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At 10:00 this morning Israeli Public Security Minister Uzi Landau issued an order forbidding a
memorial ceremony for Faisal Husseini. The ceremony had been scheduled to take place at the
Orient House, and was being held to commemorate Faisal Husseinis death forty days ago.
The ceremony was planned well in advance, and all of the appropriate Israeli security services
were informed about the event. Members of the diplomatic community, religious leaders,
Palestinian and Israeli officials, and members of the al-Husseini family were invited to attend the
gathering. Despite the ruling officials at the Orient House decided to go forward with the event.
As the time of the memorial ceremony approached, the Jerusalem police stationed several
hundred armed police officers around the Orient House. All roads coming into the area have
been closed to traffic, and no one is being allowed into the area. According to a press release
sent out by the Orient house, at 11:30 a.m. members of the al-Husseini family, mostly women,
were beaten back by Israeli security forces as they tried to visit Faisal Husseinis grave. Later,
clubs were used to beat back a procession to the Orient House, and Israeli forces briefly
stormed the grounds of the Orient House before the Israeli police placed a security cordon
around the compound.
Landaus order and the presence of hundreds of Israeli police officers in the heart of Occupied
East Jerusalem are an unwarranted provocation of an already unstable situation.
Al-Haq recently talked with officials trapped within the Orient House. They stated that it appears the
Israeli Police are preparing to again storm the Orient House compound. If this happens there is
a real possibility of bloodshed or loss of life. Al-Haq thus asks the international community to
immediately intervene to stop the continued Israeli aggression in East Jerusalem.
The banning of a pre-scheduled and authorized memorial service for one of the leading
advocates of peace between Palestinians and Israelis cannot be justified. Haaretz writes that
Landau said that he had learned that generosity to the Palestinians and to Arafat is an act which
is sometimes innocent, sometimes stupid, and not at all worthwhile. However, this is not a
question of generosity to the Palestinians or to Arafat, it is about commemorating the life of a
man of peace and principles. Al-Haq therefore also asks for the international community
immediately intervene by demanding that the Israeli authorities cancel Landaus decision and
withdraw the hundreds of police who are surrounding the Orient House. |