Haifa District Court Criticizes Misgav For Appealing Judgment to Preserve Mosque in Husseniya

04/03/2002

On 20 February 2002, Haifa District Court Judges Haim Pizam, Arie Razi and Shoshana Shtemer strongly criticized the appeal filed by the Misgav Local Committee for Planning and Building (hereafter "the Committee") against the Akka Magistrate Court decision of 12 November 2001. In this decision, the Court quashed the demolition order issued by the Committee against a mosque in the unrecognized Galilee village of Husseniya.

In his decision, Akka Magistrate Court Judge Moshe Alter ruled in favor of arguments advanced by Adalah Staff Attorneys Jamil Dakwar and Suhad Bishara. Attorneys Dakwar and Bishara contended that the demolition order was illegal, because the Committee had failed to consult with Husseniya's Local Governing Committee. According to the National Planning and Building Law (1965), the head of the Committee has an obligation to consult with the head of the local council or municipality in which the demolition order is to be carried out. Husseniya has neither a local municipality nor a local council, but it does have an elected local governing committee. Judge Alter ruled that in cases where there is a local governing committee, but no municipality or local council, the head of the planning committee must consult with the head of the local governing committee before ordering the demolition of buildings under the latter's jurisdiction.

Judge Pizam, Deputy President of the Haifa District Court, declared that "it is harsh and excessive to demolish the mosque." Further, the judges stated that the Committee had acted inappropriately in filing its appeal. Judge Razi stressed to the legal counsel for the Committee, Attorney Zvika Cohan, that the issue is very sensitive, with political implications. Attorney Cohan stated during the hearing that the Committee sees this appeal as a matter of principle, and that seven similar cases related to the issuance of demolition orders are pending before the Akka Magistrate Court, waiting for the results of this appeal.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Attorney Cohan requested a week for the Committee to decide as to whether they intend to proceed with the appeal or to withdraw it.

(See also Adalah's News Update,

"Akka Magistrate Court Quashes Demolition Order Against Mosque in Husseniya", 21 November 2001).