Testimony The following testimony belongs to a family from Jaffa. The family shares ownership of their home with Amidar, which obtained partial ownership when a portion of the home was declared absentee property and transferred to the state (Development Authority). The current partial control of the home by Amidar puts the property at risk of privatization. “I’m now 77 years old. I never lived in any other place than Jaffa. My husband had six siblings; there were seven of them altogether. In 1948 when the war erupted, three of his siblings were in Lebanon on vacation. They were registered as absentees and so their property was registered as absentee property as well. My husband inherited the entire family home [three sevenths of those shares were declared absentee property]. He passed away in 1973, and almost thirty years later, Israelis started coming knocking on my door. They would tell me, 'We are from Amidar and there are three shares registered as absentee property here, which means the state owns them.' They took the measurements of the home, and then they started bringing me a paper every month. It had the amount of money I had to pay monthly for using three shares of my own home as well as the debt [from accumulated fines] I owe the state for staying in the home without paying. They used to tell me that they will divide our home and give the three shares to other people that I don’t know. Imagine some strangers living in my home and sharing the bathroom and the kitchen with me... I was 29 when my husband passed away and I had four young kids to look after. I started working and opened a day nursery in my home. I made sure that my kids received the best education I could provide. My two sons studied in France. Our financial situation was really hard, I used to work here and send money to France, to my boys. How do you think I used to feed my children? I used to feed them mainly rice and milk. [In 2007]91 we received a lawsuit from Amidar, they filed one against us. The case went on for around 10 years. The judge in the final hearing was better than the other judges before him; the others were really cruel and they all insisted that we pay for renting our own home. This one at least allowed me to speak. I told him ’See my hand? Would you cut my hand and separate it from my body?’ I even said in Hebrew, ’We didn’t steal the home and just settle in it, we own this home. My husband told me before he passed away that those papers are his will, he gave the home to our children.’ 91 Dana Weiler-Polak, “Why is Israel laying claim to an Arab home in Jaffa?” International Solidarity Movement, 22 November 2009, available at: https://palsolidarity.org/2009/11/why-is-israel-layingclaim-to-an-arab-home-in-jaffa/ [accessed 21 September 2017]. 36