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Jerusalem: Black Hole Or Shining Sun
by Dina Rashed
WASHINGTON May 4 (IslamOnline) - "If we deal with Jerusalem the right way, and we have the two capitals with full equality between the Palestinians and the Israelis, Jerusalem can be the warm sun of the Middle East, but if we allow this idea to die and allow one side to control Jerusalem, it will be the black hole of the Middle East which can swallow everything including hopes for peace," the senior Palestinian official in Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini, said in Washington, DC Thursday.
Husseini was the keynote speaker in a talk on "Prospects for Renewed Peace Talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis," addressing a number of experts and diplomats involved with the Middle East and the future of the peace process, the Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors, as well as some officials from the Israeli embassy in Washington.
Husseini spoke of the "horrendous" situation in the Occupied Territories and deteriorating circumstances under which the Palestinians live, and especially commented on the the use of heavy artillery and tanks by Israeli forces.
He also said the Palestinians are eager to build their own country - a process deemed impossible due to Israeli destruction of the Territories' infrastructure, especially in the fields of agriculture with the uprooting of trees and orchards, a main source of subsistence and economy.
Husseini also called on the U.S. to maintain a balanced position as an honest broker in the region and not to hold a biased position towards Israel, adding that the way to have regional cooperation is through solving the Palestinian case.
"A Palestinian state can be the gate towards real peace in the area. A Palestinian state would be besides an Israeli state within the borders of June 4, 1967," Husseini said, calling on the Israeli side to resume negotiations based on U.N. Resolution 242 and adopt the power of logic, not the logic of power.
Talking on the issue of Jerusalem, he stressed its importance to Arabs, Muslims and Christians.
"It is also important for the Jews," he added.
Reminding the audience of the city's delicate and volatile situation, prone to explode again, he said Jerusalem's situation was the basis for two previous major confrontations: the tunnel incident and the current al-Aqsa Intifada. He warned that the next explosion could lead to a graver and more dangerous situation if left unresolved.
Several diplomats, congressional aides, state Department officials, journalists and human rights and religious groups' representatives attended the event sponsored by the American Committee on Jerusalem.
Husseini is currently touring several major U.S. cities speaking on the current situation in the Territories and the prospects for negotiations in the Middle East.
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