IDF DEMOLISHES 32 STRUCTURES IN AL-MUARRAJAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001712 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL; DEPT FOR PRM/ANE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2018 TAGS: PREL PBTS PREF PHUM KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: IDF DEMOLISHES 32 STRUCTURES IN AL-MUARRAJAT BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT REF: A. JERUSALEM 1612 ¶B. 9/9/08 LAPENN-GOLDBERGER EMAIL Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. The IDF demolished 32 bedouin structures east of Ramallah on September 9 in the second significant West Bank demolition in a month. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On September 9, IDF soldiers demolished 32 structures in the al-Muarrajat bedouin encampment, south of route 449 between Ramallah and Jericho. Poloffs visited the camp on July 18 after the issuance of demolition orders for the camp's structures, and again on September 11 after demolition orders were executed. (Note: Photos of the demolished structures are available on ConGen Jerusalem's classified website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/jerusalem/ind ex.cfm under the link to Political Reporting Attachments. End note.) The encampment was south of Rimmonim settlement, just inside a closed IDF military zone on the edge of the Jordan Valley. This demolition follows a mid-August demolition of at least 25 fruit and vegetable stands in the northern Jordan Valley (ref A). ¶3. (C) Bedouin from the encampment told Poloffs that an estimated 150 people lived at six sites, which sheltered people and livestock nine months of the year. Bedouin resident Ahmed Ibrahim told Poloff that the twenty-five or so families had used the area for a winter encampment since 1975, and that the IDF had last demolished their structures in the late 1990s. He said the GoI offered no relocation options, so the families plan to rebuild on the same site. Ibrahim noted that UNRWA and the ICRC visited on the day of the demolition, but had not provided assistance. UNRWA staff told Poloff that they cannot render significant assistance, because these bedouin are not 1948 refugees. ¶4. (C) Comment. This is the second significant demolition of West Bank structures to take place recently notwithstanding GoI assurances to the USG that demolitions would not continue in the West Bank. Although demolitions of bedouin structures in the West Bank are often cyclical, there have apparently been no such demolitions at this particular encampment in the last ten years. End comment. WALLES