The Evacuation-Compensation Law is written in such a way, so that the only redress for many of the items is through appropriate litigation steps. This is built into the law. It includes such items as: compensation for housing, for privately-owned businesses (since the self-employed collected no unemployment benefits), compensation to people who “fall between the cracks” due to buearacratic technicalities, payments for damages caused to possessions while they were in the containers, etc. (Regarding the last item, Israel Resource News Agency was assured by The Ministry of Defence’s media advisor, that anyone whose possessions were damaged would be compensated, but they have to bring a suit to accomplish this.) In order to cut down on the time and personal involvement necessary for such steps, the Center for Near East Policy Research would like to facilitate a a series of class action suits that will enable the largest possible number of former Gush Katif residents to receive what is theirs by law. On the personal level, here’s the example of our own neighbor who is married to a young man who lived in Gush Katif from the age of 18 months. After they married, they rented a caravan in Beit El for about 19 months, while he was stationed in Tfzat (he’s a captain in the IDF), and while she was completing her studies in Orot. Then they moved back to Gush Katif, first to Ganei Tal, where his parents live, then to Atzmona. Because of the time they rented a mobile home in Beit El, and because they moved from Ganei Tal to Atzmona one month after what was set, retroactively, as the cut off date (unknown to them at the time, of course), they are eligible to zero compensation, including the young man, who has lived in Gush Katif since infancy.They will have to prove in court that Katif was “the center of their lives” even when they temporarily lived elsewhere. This is only one example. There are many, many cases like theirs. That is why class action suits at this time are so vital.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 and is filed under news. You can leave a response.