By bataween on 11 August 2022
A hilltop east of Jerusalem in Abu Dis has been proven to have been owned by Jews, expelled by the 1929 riots. The land has now reverted to the state, JNS News reports:
Civil researchers hired by the ministry’s Custodian of Absentee Properties Department secured proof that the land was purchased by Jews in the early twentieth century, and a court ruling has confirmed those findings.
In 1924, rents in Jerusalem jumped, making life difficult for the city’s Jewish residents. A group named “Vaad Haschenim” (The Neighbors’ Committee) was set up to purchase land and build a new neighborhood where more affordable housing would be built. They reached out to the Abu Dis town authorities and inquired about purchasing some 400 dunams of land (approximately 100 acres).
The head of the purchase association, which was known as Agudat Hadayarim (Tenants’ Association), was chaired by Yehoshua Avizohar Singalovski (the brother of the founder of the Ort chain of technical schools).
In 1927, the association completed the purchase of 453 dunams (112 acres) of land. Construction was supposed to begin in 1930, but in 1929 a spate of anti-Jewish riots erupted. The plans for a Jewish neighborhood were shelved and building never began.
After the riots, Yishuv authorities decided not to build in any of areas of land surrounded by Palestinian areas because of the difficulty of defending them, and rather concentrate building efforts in contiguous areas. After the Great Arab Rebellion and various irregularities discovered in the building association, the group stopped all its activities in April 1936.
Of the 453 dunams acquired, the association managed to register only 371 dunams (91.5 acres) in Abu Dis, leaving 82 dunams legally unregistered, even though they had been paid for.
In 1948, when the city of Jerusalem was divided following the War of Independence, Abu Dis remained under Jordanian control. It grew and new construction started on some of the land the Jews had purchased, even though they were registered with Jordanian authorities.
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BBC ignores Jewish claims in Abu Dis
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