MK knocks court decision to nix Arab land sale

MK Basel Ghattas from the Joint (Arab) List says the court decision will encourage racism and attributes the ruling to what he suggests was state-sponsored denial of Arab rights to the land.

“Those who don’t want an Arab neighborhood in a Jewish city shouldn’t complain about ‘illegal construction,'” he says referring to allegations of unauthorized building projects in Arab neighborhoods. “Decisions like this are springboard for the spiral of racism which is sweeping every part of the country. State institutes have always used the planning and construction laws to dispossess the Arabs from their lands and their rights, and the District Court in Nazareth today gave a stamp of approval to a petition which was filed solely for racist reasons.”

“For a long time already we have had no faith in the justice system which is used as way to destroy homes under the claim of ‘illegal construction’ when the country doesn’t enable planning or construction arrangements in the Arab community,” he continues. “Decisions like these don’t change the history that we own the homeland and the landlords. We will continue to build and will continue to hold onto the homeland.”