Haaretz
Tishrei 8, 5765
The
Turkish government on Sunday gave the Palestinian Authority a copy of the
Ottoman archive containing all documents pertaining to land ownership in
pre-state Israel through 1916.
The PA requested the records to
support Palestinian land claims. The Palestinians say that these documents
reflect the "true" ownership of the land. One year later, in 1917, Britain
drove the Ottomans out of the country and issued the Balfour Declaration,
expressing support for the establishment of a Jewish state in what was
then called Palestine. The Palestinians say these evens represented the
start of "a Zionist takeover
of their land, under the auspices of
British imperialism."
Even before 1917, Jewish and Zionist
institutions had purchased large tracts of land in Palestine from absentee
landlords, who lived mainly in Syria and Lebanon. These landlords had
previously leased their property to local farmers, but were happy to sell
it for the right price, without giving a thought to their tenant farmers.
Nevertheless, Palestinians view these sales as more legitimate than those
that took place during the
British occupation that began in
1917.
Under Ottoman rule, a substantial portion of the land in
Palestine was registered as state land. Some of this land was later sold
or transferred to pre-state Jewish institutions. Other portions belonged
to the Muslim waqf (religious trust), and these, according to Islamic law,
cannot be sold. However, there was no orderly registration process;
ownership was determined primarily using records such as tax
payments.
Ever since 1948, Palestinian institutions dealing with
the refugee issue have been trying to obtain accurate records on the land
and property that were lost when Israel was established. This effort has
gained steam in recent years, but no Palestinian institution has come
close to collecting all the relevant data. One reason for the
lackadaisical effort may be the Palestinians' understanding that the data
has little practical value other than for public relations. At most, it
will be used in the bargaining over compensation for refugees, if and when
such negotiations take place.