September 24, 2009: As the international community continues to place pressure on Israel to stop building in communities beyond the Green Line, two construction firms building in Samaria have scored a knockout against the Palestinians in a Canadian Court.
With the help of Israeli lawyers, residents of the Palestinian village of Bilin initially filed legal actions against two real estate development corporations, Green Park Int'l and Green Mount Int'l, and their director, Annette Laroche in the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ).  The two companies had built 30 apartment complexes in the Israeli town of Modi'in Ilit in Samaria, which neighbors Bilin.

The plaintiffs, the Bilin Village Council, alleged that the land being built upon belonged to their village.  The plaintiffs filed a series of HCJ petitions to block the construction work - yet they did not succeed in having the HCJ declare the project illegal under international law. Having failed in Israel, the plaintiffs next turned to Canada, filing suit in Quebec, where the construction companies maintain offices.
The plaintiffs argued that Israel seized land belonging to Bilin during the Six Day War, violating the Geneva Convention and, thus, were guilty of war crimes. By purchasing illegally seized land, the construction companies were accessories in committing these violations. The plaintiffs claimed that since Canadian law allows for prosecution of war crimes, defendants could similarly be sued for damages as a result of their alleged breach of international law. The plaintiffs also sought a permanent injunction, as well as demolition orders against the building project.
The construction companies argued in their defense, that the gravamen of the case had already been decided by the Israeli court system and that Israel is the appropriate forum for the lawsuit, not Quebec. The defendants challenged the propriety of a Canadian court settling a legal dispute, when all of the relevant parties are in Israel and the case involves questions of law that could best be settled by a court familiar with the issues, namely, the HCJ in Jerusalem.
The Canadian court dismissed the lawsuit and awarded court costs to the construction firms. In a carefully argued decision, the court accepted the defendants' argument that the plaintiffs brought the suit in Canada simply because they did not get the relief they wanted from an Israeli court: a declaration that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are a form of war crimes.  As the court stated, "the Plaintiffs have selected a forum having little connection with the Action in order to inappropriately gain a juridical advantage over the Defendants . . ."
The Canadian court decision is a victory not only for the construction firms, but also for the State of Israel. Palestinian and other anti-Israel groups have been, with increasing frequency, turning to foreign courts to litigate against the Government of Israel, its officials and citizens. Hopefully, this Quebec decision will deter future attempts to use foreign courts to interfere with internal Israeli affairs.

For a copy of the Canadian court's decision:
http://www.israellawcenter.org/images/pdf2/Bil%27in%20Village%20Council%20v.%20Green%20Parks%20Int%27l.pdf