Turkey hands over Ottoman land records to Palestinians
Haaretz
11/10/2005
By Danny Rubinstein
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.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress