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The
Orient House is the Palestinian national gathering place
for Palestinians in Occupied East Jerusalem. As
the PLO Headquarters in the occupied city, the Orient
House aspires to develop Arab East Jerusalem as the
capital of the emerging Palestinian state and is today
the only Palestinian establishiment in the city to wave
the Palestinian flag.
Historically, the building was the site of many
diplomatic functions, including a tea party in honor of
the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm, when he visited
Jerusalem in 1898. King Abdallah, King Ali and Prince
Zaid accepted condolences at the Orient House when their
father, Sharif Hussein Ben Ali (Sharif of Mecca), was
buried in the Haram al-Sharif in 1930 and Emperor Haile
Selassie of Ethiopia and Empress Minan of Abyssinia also
found the Husseini house to be a haven for their court
when the Italians invaded their country and forced them
into exile in 1936-37.
Today, besides its political status in the city, the
Orient House offers Palestinians in Jerusalem
social, economic and political support, in an attempt to
compensate for the widespread deprivations caused by the
ongoing military occupation. In order to offset the
social and economic suffocation of the Israeli
occupation and Jerusalem's isolation from the rest of
the occupied territories, the Orient House constantly
promotes cultural and economic development projects in
the city.
After several attempts to shut off and suspend the
services provided by the Orient House, the Israeli
occupation forces in 1988 broke into the building and
closed down the establishment for “security
reasons”, depriving Palestinians of their only source
of support and representation in the city. Despite these
measures the Orient House continued to operate in exile
and, after re-opening on 26 October 1992, began to play
a vital role in the initiation of the Middle East peace
process. During this period the Orient House regained
its diplomatic status in Jerusalem and once again became
the official Palestinian political address in Jerusalem.
Despite its moves toward reconciliation, the Israeli
government has continued to undermine the initiatives of
the Orient House. Since the beginning of Oslo Accords,
the Israeli government began to physically isolate
Jerusalem from the Palestinian hinterland by imposing a
military closure and building more settlements and
by-pass roads. On top of this the Israeli government has
placed a great amount of pressure on all foreign
governments not to meet with Palestinian officials in
East Jerusalem, especially at the Orient House.
Regardless of these measures, the Orient House has continued its long
standing history as a venue for diplomatic activity resisting Israeli measures to alter he landscape of
Jerusalem and has continued to provide the Palestinian people with
political representation as well as aid in the
socio-economic development of Jerusalem. Until the
Israeli occupation in Arab East Jerusalem ends, the Orient House
will continue to advocate Palestinian aspirations of
independence, dignity and freedom.
On the 10th of August 2001
Israeli Authorities again illegally occupied and closed
the Orient House. The Israeli army and police have
confiscated all the computer equipment, files, data and
valuable confidential information regarding issues on
Jerusalem, which were intended to be used in
negotiations with the Israeli government.
Until the closure, Orient House
was the official body in charge of
negotiating the final status of Jerusalem and headquarters for multilateral negotiations.
Efforts are now being launched
to re-open the Orient House. The Orient House emits its
sincere gratitude to local and international
groups and individuals supporting us in the
struggle.
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