The opinion adds another stumbling block to a project that already appears to be at a standstill, since Mr. Sitt has balked at the land swap.
The precise origin of the open-field arrangement, which involves long strips of arable land separated from each other by a furrow, balk (ridge of land left after plowing), or mere (boundary), is obscure.
Mr. Arafat has demanded that Israel transfer more land before a final settlement, as called for in the Oslo accord reached in 1993, but Mr. Barak, like his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, has balked at giving up more land outside of the terms of a final treaty.
But farmers and the donors have balked at participating in the land redistribution program, which has been dogged by violence and cronyism ever since it was revived two years ago in what is widely viewed as a tactic to bolster Mr. Mugabe's waning popularity.
But an ugly streak of thinking is also emerging, as descendants of the Europeans who first appropriated the land balk at the fact that new immigrants don't look and speak and behave just as they do.
When Christopher Superman Reeveve was pitched off his horse (it balked at a hurdle), the actor landed squarely on his head, breaking his neck, paralyzing him.
Mr. Sitt has balked at the city's offer of a land swap.
The dam owners initially balked, and many local townspeople feared a federal land grab, job losses, fouled water, and the removal of dams that were an integral part of local culture.
And suddenly the Mets balked, seemingly doing nothing, swinging at the biggest names, landing none.
Each people claims historical and cultural ties to the land, and Azerbaijani leaders in the capital city, Baku, balked at the reunification of Nagarno-Karabakh with Armenia.
There is another reason that Mr. Feinberg initially balked at proximity claims: it's far from clear how they'd fare if they ever landed in court.
