AL-KURD FAMILY APPEALS FOR HELP TO PREVENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001389 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017 TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS SUBJECT: AL-KURD FAMILY APPEALS FOR HELP TO PREVENT EVICTION FROM SHAYKH JARRAH HOME REF: JERUSALEM 01257 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. PolOff and PolSpec met with members of the al-Kurd family and their representatives July 31. Fawzieh al-Kurd presented documents in support of her claim to her East Jerusalem house and invited the Consul General to visit the neighborhood to observe the situation. A neighbor to the al-Kurds said he and many other families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood have recently received eviction orders. PA representatives, who accompanied the al-Kurds, underscored that Shaykh Jarrah is a historically Palestinian neighborhood and requested USG help to prevent the al-Kurds' eviction. (Note: Copies of the al-Kurds' documents can be viewed on the ConGen's classified website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/jerusalem/ind ex.cfm by clicking on the link for Political Reporting Attachments. End note.) End Summary. AL-KURDS PRESENT DOCUMENTS SUPPORTING CLAIM TO HOME -------------- ¶2. (C) PolOff and PolSpec met July 31 with representatives of the al-Kurd family, who are under threat of eviction from their home in East Jerusalem's Shaykh Jarrah neighborhood (Ref A). Fawzieh al-Kurd gave PolOff copies of documents from the Ottoman and Jordanian periods, which she said refute Israelis' claim to the land. She told PolOff that an Israeli family living in a confiscated portion of her home has avoided eviction since the courts ordered their removal in February 2007, and contrasted their situation with her own imminent eviction. Mrs. al-Kurd extended an invitation to the Consul General to visit her home and observe the situation first-hand. (Note: Activists have maintained a 24 hour vigil at the al-Kurd home since the eviction order was issued in hopes of preventing the eviction. End note.) MANY NEIGHBORS FACING POSSIBLE EVICTION -------------- ¶3. (C) Maher Hanoun, a neighbor to the al-Kurds, told PolOff that he received an eviction notice on July 24. He said he has been charged with refusing to implement the court order, and must either pay a heavy fine or serve jail time. He said 20 Shaykh Jarrah families risk losing their property to Israeli developers, who plan to construct 200 residential units in the area. PA ADVOCACY: SHAYKH JARRAH IS HISTORICALLY PALESTINIAN; INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT NEEDED -------------- ¶4. (C) Head of President Abbas's Jerusalem Unit Ahmad Ruweidi accompanied Mrs. al-Kurd and told PolOff that the attempt to build Israeli apartments in Shaykh Jarrah would significantly alter this historically Palestinian neighborhood. Advisor to PM Fayyad Hatem Abdul Qader also accompanied Mrs. al-Kurd and told PolOff that the al-Kurds' eviction would likely be the first of many evictions in the area. He said the Israeli courts will not serve justice in this case, and urged direct USG intervention on behalf of the al-Kurds. WALLES