SEPARATION BARRIER AND THE VILLAGE OF SHEIKH SA'AD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 004917 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/STEINGER; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2026 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ETRD KWBG KPAL IS SUBJECT: SEPARATION BARRIER AND THE VILLAGE OF SHEIKH SA'AD Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Palestinians living in the Sheikh Sa'ad neighborhood, just southeast of the Jerusalem municipal boundary, are awaiting a ruling from the Israeli High Court regarding the route of the separation barrier. The separation barrier was erected in September 2002 and cuts through the neighborhood of Sheikh Sa'ad, severing the majority of the community from the Jabel Mukaber area of Jerusalem and putting them in the West Bank. For reasons of topography, Sheikh Sa'ad has only one access road leading into the neighborhood, and that road enters from the Jerusalem side. There is no road from the West Bank into Sheikh Sa'ad. Because the separation barrier cuts this road, access to the majority of Sheikh Sa'ad is limited to foot traffic. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Representatives from the U.S., British, Swedish, and Japanese missions in Jerusalem were invited to tour the Sheikh Sa'ad neighborhood November 20 by representatives of the community and the Israeli human rights organization Ir Amim. Sheikh Sa'ad's 2,200 residents, including those on the West Bank side, have traditionally received all their services, including electricity and water, from Jerusalem. Residents say that the majority of the people of Sheikh Sa'ad are Jerusalem ID holders, though according to an Ir Amim report, the GOI claims that not more than half are Jerusalemites. ¶3. (C) When the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem were drawn in 1967, part of Sheikh Sa'ad was included in the Jerusalem area of Jabel Mukaber, while most of the neighborhood was included the West Bank. According to Sarah Kreimer, Associate Director of Ir Amim, this mapping had no practical impact on the residents at the time, and since the area's topography dictated that the only entrance to the community was from the Jerusalem side, residents moved freely in and out of the city. According to Kreimer, the IDF blocked off the only road entering the neighborhood in September 2002, leaving the residents in the West Bank portion of the neighborhood effectively stranded. At the time of PolOff's November 20 visit, boulders and fencing comprise the barrier and only allow foot traffic. -------------- Initial Court Ruling -------------- ¶4. (C) Kreimer told poloff on November 20 that the Appeals Committee at the Magistrates Court in Tel Aviv had ruled in favor of the village in March 2006. The Court did not change the municipal boundary, but it ruled that the route of the barrier could be changed to include all of Sheikh Sa'ad inside the barrier. The Israeli Attorney General's Office subsequently filed a petition asking the Israeli High Court to overturn the Lower Court's findings and allow the barrier to be constructed on the current municipal line, dividing Sheikh Sa'ad. Kreimer said Ir Amim regards Sheikh Sa'ad as a litmus test with respect to other neighborhoods near the Jerusalem municipal boundary. -------------- A Community Divided -------------- ¶5. (C) Hussein Abu Mohammed, a village elder, told PolOff November 20 that vehicles that were inside the West Bank portion of the neighborhood when the barricade was erected have been stuck there ever since. He said that with the only road into the West Bank portion of the neighborhood blocked, the neighborhood is effectively cut off from both the rest of their community, including family members, in Jerusalem and from the West Bank. Gas for the cars, which residents use inside the neighborhood, as well as supplies for local stores, must be carried by hand past the barrier. None of the cars inside the West Bank portion of the neighborhood have been insured or received new license plates since the separation barrier was erected. ¶6. (C) Abu Mohammed said the situation is particularly hard on students, who must cross through the barrier to attend school in Jerusalem. He said tensions between residents and the IDF are increasing, with the guards at the barrier occasionally shouting profanities over a loud-speaker late at night. Abu Mohammed said he and other village leaders are trying to calm tensions and that the residents of the portion of the neighborhood cut off from Jerusalem by the barrier want only to be included with the rest of the community JERUSALEM 00004917 002 OF 002 inside the barrier so they can continue to live together and work in Jerusalem as they always have. He said that most of the community works in Jerusalem and will be unemployed if the neighborhood is permanently cut off. WALLES