HEBRON AREA MAYORS BLAME UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000638

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018
TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS
SUBJECT: HEBRON AREA MAYORS BLAME UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY
ON THE SEPARATION BARRIER AND OBSTACLES TO MOVEMENT


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


1. (C) Summary. Al-Dhahariyeh Mayor Sami Ishneiwer and
Ithna Mayor Jamal Itmeizi told Poloffs April 9 that residents
face high unemployment and poverty due to the separation
barrier and IDF road closures that cut off their towns from
Israel and Hebron. The mayors said their towns suffer from a
lack of water, overburdened schools, and poor sewage systems.
Mayor Itmeizi said Ithna, located in Area B, has no police
force and residents face the threat of home demolitions End
Summary.

Al-Dhahariyeh: High Unemployment
and Poverty; Cut off from Hebron
--------------


2. (C) Al-Dhahariyeh mayor Sami Ishneiwer told Poloffs April
9 that al-Dhahariyeh has 31,000 residents, and an additional
9,000 from surrounding villages depend on the town's
services. He said al-Dhahariyeh municipality, located 28
kilometers southwest of Hebron, encompasses 15,196 dunams
(3,799 acres) of land, but residents own approximately
167,000 dunams (41,750 acres) in the area. The restricted
size of their municipality prohibits legal construction by
residents on much of their land. According to Ishneiwer, the
municipality suffers from a lack of water, overburdened
schools (serving 8,000 students),and a poor sewage system.
He added that Hebron's sewage system runs exposed through
al-Dhahariyeh. Ishneiwer said unemployment is high, and 57
percent of residents live below the poverty line. He blamed
the municipality's economic difficulties on the separation
barrier and IDF road closures that essentially cut off
al-Dhahariyeh from Israel and Hebron.


3. (C) Ishneiwer said 35 percent of residents used to work
in the Israeli city of Be'er Sheva, but can no longer do so
because of the separation barrier and a lack of GOI permits.
The Mayor said life is difficult for al-Dhahariyeh's many
residents who are married to Israeli Arabs in the Be'er Sheva
area. He said Arab Israelis previously shopped in
al-Dhahariyeh, but since the barrier's construction, they
have stopped, and some 400 businesses have closed. Council
members said the lack of access to Israel hurts them more
economically than the restrictions on access to Hebron.
However, Hebron has al-Dhahariyeh's closest hospital. Though
only 28 kilometers away, because the IDF closed access to
Route 60 from the town, a trip to Hebron now takes ninety
minutes on secondary roads through nearby villages.

Ithna Council Reaches Out to Residents
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4. (C) Mayor of Ithna Jamal Itmeizi told Poloffs April 9
that the Ithna local council had developed a committee to
improve council members' relations with Ithna residents and
to identify residents' needs for the council. (Note: Ithna
is located roughly 12 kilometers west of Hebron. The Ithna
local council has thirteen Fatah members. End Note) "I'm
proud of this committee," Itmeizi said, "because it includes
women, youth, and all the clans of Ithna." He said service
delivery has improved since the committee was developed, but
"We still have a long way to go before reaching a high
standard of providing services to the public" and singled out
schools, roads, and the health clinic as needing
improvements. Ithna municipal council member Amal Abu Asaad
said she regularly encourages the town's female residents to
attend open council meetings.

Ithna: Impacted by Barrier and Area B
--------------


5. (C) Itmeizi said the IDF has expropriated 4,000 dunams
(1,000 acres) of Ithna's land to construct the separation
barrier, and the municipality now lies on 6,000 dunams (1,500
acres) of land. The loss of land, said Itmeizi, is a problem
for Ithna's growing population and blocks needed, natural
expansion. He said many farmers cannot access their lands
beyond the separation barrier and blamed the barrier for the
village's 45 percent unemployment.


6. (C) Itmeizi also said a nine year old agreement between
the Palestinian Water Authority and Israeli water company
Makarot to give Ithna access to Kiryat Arba's water line has
never been implemented. He said residents need 2,000 to
2,500 cubic meters of water per day, but receive only 800 to
1,000 cubic meters from Makarot. This lack of water adds to
local health, agriculture, and livestock grazing problems.


7. (C) Ithna is in Area B, and according to Itmeizi the IDF

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has demolished some 50 homes in area over the last decade for
lacking building permits. He said that PA security forces
cannot access Ithna because they must cross through Area C,
where the GOI has civil and security control. Itmeizi said
without a police force, Ithna residents believe they are not
subject to the rule of law. In many cases, he added, local
clans and council members step in to resolve problems.

Positive Press Coverage
of ConGen Village Outreach
--------------


8. (U) Poloffs' visit to al-Dhahariyeh received positive
press coverage in Al Ayyam and Al Quds dailies. The articles
focused on U.S. interest in local problems as well as U.S.
support for a local project that is a follow-on to a MEPI
funded project to support female community leaders.
Municipal council representative Samira Abu Sharekh was
quoted saying that U.S. support for the project would be of
great importance to local women.
WALLES