|
Israel Retaliates For Jerusalem Bombing, Orient House Seized
JERUSALEM, Aug 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Israeli seizure of a major Palestinian building in
East Jerusalem and a series of hard-hitting strikes on other targets Friday, in response to a deadly bombing, sparked fresh outrage from Palestinians amid warnings of greater violence.
The Palestinian flag no longer flies over Orient House, the unofficial general headquarters of the Palestine
Authority (PA) in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli takeover of the Orient House followed less than a day after an attack on a crowded pizzeria in
West Jerusalem, which killed 15, including five or six children, and injured over 80 others.
Israeli forces seized Orient House overnight, replacing the Palestinian flag with the Israeli flag, while warplanes blitzed Palestinian police headquarters in the West Bank and tanks rumbled into the Gaza Strip.
The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) said in a statement in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, "In light of the fact that the Palestinian Authority uses its security services in order to send attackers to carry out terror activities, and does not work to prevent them, it was decided to take over the compound [in Abu Dis] and to remove the offices of those [security] services."
CNN said that the house of the governor of Abu Dis, a central headquarters for the Palestinian elite guard Force 17 and other military, police and intelligence forces, was also in the area taken over by Israel, along with seven other buildings.
Orient House is a privately owned building that serves as the symbolic cornerstone of the Palestinian's political presence in East Jerusalem. It was built in 1897 by Ismail Mussa Husseini and since then has remained in the hands of his family, one of the most prominent in the Palestinian world. His family was at the forefront to the resistance to the creation of the Jewish state before 1948.
Another descendant, Faisal Husseini, ran Orient House from the late 1970s until his death in May this year. He turned the building into a hub of nationalist activity, earning a reputation as a top Palestinian politician and peace advocate in pursuit a dream of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Israeli government, several times in the past, has shut down the house, most notably during the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in the late 1980s.
Last month, Israeli officials blocked a memorial ceremony for Husseini at Orient House, sparking clashes.
Israel has long considered Orient House a threat to its claims to the eastern section of the city and, in 1999, then prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to shut the site, saying it was a base for PLO activities.
The decision to take Orient House was passed by a majority of nine ministers in Israel's so-called "kitchen cabinet," with the three Labor ministers voting against it, according to
Ha'aretz.
During the meeting, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres reiterated the need to enter negotiations with the Palestinians, as the move was condemned by opposition
head Yossi Sarid, who said that Orient House had no link to Thursday's bombing - "no terrorist came from there,"
Ha'aretz quoted him as saying.
Enraged Palestinian leaders responded to Friday's closing by warning that Israel's actions had ripped up all peace deals since the 1993 Oslo accords, which had paved the way for Palestinian self-rule.
"The occupation of Orient House and the attacks upon other localities nearby Jerusalem is the equivalent of a unilateral renunciation of all agreements," Nabil Abu Rudeina, advisor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said.
Orient House official Hatem Abdel Kadar was equally outraged.
"This is an occupation of the place and an attempt to impose the status quo" of Israeli domination over the Palestinian territories, he said.
Israeli government spokesman Daniel Seamam confirmed the takeover operation, saying seven people had been arrested and Orient House closed "until further orders because it was a center for incitement to violence."
But France denounced Israel's decision to close the unofficial headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in
East Jerusalem as unjustified.
"The closure of Orient House has no justification whatsoever and is contrary to the Oslo peace accords," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Friday.
"This decision will only increase tension between the two communities and we hope it will quickly be overturned."
Valero's words echoed that of Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, who said in a CNN report, "The sight of the Israeli flag on the Orient House will not be seen by the Palestinians other than major aggression against their nation ... against their aspirations, against their sovereignty.
"Israel is really just inviting more bloodshed and enlarging the cycle of violence and counter-violence."
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967 and later annexed it as part of its capital, a move not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want it as the capital of a future independent state.
The Jewish state had made a formal commitment upon signing the 1993 Oslo accords to preserve Palestinian institutions located in predominantly Arab
East Jerusalem, including Orient House.
According to Ha'aretz, the IDF declared Orient House a closed military area after Palestinian and leftist Israeli demonstrators tried to break through police cordons while demonstrating against the takeover. Six of them were arrested, including Palestinians, Germans and Italians.
In overnight strikes, an F-16 fighter jet fired three missiles at a Ramallah police station, which had been evacuated in anticipation of an Israeli attack, damaging "80%" of the building without injuring anyone, Palestinian security officials said.
And Israeli tanks moved almost half a mile into Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip, shelling and destroying a Palestinian security position, said Palestinian officials.
Israel says the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, is partly responsible for bomb attacks on Israelis, accusing it of inciting bombers and refusing to clamp down on "terrorists".
In response, Arafat warned that the strikes had escalated the conflict and would strengthen the Palestinian movement. "These Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people are a big escalation," Arafat told reporters at the ruins of the Ramallah police station.
The strike in Ramallah was the first time since May 18th that Israel has used warplanes in the Palestinian territories, and only the second time since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Witnesses in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, said they had seen heavy movement of Israeli forces on the edge of town.
Tanks later destroyed a Palestinian police post and fired on homes, without causing any injuries, east of Gaza City, Palestinian security said.
Israeli tanks penetrated 1,300 yards into the sectors of Karni and Jabbalia near Gaza City and also entered Netzarim.
An Israeli soldier and a female settler were also shot dead by alleged Palestinian gunmen in separate incidents Thursday in the West Bank.
Meanwhile Friday, Israeli police were on maximum alert in East Jerusalem ahead of weekly Muslim prayers, police said.
Only residents of East Jerusalem would be permitted into the quarter's al-Aqsa mosque compound, and then only if they are at least 40-years-old, police said.
Israel's retaliation came after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell described the situation as "very dangerous" and called for restraint.
U.S. President George W. Bush, vacationing in Texas, vigorously condemned what he called the "cowardly" Palestinian attack in
West Jerusalem.
|
