High Court: Israel must raze illegal Palestinian homes
By Chaim Levinson and Haaretz Service Last update - 12:15 10/09/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1113727.html

The State of Israel must enforce demolition orders issued for two illegal
structures built by Palestinians in the West Bank, the High Court ruled on
Wednesday. The court ordered the state to set a deadline within which to
follow up on the demolition.

The ruling came as a response to a petition from an Israeli monitor group,
demanding to know why the state does not homes built without permits in the
Arab villages of al-Sawaya and Yatma.

Regavim, the petitioning group which works "to preserve the nation's lands,"
said that the Civil Administration had issued few demolition orders against
the illegal structures but was not implementing the action.

Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer on Sunday said in response to the
petition that perhaps the state prosecution had indeed discriminated between
Arabs and Jews with regard to illegal construction on the West Bank, the
latter's detriment.

"There isn't a single Jewish outpost with illegal construction against which
demolition orders have not been issued," claimed Amir Fischer, representing
Regavim.

Melcer, who prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court represented
residents of the illegal outpost of Migron, asked government attorney Hila
Gorani "whether there is a difference in the order of priorities."

Gorani replied that different considerations apply to construction in Israel
and construction "in the Palestinian community."

Demolition orders are issued "on the basis of the Civil Administration's
priorities and in line with instructions from the political leadership. When
construction is carried out on someone else's land, the considerations are
likely to be different."

The problem," Melcer shot back," is that you lack clear and orderly
guidelines regarding which cases action is or is not taken on, in order to
prove that no distinction is being made between the communities."