By AMY TEIBEL,Associated Press Writer AP - Tuesday, October 7
JERUSALEM - Five Palestinians are suing the Israeli government for $430,000 because Jewish settlers seized their West Bank land for an unauthorized outpost.
The lawsuit accuses the state of "helping the thieves by its actions and failures" in allowing construction of Migron, a community of 43 families.
The suit was filed in Jerusalem magistrates' court by the Israeli rights group Yesh Din. The group's attorney, Michael Sfard, said Monday that Palestinians have sued before to reclaim confiscated land, but this is the first time they have sought damages. They seek income lost because they could not cultivate their fields.
There was no response to a request for comment from the Justice Ministry.
The settlers said they don't intend to leave Migron, which lies north of Jerusalem. "The settlers have said several times that they don't plan to leave," settler spokesman Yitzhak Shadmi said.
"The courts will have to decide whether it's their (the Palestinians') land or not," he said. "If it's theirs, we'll see what happens. It's not clear it's their land."
The government has acknowledged that the land upon which Migron was built is registered to private Palestinian owners, but it has not forced settlers to leave.
The Israeli government has promised the U.S. to dismantle two dozen outposts set up after March 2001; none has been evacuated.
