PA Holds Diplomatic Event In Jerusalem
PA dignitary, complete with a podium
BY SAMUEL SOKOL
ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
Last Monday, Norwegian foreign min-
ister Jonas Gahr Store held official diplo-
matic talks with Ahmed a-Rawidi, the
Palestinian Authority minister for
Jerusalem, and Rafik Husseini, the chief
of staff to PA President Mahmoud Abbas,
on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The
meeting was the first that the Palestinian
Authority has held in Israel’s capital for
almost a decade.
In 2001, then Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon closed down the PA’s Jerusalem
headquarters, located in the Orient
House, as a response to the Second
Intifada. It is Israeli policy to prevent PA
events and institutions from operating in
the eastern half of the city.
Recently the European Union and the
Russian Federation have requested that
Israel reopen the Orient house.
During a joint press conference with
Store last Sunday, when asked by Israel’s
Channel 10 regarding the reopening of
the Orient House, Foreign Minister
Lieberman stated, “There will be no more
gestures. There is simply no room to talk
about opening Orient House, freezing the
construction in Jerusalem, or any addi-
tional gestures. Now is the time for a ges-
ture from the Palestinians.”
Dr. Aaron Lerner, the director of IMRA
(Independent Media Review and
Analysis), told the 5TJT that the
Palestine Liberation Organization and
the PLO-run Palestinian Authority are
banned by Israeli law from engaging in
official activities within the municipal
boundaries of Jerusalem.
The Knesset passed the Law
Implementing the Agreement on the
Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area
(Restriction of Activity) in 1995, which
states that the Palestinian Authority
“shall not hold a meeting in the area of
“Norway considers the Israeli presence in East
Jerusalem to be in violation of international
law, as does the entire international
community,” Store told reporters.
the State of Israel unless written permis-
sion for this has been given by the State
of Israel or by someone authorized by it
to do so.” The Palestinian Authority is
defined as “any person acting on its
behalf or under its auspices or using its
name” for the purposes of this ban.
According to the agreement referred to
in the Israeli legislation, the Palestinian
Authority’s jurisdiction does not apply
outside of the Jericho area territory and
the Gaza Strip. “Israel [did not] enter into
any written understanding with the PLO
as a result of Oslo that abrogated that
law,” Lerner said.
Norwegians Deny Meeting With
Senior Officials
When asked if Norway was aware that
official meetings with Palestinian
Authority figures are forbidden within
Jerusalem, the Norwegian Embassy mis-
leadingly stated that the country’s
ambassador was not present at the
Augusta Victoria hospital and referred to
a press release from the foreign ministry
stating that the minister visited East
Jerusalem, without any mention of Rafik
Husseini—effectively denying that the
meeting took place.
Further queries only resulted in
Annika Evensen, the embassy’s first secre-
tary, saying that she had “nothing to add
to what is in the press release.”
According to Norwegian journalist
Vidar Norberg, Store was welcomed to
the hospital by Husseini, who compared
Israeli policies to those of apartheid
South Africa and called for an interna-
tional boycott of Israel goods.
5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES
Store held a press conference with the
and Norwegian and Palestinian Authority
flags. Speaking to reporters, with the
Gush Etzion city of Maaleh Adumim
behind him, the foreign minister
announced that Mahmoud Abbas’s goal is
a peaceful and negotiated settlement of
the Middle East conflict.
However, Abbas stands accused of
inciting terrorism by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinian Authority president
was quoted in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on
January 17 defending his government’s
decision to name a square in Ramallah
after Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist guilty of
37 counts of murder.
“Norway considers the Israeli presence
in East Jerusalem to be in violation of
international law, as does the entire inter-
national community,” Store told
reporters.
The minister has come under intense
criticism from Israeli politicians due to
his endorsement of the book Eyes In
Gaza, which describes Israel’s Cast Lead
operation as a “monstrous, systematically
implemented, and comprehensive mas-
sacre.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon described the book as “outra-
geous” and said that it “borders on incite-
ment made up of fabrication and lies.”
A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of
Foreign Affairs told the Five Towns Jewish
Times that the Norwegian government
did not coordinate the meeting with
Israeli authorities and that “senior level
officials in the MFA expressed regret and
discontent to Norway.” ❖
January 29, 2010 69