PALESTINIANS OUTLINE IMPLICATIONS OF ISRAELI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000803 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA. NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR. JCS FOR LTGEN SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2019 TAGS: IS KPAL KWBG PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SUBJECT: PALESTINIANS OUTLINE IMPLICATIONS OF ISRAELI DECISION TO MERGE MA'ALE ADUMIM AND QEDAR REF: JERUSALEM 705 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Palestinians outlined serious consequences for a viable and contiguous Palestinian state resulting from the decision by the Israeli Minister of Interior to join the Qedar settlements to the Ma'ale Adumim Municipality. The Palestinian Governor of Jerusalem and the Mayor of Abu Dis -- one of the towns losing land to confiscation -- said that Israeli measures in E-1 and the Ma'ale Adumim bloc threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state, and risk bringing peace efforts to a halt. NGO Peace Now said the parallel plans for construction in E-1 are only waiting for the political decision to move forward. End summary. PALESTINIANS: EXPROPRIATION UNDERMINES HOPE FOR A TWO-STATE SOLUTION -------------- ¶2. (C) In response to press reports that the Israeli Minister of Interior, Eli Yishai, in early May approved the recommendation to join the settlements of Qedar and East Qedar to the Ma'ale Adumim Municipality, PA Jerusalem District Governor Adnan Husseini told PolOff May 11 that this decision threatens the viability of a contiguous Palestinian state. If Qedar becomes part of Ma'ale Adumim, Husseini said, and if the separation barrier follows its current planned route around Mishor Adumim, E-1, and settlements north of Ma'ale Adumim, then the area of E-1/Ma'ale Adumim will constitute a settlement bloc larger than the city of Tel Aviv. Such a land grab, he said, would seal Jerusalem off from the West Bank, cut the West Bank in half, and undercut Palestinian hopes for a future state. ¶3. (C) Husseini said Israelis have already developed plans and laid infrastructure to construct 3,500 residences in E-1, and he cited reports that the area between Qedar and Ma'ale Adumim could hold 6,000 additional apartments, built on land that currently belongs to the Palestinian towns of Abu Dis and al-Sawahara al-Sharqiya. Although Abu Dis and al-Sawahara intend to take the issue to court, Husseini said he has no confidence that Israeli courts will uphold Palestinian rights. He said his office is erecting a protest tent and organizing activities in the Abu Dis/al-Sawahara land to highlight the importance of the area to Palestinians. He cautioned the USG not to focus on E-1 to the exclusion of other harmful Israeli land expropriations in the same area. ¶3. (C) Mayor of Abu Dis Ibrahim Jaffal told PolOff May 12 that decision to join Qedar to Ma'ale Adumim cuts Abu Dis and al-Sawahara off from a significant portion of their vacant land, restricting the towns' ability to grow and reducing available land for other uses. He said the expropriation of these 3,000 acres also disrupts contiguity between Palestinian areas, undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state. It was, he claimed, part of Israel's effort to create "non-negotiable facts on the ground," which reduces Palestinians' hope for a two state solution. Jaffal said he has confidence that the Obama Administration can take the serious stance necessary to stop this type of activity. PEACE NOW: E-1 CONSTRUCTION WILL BE FIRST -------------- ¶4. (C) The head of NGO Peace Now's Settlement Watch Project, Hagit Ofran, told PolOff May 4 that Ma'ale Adumim will focus on building the planned 3,500 housing units in E-1 before undertaking new construction projects in the area south of Ma'ale Adumim, but that both areas are threats to stability in the area. Ofran said that the detailed plan for E-1 is "ready to be deposited, just awaiting the political decision to do so." She said the unification of Ma'ale Adumim and Qedar is significant because it expands Ma'ale Adumim's footprint, but estimated that approval for any new construction south of Ma'ale Adumim will take at least two years. Ofran noted that Peace Now submitted to the courts in August 2008 an objection to the unification plan, but the objection was rejected. PA INTENDS TO FIGHT EXPROPRIATION IN COURT -------------- ¶5. (C) PM Salam Fayyad's Advisor on Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem Abdul Qader, told PolFSN May 11 that his office will submit two appeals to the Civil Administration, the first to stop the expropriation of land, and the second to stop the JERUSALEM 00000803 002 OF 002 expansion of Ma'ale Adumim. He said Israeli plans are designed to benefit the settlements, and that Palestinian needs and rights were ignored during the process. Abdul Qader said he expects the appeals to lead to court cases, and that legal proceedings could last two years. He linked settlement expansion south of Ma'ale Adumim with Israeli plans to construct a neighborhood in E-1, north of Ma'ale Adumim, saying that "these are Palestinian lands which will be an inseparable part of the Palestinian state." He called on the international community to condemn the GoI's efforts to confiscate Palestinian land. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) While the decision to join the Qedar settlements to Ma'ale Adumim appears at first to be a minor technical adjustment, in fact, it has major implications for the viability of a future Palestinian state and a two-state solution. USG representations to the GoI on E-1 should make clear that expansion of Ma'ale Adumim to the south also poses grave risks to the prospect of peace. WALLES