{"id":187362,"date":"1959-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=187362"},"modified":"2019-03-11T22:14:08","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T22:14:08","slug":"auto-insert-187362","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-187362\/","title":{"rendered":"UNCCP – 17th progress report"},"content":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
SEVENTEENTH PROGRESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n (For the period from 1 June 1959 to 31 August 1959)<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n INTRODUCTORY NOTES<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 1.\t<\/span>As indicated in its previous reports, the Conciliation Commission, curing the last few years, has directed its efforts principally to the programme of identification and valuation of Arab refugee immovable property holdings in Israel and the release of Arab refugee bank accounts and safe deposits blocked in Israel. The release operation in regard to Arab refugee bank accounts and safe deposits has proceeded satisfactorily while the technical work of identification of immovable property is virtually completed and the work of valuation has already begun. The Commission deems it appropriate at this stage to submit a report reviewing the progress made to date.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2.\t<\/span>In its resolution 512 (VI) of 26 January 1952 on Palestine, the General Assembly expressed the view that the Governments concerned had the primary responsibility for reaching a settlement and that the Conciliation Commission for Palestine should be available to assist the parties to that end. In urging the Governments concerned to seek agreement, the General Assembly recommended that they make full use of United Nations facilities.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 3.\t<\/span>Following the adoption of that resolution, while remaining at the disposal of the Governments concerned for any assistance it could render, the Commission concluded that in existing circumstances it could best lend its assistance to the parties by seeking the release of Arab refugee bank accounts and safe deposits blocked in Israel and by compiling all available data for identification and valuation of Arab refugee property. The Commission's decision was encouraged by the fact that at the Conference in Paris in 1951 a certain area of agreement had emerged from the general negotiations and further progress seemed possible on these two specific questions.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 4.\t<\/span>The Commission thus took note of the reaffirmation by the delegation of Israel at the Paris Conference on 14 November 1951 that Israel was ready to contribute to the settlement of the question of compensation for Arab property abandoned in Israel and of its suggestion that concrete discussions on the question of evaluation should be held immediately with the Commission or with any other United Nations body designated for the purpose. At its meeting on 28 April 1952, the Commission decided to ask the Land Specialist of its refugee office to proceed to Jerusalem to undertake discussions on a technical level with the competent Israel authorities with a view to reaching agreement on the procedure and substance of the proposed discussions. No progress, however, was made towards initiating these discussions.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 5.\t<\/span>During his trip the Land Specialist was also instructed to sound out the possibilities of undertaking an examination of the extent, location and value of individual Arab refugee property holdings. He held discussions both with Israel authorities and with interested Arab circles. The results of these discussions led the Commission to decide that this technical work should be started without delay. He was therefore instructed to set up the necessary machinery for the task. In accordance with the suggestions made by the Land Specialist, the Commission in late 1952 set up at Headquarters in New York an office for identification and valuation of Arab immovable property. Since then, the office has been engaged in the tasks of identification and, currently, of valuation, of the immovable property.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n I. DESCRIPTION OF THE TECHNICAL WORK OF THE<\/p><\/div>\n IMMOVABLE PROPERTY OF ARAB REFUGEES<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n A.\t<\/span>Identification<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n 6.\t<\/span>As mentioned in the Commission's last report, the essence of the identification work consists in preparing a separate record form for each parcel of land owned by Arab individuals including partnerships, companies and co-operative societies, giving its most important particulars. Somewhat similar forms of a different colour were prepared for parcels of land which were owned by religious bodies. Lists were also prepared of State Domain, Jewish and other parcels not owned by Arab individuals, giving their areas.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 7.\t<\/span>Record forms have also been prepared for parcels falling under the categories mentioned below, but in each case the form makes the exact status clear:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(a)\t<\/span>Parcels which were recorded as State Domain but which were subject to transfer to Arabs on the payment by them of the unimproved value of the land (badl mithl);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(b)\t<\/span>Parcels which were recorded as State Domain but which had been occupied by Arabs for many years and which the Mandatory Government regarded as let to the occupiers under implied leases;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(c)\t<\/span>Parcels which were recorded as State Domain and which were let to Arabs under long-term leases;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(d)\t<\/span>Parcels which were owned by non-Arabs but which were let to Arabs on long-term leases.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 8.\t<\/span>The identification was extended to embrace the areas of "no man's land" in the Jerusalem-Ramle area and the "demilitarized zones" in the northern region. The border villages, that is, those whose lands were cut by the armistice lines, presented a special problem. Where the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance had been applied to a village, it was possible to draw the armistice line approximately on a large-scale map and to include only those parcels which fell on the Israel side. In villages to which the Ordinance had not been applied, however, there are no maps showing the location of parcels within the village boundaries, and therefore it was thought best to include all Arab-owned parcels in fiscal blocks cut by the line.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 9.\t<\/span>No attempt has been made to distinguish between properties belonging to Arabs who are refugees and those who are not. To make such a distinction would have been outside the resources of the office; and throughout the whole process the principle was adopted of including rather than excluding, on the grounds that it would be comparatively easy to exclude certain properties later on (if, for example, they were found to belong to Arabs residing in Israel, or to be on the Arab side of the armistice line in "non-settled" border villages), but difficult to include later on properties which should have been included but were omitted.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 10.\t<\/span>The purpose of the identification was to bring into existence a compact record of individual Arab land holdings in Israel, which could be used, if the parties so desired, as a basis for verifying individual claims to ownership, and which would contain the material necessary to value each holding.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n B.\t<\/span>Valuation<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 11.\t<\/span>Valuation is a natural corollary to identification. Land differs from most commodities in that the unit (hectare, acre or dunum) can vary so enormously in value that any description would not be complete without a valuation. For instance, figures from 2 to 100,000 Palestine pounds per dunum were quoted in official Palestine Government correspondence in 1946.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 12.\t<\/span>The valuations will be based on the information contained in the record forms mentioned above, and the value at which the office will seek to arrive is the market value of each individual property as at 29 November 1947. This date, on which the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II) on the future government of Palestine, was chosen because it was the last date before the exodus of refugees when land values in Palestine was reasonably stable. The evidence on which the valuations will be based is the official records of prices realized in sales which took place between 1 January 1946 and 29 November 1947. Obviously, only a small proportion of properties were sold during the period of approximately two years mentioned above, and it was necessary to devise some means for relating the values established for properties which were sold to similar properties in the same location which were not. For this purpose it was considered that the tax categories of land in rural areas and net annual values as assessed for urban property tax in urban areas were the most reliable guide, and they are therefore being used in conjunction with the effective sale prices mentioned above.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n C.\t<\/span>Documents<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 13.\t<\/span>The documents examined by the office were all official records of the former Mandatory Government of Palestine. They included:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(a)\t<\/span>Microphotographs of registers of title supplemented by the original registers when the microfilm was mission or defective;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(b)\t<\/span>Registers of deeds;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(c)\t<\/span>Tax distribution lists and, failing these, taxpayers' registers;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(d)\t<\/span>Field valuation sheets and, failing these, valuation lists and taxpayers' registers;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(e)\t<\/span>Schedule of rights (only in respect of blocks for which no registers of title had been prepared);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(f)\t<\/span>Parcel classification schedules;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(g)\t<\/span>Land registrars' returns of dispositions;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(h)\t<\/span>Village maps and block plans.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n To the above must be added some other related records of relatively minor importance which were examined when necessary.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 14.\t<\/span>The microfilm was photocopied in London from the original set then in possession of the United Kingdom authorities, and was taken to New York and thence to Jerusalem. It was not always possible to have the other documents brought to the Commission's office in Jerusalem, and they were therefore examined in localities such as Damascus, Gaza, Amman and Tel Aviv.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n D.\t<\/span>Information extracted<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 15.\t<\/span>The information which the office sought to complete on the record form for each Arab-owned parcel was as follows:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(a)\t<\/span>Location (sub-district, town or village, locality, registration or fiscal block number, parcel number);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(b)\t<\/span>Area (in metric dunums and square metres);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(c)\t<\/span>Description (nature of the land, e.g. arable, plantation, building, etc., description of buildings with number of rooms, etc.);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(d)\t<\/span>Names of owner or owners;<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(e)\t<\/span>Shares (where there was more than one owner the share of each partner is given in the form of a fraction);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(f)\t<\/span>Rural property tax category (under the Rural Property Tax Ordinance, rural land was divided for taxation purposes into seventeen categories, ranging from the most valuable, i.e. citrus plantations, to the least valuable, i.e. uncultivable land);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(g)\t<\/span>Urban property tax assessment (under the Urban Property Tax Ordinance, urban property was assessed for taxation on the basis of its net annual value; where the land was not built upon, its net annual value was a prescribed percentage of its capital value as building land);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(h)\t<\/span>Encumbrances (including charges such as mortgages, leases and attachments);<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(i)\t<\/span>Particulars of any sale which took place between 1 January 1946 and 29 November 1947, whether of the property as a whole or of shares in it, including the financial consideration as declared by the parties and as assessed by the registrar of lands.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 16.\t<\/span>The following table shows from what sources the different items of information were extracted for various classes of property. (By "settled land" is meant land to which the title had been settled under the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance; by "non-settled land" is means land to which the above-mentioned Ordinance had not been applied – by "rural" and "urban" is meant the areas to which the Rural Property Tax Ordinance and the Urban Property Tax Ordinance had been applied respectively.) The letters in the table below relate to the documents listed under C above.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/span>Items<\/u>\t\t\t<\/span>"Settled" land<\/u>\t<\/span>"Non-settled" land<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Rural<\/u>\t<\/span>Urban<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>1.\t<\/span>Location . .. . . . . . . . . \t<\/span>a,d,e\t<\/span>c\t<\/span>b,d<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>2.\t<\/span>Area . . . .. . . . . . . . .\t<\/span>a,d,e\t<\/span>c\t<\/span>b,d,h<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>3.\t<\/span>Description . . . . . . . . .\t<\/span>a,d,e,f\t<\/span>–\t<\/span>b,d<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>4.\t<\/span>Names of owners . . . . . . .\t<\/span>a,d,e\t<\/span>c\t<\/span>b,d<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>5.\t<\/span>Shares . . . . . . . . . . .\t<\/span>a,d,e\t<\/span>c\t<\/span>b,d<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>6.\t<\/span>Rural property tax . . . . .\t<\/span>a,d,e\t<\/span>c\t<\/span>–<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>7.\t<\/span>Urban property tax assessment\t<\/span>d\t<\/span>–\t<\/span>d<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>8.\t<\/span>Encumbrances . . . . . . . . \t<\/span>a,e\t<\/span>–\t<\/span>b<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>9.\t<\/span>Sale particulars. . . . . . .\t<\/span>g\t<\/span>b,g\t<\/span>g<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n E.\t<\/span>Present status of the technical work<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 17.\t<\/span>The work of identification is virtually complete as far as it can be carried out on the information contained in the documents mentioned in C above. About 450,000 record forms of properties owned by Arab individuals have been prepared and this must represent an overwhelming proportion of the total number of such properties. Nevertheless, it is hardly to be expected that an investigation of this kind could be complete in all respects. The principal deficiencies are mentioned below:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 18.