British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 231

CHAPTER VIII.
of joint holding : ordinary partnership (ishtirak) and village or clan partnership (ishtirak), In the case of ordinary partnership the land need not necessarily be distributed for purposes of cultivation periodically. In the case of village or clan partnership the land is distributed periodically (usually once in two to four years) for cultivation, which means that a usufructuarv cultivates sometimes in one locality and sometimes in another. This mode of tenure must be distinguished from the communal (matrnlw) tenure. Clan partnership applies strictly to usufruct land, that is for ordinary agricultural purposes, and each shareholder has a definite share which can be freely acquired or disposed of. As contrasted with this, communal tenure applies strictly to mairuka (communal) land, that is for profits-a-prendre benefits only; secondly, the land is assigned to the community as a whole without specific shares for the beneficiaries, and cannot be disposed of by the members of the community either jointly or severally.

21. Miri (usufruct) land must be registered in the Land Registry.

Owing to the failure of the Ottoman land registration machinery, a great deal of land of this nature is still held without registration or under imperfect and obsolete registration. Under the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance" an enquiry into existing titles has been conducted since 192S with a view to registering all titles to land. A considerable part of Palestine has already been covered and registered under a new system, resembling that called the "Torrens" system (vide paragraph 29 of this chapter).

Matruka murafaqa (communal land).

22. Land is matruka murafaqa (communal land) when the profits-a-prendre user is assigned (takhsis) by the State to any specified communal interest. There is very little of such land in Palestine. The assignment of the profits-a-prendre user must in every case be express. In Turkish days the assignment was invariably conveyed by letters patent of assignment in the form of imperial rescript (firman humayun). Limitation of actions is not operative as regards communal land. Any accretions added to communal lands by squatters can be demolished.

Matruka mahmiya. (common land).

23. Matruka (common) land is allocated by the State for the enjoyment of the public at large, possibly for a public right of way or of assembly. In practice, the allocation is presumed from immemorial user. The rules as to the duration of the user and as to the limitation of actions are the same as for communal lands.
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* Drayton, Vol. II, page 8~3.

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