Exclusive: Abbas wants Orient House reopened

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a special adviser on Jerusalem affairs, PA officials in Ramallah said Wednesday, indicating that Israel and the PA are now readying to grapple in earnest with the issue of the city's status.  Adnan Husseini, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's new adviser on Jerusalem affairs and former director of Islamic Waqf.

The officials told The Jerusalem Post the decision was taken ahead of November's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, where Israel and the Palestinians are expected to focus on "fundamental" issues like Jerusalem, the borders of the future Palestinian state and the problem of the Palestinian refugees. 

"The issue of Jerusalem is
once again on the table," said one official. "That's why we need
someone to be responsible for the Jerusalem portfolio and to prepare
for the negotiations with Israel."

The Prime Minister's Office had no response to the report.

The new adviser is Adnan Husseini, the former director-general
of the Waqf department in Jerusalem. Husseini served in the Waqf job
for more than a decade before he was replaced earlier this year by
Azzam al-Khatib.

Husseini belongs to one of Jerusalem's oldest and most
important families. His late cousin, Faisal Husseini, was for many
years the top PLO leader in the city until his sudden death in 2001.

The new adviser told the Post one of his first tasks
would be to try and persuade Israel to reopen Palestinian institutions
in the city that were closed down by Israel over the past seven years.

One of these institutions, Orient House, served as the
unofficial headquarters of the PLO in Jerusalem. Orient House enjoyed
the status of an unofficial diplomatic mission - a fact that angered
many in Israel, especially as some foreign ministers insisted on
holding talks there with leading Palestinian figures.

Israel had argued that the presence of Orient House and other
PLO-linked institutions in the city were in violation of the Oslo
Accords, which banned the Palestinians from conducting such activities
in Israel. The closure of Orient House was followed by similar moves
against at least a dozen PLO-affiliated institutions.

"Jerusalem is living without a soul in the absence of Palestinian institutions," Husseini said in an interview with the Post.
"The people of Jerusalem have been suffering because of the closure of
their institutions. Today, everyone realizes that Jerusalem can't exist
without these institutions, which used to provide essential services to
the public."

Husseini said he was prepared to meet with Israeli government
officials to discuss the issue if the institutions and other matters
related to the day-to-day affairs of the Arab residents.

"We are prepared to open even small windows with Israel," he
said. "We are prepared to do anything to serve the interests of our
people in Jerusalem and end their suffering."