judea and Samaria. Contrary to what far too many journalists and foreign “Middle East experts” whom I have met believe, the Ottoman legal system is enforced by the State of Israel across the board; it applies to both Jewish and Arab residents of Area C.

This anomalous situation is, in a nutshell, what makes the application of Israeli sovereignty in these areas so important, so logical and so beneficial for everyone who lives there, and for the State of Israel and its neighbors, as well. Simply put, Ottoman Land Law makes no sense in today’s world, and the situation as it stands is untenable.

(Continue to Full Column)