Tailwind

de Ziv Stahl

"Illegal construction in the settlements and outposts in the West Bank has been compounded in recent years by a pattern of violating judicial orders issued by the Supreme Court to stop it. The orders were issued as part of petitions submitted by Palestinians following illegal construction on their land or on public land. Despite the gravity of the acts and the depth of the contempt they show for the law enforcement system, they are not met with an adequate enforcement response by the enforcement authorities. Besides ignoring judicial orders, the State repeatedly evades presenting its position on the petitions. These delays, along with the failure to enforce interim orders, are often exploited to establish new facts on the ground with the intention of preventing the requested remedy from being delivered in the petitions. Furthermore, the State does everything it can to avoid demolishing the buildings and tries to legalize the illegal construction retroactively by declaring it to be public land (state land) or by approving plans. This report outlines the broad trends in the State's conduct, based on the experience Yesh Din has gathered for more than three years in which it has assisted Palestinian civilians in petitioning the Israeli High Court of Justice to order the state authorities to enforce orders they themselves issued to stop the construction and evacuate buildings that settlers have built on land belonging to the petitioners."--Page four of cover.