Northern farmers: We'll ask Lebanon for compensation
'Hizbullah abused us for a month, but Israel government and property tax authority have been abusing us for three month,' farmers say
Council heads of communities in the north said Sunday that they would ask the Lebanese government for compensation for damages caused to farmers and private property during the war with Hizbullah, charging that the Israeli government did little to doll out compensations.
The said compensations total NIS 20 million (USD 4.6 million)and vowed not to pay taxes until the government acts on its promises.
Northern farmers (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
"Three months passed since the end of the war and it seems that the State of Israel forgot us," Eitan Dudi, the head of the forum for border communities said during an emergency meeting with community leaders.
"That's the first move in the struggle, and if the problem is not solved we intend on striking all schools as of next Sunday and to sever ties with the State of Israel. We will hold a protest in Avivim near the border, a village overlooking Maroun al-Ras, and we will look into the possibility of cutting through the border fence and ask the Lebanese government to care for us, because our country is simply ignoring us."
Community leaders said that during the war the government had promised funds to strengthen local authorities but this never materialized.
"Hizbullah abused us for a month, but the State of Israel and the property tax authority have been abusing us for three month and there seems to be no end on the horizon. It is absurd to see Hizbullah completing rehabilitating most of the villages damaged in the war in southern Lebanon and here nothing is moving," Davidi said.
Attendants said they would also sever ties with the IDF and prevent soldiers from using building in border communities. "There needs to be an inter-ministerial committee which will give an immediate solution" to the problems of border communities.
The Tax Authority said the farmers' financial claims are complicated and half of them have been dealt with. By the end of this week about 80 percent of compensation applications would be dealt with.
