"THE BIBLE IS OUR ROADMAP": SETTLERS OVERTAKE BEIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000843

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2018
TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS
SUBJECT: "THE BIBLE IS OUR ROADMAP": SETTLERS OVERTAKE BEIT
SAHOUR SITE

REF: JERUSALEM 02021

Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Thomas Duffy, per reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On May 15, 150 settlers demonstrated,
overtook and spray painted three structures at the West Bank
site of Osh Ghraib (known to settlers as Shdema),near Beit
Sahour. The municipality wants to build a hospital on the
Area C former base that is also adjacent to a USAID funded
park, but does not have Israeli Civil Administration
approval. Beit Sahour Mayor Hani Hayek told PolOff May 16
that the IDF twice removed settlers May 15, but the settlers
returned May 16 on foot and remain at the site. Settler
leaders told PolOff May 16 that the site is "a new front" and
the demonstration was timed to coincide with President Bush's
visit. Settlers also took out quarter page news paper ads
proclaiming "the bible is our Roadmap." END SUMMARY


Settlers take former military site three times in two days
-------------- --------------


2. (C) According to local press, some 150 settlers
demonstrated May 15 at Osh Ghraib (known to settlers as
Shdema),former site of a Jordanian and then IDF base near
Beit Sahour. Osh Ghraib is along the "Lieberman Road"
connecting Har Homa with the West Bank settlements of Tekoa
and Nokdim. Settlers spray painted three structures, prayed,
and laid a cornerstone for the foundation of a new
settlement, according to press. Settler organizations led by
"Women in Green" took out quarter page ads in local
newspapers urging President Bush not to facilitate
establishment of "a new state and international base" for
"Islamic terror." Settlers arrived in the morning and spent
several hours at the site before the IDF removed them.
According to Mayor neighboring Beit Sahour Hani Hayek, the
settlers later returned on foot and the IDF removed them
again. Hayek confirmed settlers returned on foot May 16 and
remained at the site at 1500.


3. (C) Osh Ghraib is the site of a USAID-funded public
park. American NGO Cure International wants to build a
hospital on the site, but has not received Israeli Civil
Administration approval for Area C construction. Mayor Hayek
commented to PolOff that if the hospital is built,
Palestinians would not need access to Israeli hospital
services.

"Beginning of a new front"
--------------


4. (C) Settlement movement pioneer Elyakim Haetzni of
Kiryat Arba told Poloff May 16 that he addressed settlers at
Osh Ghraib May 15, and the settlers used President Bush's
visit to voice their opposition to any Palestinian hospital
or neighborhood at the site. "This is Area C," he said,
which was "given to us," and a new Palestinian presence might
prevent settlers from using the Lieberman road (reftel).
Haetzni told PolOff that the demonstration was "not like
Homesh" and other demonstrations, but a practical effort to
stop Palestinian development of the site. "This is the
beginning of a new front," he told PolOff.

DUFFY