Haaretz
Shvat 13, 5765
Responding to a report that the cabinet met in July 2004 and
adopted a decision to expand the powers of the Custodian of Absentee
Property to East Jerusalem, Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin said Saturday that
the decision equated to stealing property, and that it was undemocratic.
As a result of the government decision, Palestinian property in
East Jerusalem, or, more precisely, the assets that residents of the West
Bank hold in East Jerusalem, will be distributed.
According to
Beilin, who served as Justice Minister under former prime minister Ehud
Barak, government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did what no government
has done before.
"Neither from the left nor from the right, no one
dared to do this, to take the property rights of Palestinians in East
Jerusalem," Beilin said. He also announced that he would convene the Yahad
faction so as to fight against the decision, and he hopes that Justice
Minister Tzipi Livni will annul it.
MK Mohamed Barakeh (Hadash)
said in response to the report that the decision is a new "war crime"
committed by the Sharon government. The decision, Barakeh said, proves
that, "Sharon's real disengagement is a disengagement from all accepted
agreement for a final settlement."