Here is some few-months-old news that received little attention: In August, Israel’s Knesset passed a bill legislating the sale of absentee Palestinian property to private buyers. Full story at IMEU and Guardian UK.
What it means is, if you are a Palestinian refugee (or an internally-displaced "present absentee" as some are), who, say, owned property in Jaffa pre-1948, that property can now be legally permanently sold by a special government agency to a private buyer.
Up till now the Israeli government held such property in a special bracket and only leased it, so that Israel is not perceived internationally to be dispossessing refugees. But now this, um, unprecedented legal move sheds such reservations and enables a more complete severance between an original Palestinian owner and his/her land.
Above photo: Canada Park, outside Jerusalem, is absentee property. From badil.org’s Nakba education center.
