Land Confiscation Introduction 37 investigations discovered that approximately 527,000 dunums (527 km2) of such land existed as registered by the Jordanian Government.144 Following further investigation of Ottoman and British ‘State Lands’ it was revealed that an additional 160,000 dunums (160 km2) were eligible to be declared ‘State Land’. In 1969, a provision was added to the Order Concerning Government Property stating: “if the Custodian confirms in a written document with his signature that a given property is government property, that property will be considered government property unless proven otherwise”.145 The provision transferred the burden of proof from Israel to the individual Palestinians, which initially was made impossible or almost impossible in light of lacking title deeds, halted registration and complicated land settlements, as mentioned above. Through the alternative definitions and application of previous laws, State Land was amended to encompass: - Land that was not registered in the Land Registry (or with kushan); - Miri land that has not been cultivated for at least three consecutive years; - Miri land that had been cultivated for less than ten years; and, - Mewat land.146 Israel also altered the definition of what constitutes ‘cultivation’ to: “A person who claimed rights in rocky land must prove that he cultivated at least 50 percent of the entire parcel. If the pockets of land under cultivation amounted to less than 50 percent, the entire parcel was deemed State Land, leaving the farmer with no rights whatsoever. By doing so, Israel classified as government property land that, under the local law, was private Palestinian property.”147 In 1984, the Military Commander amended the Order Concerning Government Property to expand the types of land that could fall under its control. The amendment defines government property as “property that on the relevant date or thereafter belongs, is registered in the name of, or is imparted” to an enemy state or a corporation in which an enemy state has rights.148 The use of the word ‘thereafter’ offers scope to expand upon a previously static definition of ‘State Land’. 144 Meron Benvenisti and West Bank Data Base Project, The West Bank and Gaza Atlas (Jerusalem : Boulder, Colo, 1988), 60; B’Tselem, Land Grab, 52. 145 Order Concerning Government Property (Amendment No. 4) (Judea and Samaria) (No. 364), n.d. Article 2(c). 146 Plia Albeck, ‘The Use of Land in Judea and Samaria for the Purpose of Jewish Settlement: Legal Aspects and the Test of Reality’, in Ascending the Mountain: Renewed Jewish Settlement in Judea and Samaria (Jerusalem, 2002), 223–234; 223-234B’Tselem, Land Grab, 53. 147 B’Tselem, Under the Guise of Legality, 37. 148 Order Concerning Government Property (Amendment No. 7) (Judea and Samaria) 1984, 1984.