Palestinians to petition court over Ulpana buildings

Petitioners from the village Dura al-Qari'a say outpost homes built on private Palestinian property.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ulpana outpost near Beit El 370 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Ulpana outpost near Beit El 370 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Palestinians from the village Dura al-Qari'a will ask the High Court of Justice on Tuesday morning to order the complete evacuation of the West Bank outpost of Ulpana, Army Radio reported.
In June 2012, residents of five apartment buildings in the outpost agreed to voluntarily evacuate their homes and have the buildings relocated to the nearby Beit El settlement, after the High Court of Justice ruled the buildings were built without proper permits on private Palestinian property.
The petitioners now claim that the rest of the buildings in the outpost were built on private Palestinian property as well and should therefore be evacuated.
"The state will have to decide whether it prefers a political crisis with the settlers, or a legal crisis, at the end of which Israel will completely divorce itself from being a democratic state," Dror Ateks, who represents the petitioners, told Army Radio.
A representative of the Ulpana outpost rejected the Palestinian petitioners' claims, saying the state of Israel encouraged their settlement there.