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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 July 2000 Issue No. 489 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 July 2000 Issue No. 489
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Focus International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A question of sovereignty
By Khaled Dawoud
Palestinian, Arab and Islamic claims on Jerusalem topped the agenda of Islamic parliamentarians who ended their meeting in Cairo on Tuesday.
Faisal Al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority official responsible for the Jerusalem file, told Al-Ahram Weekly what worried him was not the limited Arab and Islamic support over the issue but the massive effort by the international Zionist movement to end any Palestinian presence in the holy city.
What demands did you bring with you to the Islamic Parliamentary Union concerning Jerusalem?
We all know that Jerusalem is now facing a very difficult battle concerning its future. Therefore, Arab countries have to fight this battle in a way which would guarantee our success in this confrontation on all political, international, moral and material levels.
In this battle, Islamic countries also have an important role to play. Jerusalem is not only the capital of Palestine; it also has a special status in Islam and Christianity.
What is the Palestinian leadership's response to Israeli proposals to postpone negotiations on Jerusalem in final settlement talks?
Our experience clearly tells us that postponing any issue means that Israel would make use of this chance to establish more facts on the ground to emphasise its claims. Therefore, any talk on postponement is not accepted.
Husseini in front of Orient House in Arab JerusalemOther reports also speak of US pressure on Islamic countries to accept a settlement on Jerusalem that would keep the city under Israeli control while giving Palestinians some limited municipal powers.
Arab and Islamic countries should not submit to this kind of pressure, if it exists. There are American interests in the region and we have to understand that the United States needs us as much as we need it, if not more.
As a result, we ask Arab and Islamic countries to link their economic, political and cultural ties with the United States to its stand on Jerusalem. For example, the European stand is more supportive of our stand on Jerusalem compared to the United States. Nevertheless, Arab countries buy most of their weapons from the United States. In this case, the United States would ask itself: I support Israel, nevertheless, they [the Arabs] buy weapons from me. So why should I change my policy? Europe will also ask itself: I support them [the Arabs], but they don't buy from me. So why should I keeping on supporting them?
Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin suggested recently that Palestinians could fly their flag atop Al-Aqsa Mosque as a compromise in return for keeping the city united under Israeli control.
We have Palestinian flags raised everywhere in Jerusalem. I have a Palestinian flag raised on top of Orient House [considered the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Arab Jerusalem], and many other flags are found on houses in the Old City.
The flag is not the issue. The issue is sovereignty, not only over holy sites, but also over the land, the mosque, the church and human beings.
I can't understand why the Old City, where 37,000 Palestinians live compared to 2,000 Jews, should be under Israeli control. According to what logic or right? Why should East Jerusalem, where 233,000 Palestinians live, be under Israeli control while it is geographically connected to Ramallah and the rest of the West Bank?
Do you feel there is enough Arab and Islamic support for Jerusalem or is the issue limited to strongly worded statements?
If we consider the extent of the battle and the confrontation, there is not enough support, especially in comparison to Israeli efforts to control the city. What I repeatedly say is that I do not complain about the limited support we get from Arab and Islamic countries. What worries more is the huge amount of support the international Zionist movement provides Israel.
