UPDATE ON PENDING DEMOLITIONS AND EVICTIONS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001256 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA. NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR JOINT STAFF FOR LTG SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KWBG KPAL IS SUBJECT: UPDATE ON PENDING DEMOLITIONS AND EVICTIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM REF: A. GMP20090720746001 ¶B. GMP20090719738017 ¶C. JERUSALEM 1151 ¶D. JERUSALEM 628 ¶E. JERUSALEM 501 ¶F. 08 JERUSALEM 1823 ¶G. 08 JERUSALEM 1232 ¶H. 08 JERUSALEM 756 ¶I. 07 JERUSALEM 2020 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. This cable provides an update on the status of nine politically sensitive property issues in East Jerusalem. Developments in three of these cases (the Shepherd Hotel, Shaykh Jarrah evictions, and demolitions in Abasiya -- a subdivision of Abu Tor -- could occur within the next two to three months, according to NGO contacts and representatives of affected parties. Another three cases (al-Bustan demolitions, Ras al Amud settlement construction, and Ras al Khamis demolitions) could unfold over the next year. Developments in the final three cases (Wad Yasul demolitions, Kidmat Tzion settlement construction, and Silwan evictions) are not imminent but merit continued attention. Palestinian and NGO representatives involved in these disputes say that USG interest has led the Municipality to show restraint in several of these cases. End summary. IMMINENT CASES -------------- ¶2. (C) SHEPHERD HOTEL CONSTRUCTION (Shaykh Jarrah). The Jerusalem Municipality Licensing Committee on July 2 approved plans to build two Israeli-owned apartment buildings on the Shepherd Hotel property in the Shaykh Jarrah neighborhood, north of the Old City, pending certification from other agencies (ref C). Obtaining certifications will take two to six months, at which time part of the existing hotel will be demolished and construction can begin. Municipality Legal Advisor Yossi Havilio said July 13 that the Municipality cannot reject the plans because the settler organization Amana has developed blueprints in strict accordance with zoning laws. ¶3. (C) Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann said several options exist to halt construction: local stakeholders could push the Municipality to allow a public review of the plans; a member of the Licensing Committee could appeal against the building permit (thereby moving the decision to the Israeli Ministry of Interior); or concerned parties could press the GoI to expropriate the Shepherd Hotel land and there by freeze the situation. Seidemann noted that press attention may complicate efforts to find a solution quietly (refs A, B). (Note: The GoI expropriated the Shepherd Hotel through the Absentee Property Law in the 1980s and sold it to American millionaire Irving Moskowitz. The al-Husseini family, the original owners, have pursued legal options to reassert ownership with no results (REF I).) ¶4. (C) SHAYKH JARRAH EVICTIONS. The Nakhalat Shimon organization continues legal action to evict two families -- the Hanuns and the Ghawis -- from their homes in Shaykh Jarrah (ref E, para 7). The courts ordered the families to evacuate by July 19 and pay fines. Home owner Maher Hanun said July 20 that the families refuse to leave. Havilio said the Municipality views this as a legal issue and therefore cannot intervene. Rabbis for Human Rights director Arik Ascherman said the Municipality and GoI could intervene by asking the courts to review Ottoman land registries or by encouraging Nakhalat Shimon to drop the case. Since the Israeli Ministry of Internal Security has to sign off before the evictions occur, the GoI has leverage, he added. (Note: A total of 28 families in Shaykh Jarrah could face eviction depending on the outcome of these cases. The Jordanian government resettled 28 refugee families in Shaykh Jarrah in the 1950s, and Nakhalat Shimon is suing for ownership of the land based on claims that Jews lived there before 1948 (ref D). End note.) ¶5. (C) ABASIYA DEMOLITIONS (Abu Tor). Jerusalem attorney Ziad Kawar said the courts rejected his appeal against the demolition of two buildings containing a total of 34 apartments in the Abasiya area (ref E),and the demolitions could take place as of July 21. He said the Municipality's deputy legal advisor, Danny Liebman, told him the Municipality rejected Kawar's plan to identify portions of the buildings that could be preserved. Kawar acknowledged that residents bought apartments from a contractor who exceeded the building permit, but said the residents should not be punished for the contractor's crime. Municipality attorney Havilio said Palestinian contractors often scam the Municipality by exceeding construction permits, and that the Abasiya buildings must be demolished to avoid rewarding criminal behavior. MEDIUM TERM CASES -------------- ¶6. (C) AL-BUSTAN DEMOLITIONS (Silwan). According to Jerusalem attorney Kawar, a July 19 court ruling states that three homes in al-Bustan can be demolished after November 21 (ref E). The delay, he said, probably is intended to avoid demolitions during Ramadan and the Jewish high holidays (that is, between late August and October this year). Kawar, who represents several families in al-Bustan, said the Municipality asked him to sign an agreement on behalf of his clients consenting to municipal renovations in al-Bustan (such as installing streetlights and building parks). He said he refused to sign an agreement that might be seen as legitimizing demolitions. Havilio said that the Municipality cannot legalize all of the homes in al-Bustan, in spite of the area's political sensitivity. He said that, based on laws regarding the statute of limitations in Jerusalem, the Municipality has agreed to preserve 22 homes built in al-Bustan prior to 1992, and to preserve as many homes built between 1992-1998 as legally possible. Homes built after 1999, he said, will be demolished. (Note: The Municipality has an informal policy of not conducting home demolitions during the month of Ramadan, which takes place in August-September of this year.) ¶7. (C) RAS AL-AMUD SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION (southern end of the Mount of Olives). Haim Ehrlich, a field researcher for the Jerusalem NGO Ir Amim, told PolOff July 6 that the Municipality Local Planning Committee will soon review plans to develop the former Ras al-Amud police station into residences. Ehrlich said the developer -- one of the Jerusalem-based settler organizations acting in the name of the Bukharian community (ref G) -- is conducting interior renovations to the buildings while awaiting formal approval. The Municipality did not respond to PolOff's inquiry about the plan, but blueprints (ref H) show the police station property being turned into an extension of the existing Ma'ale haZaytim neighborhood. ¶8. (C) RAS AL-KHAMIS DEMOLITIONS (near Shuafat Refugee Camp). According to Kawar, the planned demolition of five unpermitted buildings containing 55 mostly unoccupied apartments in Ras al-Khamis is frozen at least until a July 28 hearing, when he expects the courts to make a final decision (ref E). He said that the Municipality inexplicably cancelled one of the demolition orders in Ras al-Khamis, giving him hope that there is a way to cooperate with the Municipality. The Municipality did not respond to inquiries. LONG TERM CASES -------------- ¶9. (C) WAD YASUL DEMOLITIONS (between Silwan and Jabal al-Mukabbar). Kawar said the courts ordered the Municipality and the MoI to find a solution for the 56 unpermitted homes in Wad Yasul (ref E) that minimizes the humanitarian impact of demolitions there. Kawar began discussions with the Municipality on a plan to legalize construction, but the plan only includes 40 of the homes. He said he will pursue an appeal to the National Planning Committee while continuing work with the Municipality. In the meantime, he said, the Municipality has agreed not to conduct demolitions in the area for six months. ¶10. (C) KIDMAT TZION SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION (eastern Ras al-Amud). Yossi Havilio said the Municipality has been involved this year in a dispute with the settler organization Ateret Cohanim over developing plans for a neighborhood called Kidmat Tzion (ref F),located to the east of the Old City. Havilio said that in January he rejected an agreement, dating from the municipal administration of former Mayor Ehud Olmert, which obligated the Municipality to develop Kidmat Tzion. Representatives of Ateret Cohanim "attacked" his decision because they want Municipality political support and funding, but nothing prevents them from developing plans themselves. If these plans follow zoning codes, the Municipality will have no pretext for preventing the construction of an Israeli neighborhood in a this area, Havilio said. ¶11. (C) BAYT YONATAN EVICTIONS (Silwan). The Jerusalem District Court in spring 2008 ordered the Municipality to seal Bayt Yonatan, a settler apartment building in the al-Yemen area of East Jerusalem,s Silwan neighborhood built without permits. The Municipality has not sealed the building or evicted six Israeli families living there. Elad Halevy, Deputy Political Advisor to the Jerusalem Mayor, said that the Municipality will not demolish Bayt Yonatan (named in honor of Jonathan Pollard) because it is eligible for retroactive legalization, having been built on private land and built to code. Yossi Havilio said he is pressuring the Mayor to enforce the eviction and sealing order. He told PolOff that it is politically difficult to evict Jewish families from their homes. QUIET USG INTERVENTION MAKING A DIFFERENCE -------------- ¶12. (C) Municipality contacts said the Municipality intends to continue enforcing demolition orders despite political pressure. Ziad Kawar said he is using legal tools to try to solve political problems. Consequently, most of the cases he is defending will result in demolitions unless the GoI recognizes the political significance and intervenes, he said. Several contacts -- including Kawar, city council member and founder of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) Meir Margolit, and head of Rabbis for Human Rights Arik Ascherman -- said USG interest in these cases has caused the Municipality to refrain from conducting demolitions in sensitive areas. WALLES