Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08JERUSALEM1712
2008-09-12 14:29:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jerusalem
Cable title:
IDF DEMOLISHES 32 STRUCTURES IN AL-MUARRAJAT
how-toVZCZCXRO1713 PP RUEHROV DE RUEHJM #1712 2561429 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 121429Z SEP 08 FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2779 INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
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).
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
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