Summary
The historic Jerusalem building and institution, established by Faisal Husseini as the Arab Studies Society, that served as the unofficial PLO headquarters in East Jerusalem in the late 1980s and early 1990s and as the center for Palestinian national work in the city, until Israel ordered its closure in 2001 (Rethinking Statehood in Palestine, PDF p.108, p.116-117).
Details
- Under Husseini the Orient House became the Palestinian political center of East Jerusalem, a center for diplomatic relations, community support and cultural and economic development projects; after Oslo it continued to act as the unofficial representative of the PLO and PNA in the city, leading campaigns against the Har Homa settlement on Abu Ghuneim and against evictions and encroachment on the Al-Aqsa Mosque (PDF p.108, p.117).
- The Sharon government ordered its closure in March 2001, less than four months after Husseini’s sudden death in a hotel in Kuwait; the chapter’s note records that it was ordered temporarily closed for six months on August 9, 2001, along with nine other Palestinian organizations, and that the closure has been repeatedly renewed (PDF p.108, p.121 n.32).
- Its closure marked the end of the leadership role Jerusalem had enjoyed in Palestinian life until 1995, when Yasir Arafat set up the PNA headquarters in Ramallah (PDF p.108).
Related pages
Rethinking Statehood in Palestine, Faisal Husseini, East Jerusalem, Palestine Liberation Organization