OCTOBER 27 HOME DEMOLITIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001956

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KPAL IS
SUBJECT: OCTOBER 27 HOME DEMOLITIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM

REF: A. JERUSALEM 1344

B. JERUSALEM 1838

C. JERUSALEM 1217

D. JERUSALEM 965

Classified By: CG Daniel Rubinstein, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. The Jerusalem Municipality executed
demolition orders on October 27 for five buildings (a total
of nine housing units) in East Jerusalem, displacing or
partially destroying the homes of 45 Palestinian residents.
The Municipality also dismantled a tent in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood of East Jerusalem, where the al-Ghawi family had
resided since its August 2009 eviction by court order.
Municipality officials denied knowledge of the timing, as
well as press reports that up to 59 demolitions would take
place before the end of 2009. Other contacts believe more
demolitions are planned, and claim the Municipality (which
hires contractors to conduct demolitions) must actively agree
for any demolition to go forward. End Summary.

Run-Down of October 27 Demolitions
--------------


2. (U) On October 27, Jerusalem Municipality orders were
executed (see para 10 for a description of the procedure) for
the demolition of five buildings in East Jerusalem. The
demolitions, which destroyed nine housing units, resulted in
the displacement of 26 Palestinians, including ten children;
19 Palestinians, including eight children, were affected by
the partial demolition of their homes.


3. (C) The first demolition took place at 6:00 a.m. local
time in Jabal Mukabir. The property, a two-story, four-unit
building on the outskirts of the neighborhood, belonged to
Nimr Ali Hassan Nimr, who told PolOff following the
demolition that he built the property ten years ago and had
been fighting a demolition order since its construction. He
claimed that the police did not allow him to empty the home
of belongings prior to its demolition, and that a computer
and three refrigerators were destroyed in the process.
According to Nimr, a Municipality representative present said
his home had been selected for demolition because the
property was too close -- some 300 yards -- to the security
barrier.


4. (SBU) The second demolition occurred on the outskirts of
the Shu'fat Refugee Camp. UN OCHA told PolOff that the
building -- home to nine registered Palestinian refugees,
including four children -- had been partially self-demolished
in 2006 and rebuilt by the Israeli Committee Against Home
Demolitions (ICAHD) in 2008. (Note: "self-demolitions" are
sometimes undertaken by property owners in order to avoid
being charged by the Municipality for the cost of an official
demolition.)


5. (SBU) According to UN OCHA, the owner of the property
said he had been approached several times by a person named
Aria King, who claimed ownership of the land, and that court
decisions in 2006 ruled in King's favor. The property, while
within the Municipality's declared boundaries, is located to
the east of the security barrier; bulldozers and police
entered through a gate built into the barrier. UN OCHA said
that the family was not allowed to remove personal belongings
from the house before the demolition.


6. (SBU) The third property, in Jabal Mukabir, was home to
a 75-year-old Palestinian woman and her adult son. Their
previous home had stood in the same location prior to its
demolition by the Municipality in 2006. Following the first
demolition, the family sought shelter with relatives before
erecting and moving into the new structure. UN OCHA said
that the demolition process in this case seemed to have been
expedited: the first demolition order was received in May
2009, the second in September 2009, and the demolition
executed on October 27.


7. (C) The fourth demolition destroyed an extension to a
home in Jabal Mukabir where -- according to UN OCHA -- five
Palestinians, including three adult children, lived; the
family said they would remain in the undemolished portion of
the house. The fifth demolition, which also occurred in
Jabal Mukabir, demolished the remnants of a property
partially self-demolished in September 2009. Fourteen people
lived in this property, including eight children. The family
owns another building nearby where it is currently living in
crowded conditions.


8. (C) The following day, on October 28, the Jerusalem
Municipality and INP dismantled a tent set up in August 2009

JERUSALEM 00001956 002 OF 002


by the al-Ghawi family on a sidewalk across from the home
they had occupied before their August 2 eviction. (In a
controversial legal proceeding, Israeli courts granted
ownership of the property to the Nakhalat Shimon
International and the Sephardic Community Committee, based on
Ottoman-era land deeds). Four members of the al-Ghawi family
were reportedly in the tent at the time of its dismantling,
and the Municipality confiscated the tent's contents,
including bedding, kitchenware, and a television. Post
contacts say that Rabbi Yechiel Grenimann, field coordinator
for the NGO Rabbis for Human Rights, was detained the evening
of 27 October for allegedly intervening on the family's
behalf.

Municipality's View
--------------


9. (C) Stephan Miller, aide to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat
(currently visiting the United States),provided PolOff with
municipal documents prepared for four of the building
demolitions, explaining that one of the properties was an
illegal billiards hall, and another was built on public land.
He said that a third property was first issued a demolition
order in 2003, "long before Mayor Barkat ran for mayor the
first time." He noted that since mid-October 2009, the
Municipality had demolished four properties in West
Jerusalem, including one property in an ultra-orthodox
Charedi community. (Comment: The demolition reports that
Miller provided to Post indicate that the West Jerusalem
structures demolished -- three add-on rooms and an enclosed
patio -- were comparatively small.)


10. (C) Miller said that press reports claiming that the
Municipality intended to proceed with demolition of 59
properties, including 42 properties in East Jerusalem, were
"completely untrue." "The timing of demolitions is decided
by the police and the courts," he claimed, "not the
Municipality. There just aren't 40 demolitions in East
Jerusalem in the pipeline." Lawyer and activist Danny
Seidemann disputed this claim in a separate conversation,
noting that both the Municipality (which hires contractors to
conduct the demolition after the building inspection
department issues its concurs) and the police (which secures
the site) must concur before a demolition can occur.
Finally, Jerusalem City Council member and ICAHD founder Meir
Margalit said he anticipated approximately 40 additional
demolitions in East Jerusalem before the end of 2009.


11. (C) Seidemann argued that the Municipality gave little
if any consideration to the potentially provocative nature of
home demolitions at a time of heightened tensions in
Jerusalem. "(Jerusalem Mayor) Nir Barkat thinks of this as a
rule of law issue," Seidemann argued. "He sees himself as
Rudy Giuliani taking on the muggers. He's immune to
subtlety. On the fourth floor of city hall (where municipal
planning takes place),everyone is feeling the pressure from
the new American administration. But not Barkat. He's
incapable of doubting."
RUBINSTEIN