Controversy Erupts Over Settlement On Eve of Kerry Visit to Israel
A report from the settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah.
It’s a free-for-all in Settlers’ land, as long as you’re not a Palestinian.
The best example of this is the saga behind the request to allow a new neighborhood to be built in the settlement of Beit El, right before Secretary of State John Kerry visits the region. It is absolutely crystal clear. Our story began two years ago, when Meir Dreinoff, a private contractor from Beit El, started putting up two buildings west of the settlement, without first obtaining the proper approval. The Palestinian owners of the land sued, and the state responded unequivocally in court that the construction was illegal and that the buildings would be demolished immediately.
By the way, it is worth noting that even the settlers of Beit El were upset by these two buildings. They argued that their construction by a private contractor was illegal because it was not coordinated with the Beit El Local Council, and the buildings did not follow the master plan for the settlement’s expansion.
The privately owned land on which Dreinoff built his two buildings was confiscated by Israel from Abdel Rahman Qassam, a resident of Ramallah, over two decades earlier, in an effort to expand the military base, which lies adjacent to Beit El. At the time, the confiscation was described as a “security requirement,” but the base was never expanded, and the land remained vacant for 20 years, until Dreinoff seized it for his own purposes.
