Land Ownership in Palestine —
An Interactive Map and Database
Adalah, 22 June 2009
Adalah Launches New Internet-Based Interactive Map and Database on Land Expropriations by Israel
Today, 22 June 2009, Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, released an internet-based interactive map and database, the first of its kind, which provides detailed information on land expropriations by Israel since the establishment of the state in 1948. The database is contained within an interactive map of Mandatory Palestine, which is divided first into districts and then into all localities within each district. Information on population and land ownership in 1945, the total amount of Palestinian refugee property transferred to Israel, and the land expropriations carried out under the Land Acquisitions Law – 1953 in towns and villages is provided.
The massive transfer of land inside Israel was executed primarily through two main laws. The first is the Land Acquisition Law (Validation of Acts and Compensation) – 1953, pursuant to which 1.2 – 1.3 million dunams of land were expropriated from the Arab population. The second law is the Absentees’ Property Law – 1950 under which all of the property owned, possessed or used by the Palestinian refugees was transferred to the State of Israel. Assessments by Israel, Palestinian institutions and UN agencies as to the extent of the properties taken pursuant to this law range from around 2 million dunams to 16 million dunams of land.
Adalah's database gathers primary source information from Israeli government, Palestinian and UN sources. The database was prepared by Adalah's lawyers and planning professionals, who collected and reviewed the original land confiscation orders in Hebrew from the official government gazette. The database is intended as a resource for researchers, academics, the original landowners, and anyone else who is interested in the history of land ownership in Palestine from the founding of the State of Israel and until today. It provides the information in an accessible interactive map, available in three languages (Arabic, Hebrew and English).
Data indicates that in 1945, when the total territory of Mandatory Palestine stood at approximately 26 million dunams, the Arab population comprised about 69% as compared with the Jewish population which stood at around 31%. At that time, the Arab population owned approximately 48% of the total territory and the Jewish population owned 6% of the land; another 6% was publicly owned and 40% was uncultivated land in the Be’er el-Sabe (Beer Sheva) district with indeterminate ownership. Today, approximately 93% of the land in Israel (excluding the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967) is owned by the state and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (The Jewish National Fund), a quasi-state entity. Only 3-3.5% of the land in Israel is currently owned by the Arab population.
