Shusha
Gold Member
- Dec 14, 2015
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OK, but by 1948 that was only about 7% of Palestine.
And only about 5% of land in Palestine was Arab mulk land (privately owned).
The problem is not the small percentages of land which was privately owned. The problem is what to do with the concept of miri land -- land which is not privately purchased and owned, per se, but belongs to the State and is leased under certain conditions in perpetuity. The land isn't owned, but the right to the fruits of the land and the continued right of cultivation is owned. The principle behind it is that land which land which can be cultivated, but currently isn't being cultivated, can be taken up by anyone who wants to cultivate it and by paying tithe and taxes, the rights to the cultivation become owned.
Its a useful system when there are vast tracts of land which can be cultivated and aren't being utilized. It encourages growth and provides additional taxes for the Government. But its a shitty system when land becomes scarce or when there disputes over territory.
The really nasty problem for Team Palestine is that the underlying concept is that if you cultivate or use the land -- you own it. Which means, under Ottoman law (you know, the law that the "occupying power" is required to follow) anyone who uses or cultivates the land becomes the owner. So settlements are actually, in reality, legitimized by Ottoman law.