OP-ED: TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION: SEE HOW JEWISH PROPERTY WAS SAVED FROM ARAB ENCROACHMENT BY A STRONGWILLED AMERICAN JEW
Arutz Sheva
Nov 13 2012
Israel
Much has been written on the legal aspects of my lawsuit against the
Arab Salach clan that infiltrated and squatted on my land in Givat
HaMatos in southern Jerusalem and didn’t leave until forced to,
about 20 years later.
But much less has been written about the most miraculous manner in
which I won the case!
I imagine that it is impossible to really comprehend the emotional
turmoil that this court case of illegal trespass has caused me.
However, in the end, the events showed that Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the
Prophet’s hand was guiding me! It is otherwise impossible to explain
the miracles that occurred to help me prove that the property was
mine and that the Salachs were lying brazenly.
Underlying the entire mystery is the totally incomprehensible fact that
this simple trespass case took nearly 20 long years to be solved….
Misinterpreting Chazakah A major hurdle that I faced is the fact that
when someone has possession – a chazakah – this causes him to believe
that he actually owns the object in his posession. This is of course
not necessarily correct. But the law of chazakah is in fact vague and
easily misunderstood; there are many interpretations of this law of
possession as ownership.
Therefore, when the Israeli Police did not take firm action to take
the Salach trespassers off my property, despite my repeated demands,
the Salachs became accustomed to the idea that they were there, that
they could not be taken out, and that the property was theirs. Even
when I showed the police my proof of ownership – proof of purchase
from M.G., a Jew from California – the police did nothing to get the
Salachs out, strengthening their distorted understanding that the
property was theirs.
In short, the police did not know the law of possession and ownership,
and therefore they could not enforce it.
My work was thus cut out for me: To prove my ownership, against
their possession.
I knew the history of the property and the chain of title to it.
However, I was missing one link to prove that I was and am the latest
and current owner, and they were not.
The judge had formed a strong opinion from the very beginning, after
hearing the testimony of the “Queen Mother” Salach. She testified
that she had given the original Armenian owner a huge amount of money
as a loan, with the property as security. In the end, the Armenian
died without paying back the loan, and so, she claimed, the property
belonged to her family because of the default on the loan.
The judge also heard my testimony, as the legal owner of the property,
according to the records. As mentioned, I had purchased the property
from M.G., who had bought it from the Armenian.
The judge then took both lawyers into his chambers and told them
of the decision he intended to give: The money the Salach clan gave
the Armenian amounts to key money, and therefore he would rule that
they cannot be evicted. However, he said, because the property was
registered in my name, I am the legal owner – and therefore the case
should be negotiated for a settlement. He said that this is what we
must do, and that he was taking the case off his calendar.
The situation was thus as follows:
· The Salach clan had nothing to lose by staying put and enjoying
the property while the case is no longer being adjudicated.
· I, on the other hand, who initiated the law suit and who had to
suffer the loss of my legally-bought property, knew in my heart that
they were lying about this loan; I knew that the document they brought
as proof was a forgery. But how could I prove that the Armenian’s
“signature” was forged?
I was determined to fight this case and win, and find a way to show
that the Armenian had not agreed to give his property – which he
later sold to M.G. – in lieu of paying off his loan.
I pressured to have my claim returned to the court calendar, while the
Salachs tried all the tricks in the book to ensure the opposite. In
the end, more than a year after it was removed from the calendar,
it was restored. I would not have to negotiate with those who stole
my property!
Salvation Begins From the Air
The start of my salvation came when the City Manager for Arab Affairs
suggested I find an expert in aerial photography. I found one who
had over a half-million aerial photos; his business was to take such
photos of every square inch of Jerusalem many times per year – ever
since 1966.
The Salachs claimed that they lived in my property since 1966. I asked
the photographer for his pictures of the site, and we found that the
house – which had been bombed during the Six Day War in 1967 – was
uninhabitable. Its roof was caved in, and part of a wall was missing.
However, a photo from 1984 showed something very critical: For the
first time, there was a tent not far from the ruined house! Apparently
the Salachs put it there so they could live in it – in 1984, not 1966,
as they had claimed! They also put up a corral to keep their sheep
just outside of the house near the fence.
In short, the house was in ruins all those years, so it could not
have been inhabited.
Testimony of David Dovid
David Dovid, a senior Israel Lands Authority employee, testified at
the trial. He knew the story of the Salach squatters through his work.
He testified that the Salach clan did not come to the Givat HaMatos
area until around 1982. He told the court that at that time, the
Salach clan had their eye on buying the property, and had asked him
who the owner was.
Is this not a clear proof that they knew the property was not theirs?
Attorney Eitan Geva
Now comes the most miraculous part of the story.
Someone suggested I meet Atty. Eitan Geva, who had worked as a lawyer
from before 1948, including in purchasing lands from Arabs for the JNF
(Jewish National Fund). He was expert in this entire area of lands.
He told me to bring my entire file, and when he looked at it, he
saw that the name of the man who had power of attorney to transfer
ownership from the Armenian to M.G. was very familiar to him. He
remembered that it was the same person who had once given him (Geva)
theoriginal ownership deed of the property in question! (Why did he
give it to him? Because the Armenian wanted Geva to find a buyer for
the property.)
In other words, we had an amazing discovery! Geva had a document with
the original, notarized signature of the Armenian – and the signature
could be compared to the signature on the Salachs’ “loan” document.
It must be emphasized that my search for original documents had hit a
dead end. This, because all the records in the Hall of Records had been
destroyed by the Irgun in their fight against the British for a Jewish
State. The building that held the records of property ownerships had
been fire-bombed and all the records were destroyed. By now finding
this signature of the Armenian, I could show that the loan document
of the Salachs was totally bogus.
It turned out, in fact, that the signatures were very different. The
original was clear and legible, while the bogus one was barely
readable.
[Later, a handwriting expert testified at the trial that the “loan”
signature was nothing more than a forgery – and this helped restore
my property to me.]
The way I see things, presentation of evidence that is a forgery is
a criminal offense. I now ask why the State of Israel does not and
did not prosecute the Salach clan for doing so?
The finding of the original deed was a miracle that proved to me
that the hand of Eliyahu HaNavi helped me in my fight for justice in
Jerusalem. Thank you Hashem!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12435