Everything started one year ago. At the time Tawfiq Jabareen heard an advertisement on the Voice of Israel radio station inviting the public to purchase homes in Katzir, which is supposed to be part of the planned city Tal-‘ron. Everyone in Umm al-Fahm knows about Katzir, located 10 minutes’ drive away – one of the Seven Stars settlements in the plan of former Housing Minister, Ariel Sharon; 55 minutes from Tel-Aviv; a loan of $11,000 which becomes a grant; a three-room house, a garden, parking for two cars and the option to immediately add on two rooms. But the Jabareens decided to get to know the settlement from close range. In that manner they hoped to leave behind the intolerable overcrowding of Umm al-Fahm and the living conditions which are far from satisfying for a young couple – while still remaining near their parents. The chances of a young couple owning their own apartment in Umm at-Fahm are almost nil. Due to the shortage of land, the price of land in the city is extremely expensive _ about $40,000 per dunum, not including development and connection to infrastructure, compared to $18,000 in Katzir, a price that includes development and connection to infrastructure. In the absence of an approved urban planning program for the city, young couples also have no chance of obtaining building permits. Therefore they are forced to build extensions to their parents’ homes, which is also usually illegal.

Therefore last year the Jabareens appeared before the acceptance committee of Katzir. He is a successful lawyer, she is a social worker, a graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who heads a project for girls in distress in Umm al-Fahm. They are both just