NABLUS MALL SHOPS REMAIN OPEN AS IDF CLOSURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001553

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR
GOLDBERGER/ROSENSTOCK/SACHAR; NSC FOR PASCUAL; TREASURY FOR
ROSE/HAJAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2018
TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV KWBG PTER KTFN KISL IS
SUBJECT: NABLUS MALL SHOPS REMAIN OPEN AS IDF CLOSURE
DEADLINE PASSES

REF: A. JERUSALEM 1329

B. JERUSALEM 1203

C. JERUSALEM 1192

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: Shops in Nablus' largest shopping mall
remain open following expiration of the IDF's August 15
closure deadline. EconOff toured the mall on August 19 and
found all shops operating normally. Shop owners say the IDF
has "frozen" the closure order it imposed on the mall's 68
shops during a July 6 incursion into Nablus. Shop owners,
who report that their sales are running at about 70 percent
of pre-raid levels, are uneasy about the ambiguous legal
status of the closure order. The offices of mall developer
al-I'timan, which the GOI alleges has ties to Hamas, remain
welded shut. End Summary.


2. (C) EconOff toured the Nablus Commercial Center (Nablus
mall) on August 19 with Nablus Chamber of Commerce Managing
Director Nameer Khayyat and three representatives of the
mall's shop owners' association -- Omar Awad, Sadeq Arafat,
and Omar Khayyat (Nameer's cousin). Awad and Arafat are
partial owners of "Super Stores Company," a food and
household goods store and the mall's largest shop. Omar
Khayyat owns a cafe on the ground floor of the three-story
mall.


3. (C) According to the group, 60 of the mall's 68 shops are
independently owned by persons with no ties to al-I'timan.
The other eight are rented from al-I'timan. Omar Khayyat
said that while he owns his cafe, he rents the public space
outside the cafe from al-I'timan for additional customer
seating. Omar Awad said the shop owners association has
hired its own lawyer, who has advised the group to cease
making any rent or other payments to al-I'timan. Awad said
the lawyer is assembling ownership papers and other documents
for presentation to an IDF legal advisor to prove the 60 shop
owners' independence from al-I'timan. Awad said the IDF has
"frozen" its July 6 closure order, which had imposed an
August 15 deadline to vacate all the mall's shops, pending
review of the documents. Nameer Khayyat disputed IDF's
contention that al-I'timan has ties to Hamas and noted that
it is a publicly-traded company listed on the Palestinian
Securities Exchange.


4. (C) The group said shop owners are relieved that the
August 15 deadline passed without incident but concerned that
the ambiguous legal status of the closure order is harming
business. Shop owners, they said, are not ordering
significant new inventory during what would normally be a
"double high season" on the eve of the new school year and
Ramadan. Customers, faced with less than fully stocked
shelves, are taking some of their business elsewhere. A bank
removed the mall's only ATM machine, they noted, for fear the
IDF would seize it. They said that a widespread "rumor" that
shoppers risk arrest and five years imprisonment is also
keeping some people away. (Note: The rumor has some basis
in fact. The IDF's July 6 closure order states that "anyone"
who enters the mall premises after August 15 without the IDF
West Bank commander's approval will be "exposed to five years
of actual detention." End note.)


5. (C) Awad and Omar Khayyat said their sales, which
plummeted by 50 percent after the stores reopened, are
currently running at about 70 percent of pre-raid levels.
Khayyat said that before the IDF incursion his cafe was a
lively spot for socializing, but now people are reluctant to
come, and practically no one stays after dark. The downturn
in business was evident during a tour of the mall. EconOff
counted only about twenty shoppers on a walk through the
mall's three floors. Omar Khayyat's cafe, which can seat at
least 70 people, had five customers. The doors of six retail
spaces that were vacant at the time of the raid are barred,
precluding new stores from opening. EconOff also viewed
al-I'timan's sealed office one floor above the main shopping
area. The metal door was welded shut. On the floor above
that, the local offices of two government ministries, Social
Affairs and Economy, were open for business.


WALLES