OLIVE GROVE DESTROYED IN SOUTHERN WEST BANK VILLAGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000079 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2016 TAGS: ASEC CASC IS KDEM KPAL KWBG PBTS PGOV PHUM SUBJECT: OLIVE GROVE DESTROYED IN SOUTHERN WEST BANK VILLAGE REF: JERUSALEM 05550 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). This cable was cleared by Embassy/Tel Aviv. ¶1. (SBU) Palestinian villagers from the southern West Bank village of Juwaya January 6 discovered 102 olive trees -- planted over 30 years ago -- deliberately cut down, presumably by settlers residing in nearby Ma'on settlement. According to contacts from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT),the olive grove, which covers approximately five dunams of land (1.5 acres) and is owned by a Palestinian family residing in neighboring Yatta village, was cut down sometime overnight, January 5-6. CPT officials said the olive trees appeared to have been cut half-way through the tree trunks with a bow saw and physically torn from the tree stumps. Rich Myers of CPT suggested that it would take approximately five individuals less than one hour to cut down the entire grove. ¶2. (SBU) Following the discovery, the IDF and Israeli police arrived to conduct an investigation. Myers indicated that the grove was located less than 100 meters from Road 317, which is banned to Palestinian traffic but used by the nearby settlements of Ma'on, Carmel, Suseya, and Bayt Yatir. Myers was incredulous that the IDF, which patrols the road, did not observe any activity in the grove. The IDF told Myers that it did not send out a patrol the previous evening. ¶3. (C) Human rights groups and Israeli media reported that over 1,000 trees have been uprooted or cut down by Israeli settlers in recent months (reftel). Embassy Tel Aviv last month spoke with Major Daniel Beaudoin, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Branch of COGAT, and expressed our concern about the apparent lack of IDF willingness to protect Palestinian farmers. Beaudoin reported back that responsibility for action in these cases was with the Israeli police, and that COGAT would ask the INP to investigate. ¶4. (SBU) Note: According to a local Palestinian agricultural engineer, olive trees take 15 years to reach full maturity, though they start producing some fruit after seven years. A one dunam grove of olive trees (about 15 to 25 trees, depending on the terrain) cost approximately NIS 300 per year to maintain. Five dunams of 30 year-old olive trees represents an investment loss of at least NIS 45,000 (USD 9,800). End note. WALLES