Introduction 11 Kaplan, the purpose of the law “was to instill legality in some acts undertaken during and following the war.”21 This law did not, in fact, distinguish between ‘absentee’ and ‘non-absentee’ land. Thus in the year following its enactment, it was used to appropriate 1.2 million dunums of land (1,200 km2), of which 704,000 (704 km2) was absentee land. Of the 311,000 (311 km2) dunums of private land which were expropriated that year, 304,700 (304.7 km2) dunums were Palestinian owned.22 An almost identical process took place in the occupied Palestinian territory in the aftermath of the 1967 War. As it was the practice within Israel-proper, “the acquisition of Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza Strip proceed[ed] along several lines simultaneously.”23 In relation to refugee property, Israel quickly introduced several ‘Absentee Property Law’-type orders.24 Again, the Israeli government expanded its policy of land confiscation far beyond the land of refugees, exploiting (and, where necessary, amending) the laws of Jordan, Palestine and the Ottoman Empire “to advance its program of land acquisition”.25 For example, the government “wielded Article 125 of the Defense (Emergency) Regulations as a tool for land acquisition in the occupied Palestinian territory, just as it had done within Israel itself”.26 Using this law alone, it converted “an estimated 1.11 million dunums of land in the West Bank into restricted military areas”.27 Minister of Religious Affairs Zerah Wahrhaftig, also the chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee described how ‘Israel lands’ - which according to the 1960 Basic Law are defined as lands of the State, the Development Authority and the Jewish National Fund28 and which could not be sold – would be designated for the exclusive use of the Jewish people: “We want to make it clear that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The ‘people of Israel’ is a concept broader than the ‘people resident in Zion,’ because the people of Israel live throughout the world. On the other hand, every law that is passed is for the benefit of all the residents of the state, and all the residents of the state include also people who do not belong to the 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 See Forman and Kedar, ‘From Arab Land to “Israel Lands”’, 820. Forman and Kedar, ‘From Arab Land to “Israel Lands”’, 821. BADIL and COHRE, Ruling Palestine, 78. BADIL and COHRE, Ruling Palestine, 85. Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 533. Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 534. Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 534. The Jewish National Fund was created in 1901 to acquire land and property rights in Palestine and beyond for exclusive Jewish settlement. While indigenous Palestinians are barred from leasing, building on, managing or working their own land, the Jewish National Fund holds the land in trust for “those of Jewish race or descendancy” living anywhere in the world to “promote the interests of Jews in the prescribed region.” The Jewish National Fund has been a key pillar of the colonization of Palestine - from the founding of the State of Israel to the present. For more information see: http://www.stopthejnf.org/ .