Land Confiscation Introduction 31 considered as such in the cases that it was registered as private land before 1967 or that it meets the Ottoman Land Code requirements among which are 10 years of continuous cultivation. LAND REGISTRATION Under the Ottoman Land Code, every piece of land was to be taxed. The goal was to be implemented by registering its legal owner and establishing title to the land.112 Henceforth, miri land was to be acquired by a government agent. Land Registries called tabou were established later.113 The right of possession was attained by the payment of a tabou fee in exchange for a title deed to the land.114 Today, registration of land in the Land Registry is the highest form of proof of ownership. Ottoman title deeds are also recognized although very few Palestinians possess these documents. Likewise, the position of the Israeli Civil Administration is that miri land, which is recorded with the Land Registry, is the sole private property of owners regardless of whether or not the land is being cultivated. However, miri land that is not registered must still be cultivated in order for the individual to gain possession over it. The term ‘land registration’ is used synonymously with the term ‘land settlement’ and is not to be confused with Israeli colonization. While the term ‘land settlement’ in common law refers to the legal act or process of transferring real estate from one owner to another, in countries that were ruled by the Ottoman Empire it means the technical process carried out by the government to survey and classify land in specific areas including determination of its category, size and ownership. As noted above, certain registrations took place during the Ottoman period: “The Ottomans enacted a series of other laws to compel registration of individual titles to rights in miri land in newly established Land Registry offices”.115 The Land Register Law, introduced in 1858, was known as “tabou”.116 Miri land was first registered by kushan. However, since kushans did not include a surveyor’s map showing the exact boundaries of the land - proof of its expanse - kushans proved problematic compared 112 Shehadeh, ‘The Land Law of Palestine’, 88. 113 Shehadeh, ‘The Land Law of Palestine’, 88. 114 Tute, The Ottoman Land Code, 8. 115 Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 494. 116 JLAC, Concealed Intentions: Israel’s Human Rights Violations Through Manipulation of Zoning and Planning Laws in ‘Area C’ (March 2011), 12; available from http://www.jlac.ps/data_site_files/file/ Concealed%20Intentions-%20JLAC-.pdf; accessed 23 April 2013.