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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Delivering Jerusalem
By Hassan Fouad
Between 1962, when we married, and 1967, when we finally left for Australia, my husband and I gradually forfeited all our foreign friends as well as our lifestyle. As he battled with Egyptian bureaucracy to get our documents together for emigration, my husband took refuge in dreams of faraway lands. We would first tour Europe, he would say, poring over maps; we could stay in Paris, and maybe London for a while. One of his best friends and associates had settled recently in Milan. We could surprise him with a call and also go to Rome for a couple of days. Faisal Al-Husseini is not a member of the Palestinian Authority's ministerial council formed by President Yasser Arafat in 1996. But he has generated more press headlines and become more of a celebrity figure than most cabinet members by virtue of the dossier he oversees -- Jerusalem.
Faisal Al-Husseini
On the eve of the general elections that brought about the present Legislative Council in 1996, he made front-page news with his announcement that Jews are eligible to vie for office, and to become members of the Palestinian legislature, just as Israeli Arabs are members of the Knesset.
A fixture of Arab East Jerusalem is the Orient House. Contracted by the Al-Husseini family towards the end of 19th century as a guest house, it later headquartered the "Society of Oriental Studies," which was established and presided over by Faisal in the mid-1980s. It is now the mansion in which he receives ambassadors, consuls and even prime ministers of foreign countries.
In March 1996, the Israeli daily, Maariv, quoted the right-wing mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, as saying that there had been secret negotiations -- like those which culminated in the 1993 Oslo Accords -- going on between Al-Husseini and Yossi Beilin (then minister of state for foreign affairs). He claimed the two had already reached a secret agreement calling for ceding "some parts" of Arab East Jerusalem occupied in 1967 to the new state of Palestine, after annexing some neighbouring villages into the boundaries of Greater Jerusalem.
Al-Husseini's father, Abdel-Qader Al-Husseini, was martyred in the Palestine war in April 1948. He was the leader of the Holy War Brigades. His martyrdom came in the battle of Kastal, a village west of Jerusalem, overlooking the main road from Tel Aviv. In this battle, the Palestinians effectively repelled the Zionist forces' attack, saving East Jerusalem from invasion. It remained in Arab hands until it was taken in the June 1967 war.
Faisal's mother also belongs to the Al-Husseini family. She is a first cousin of Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the late Mufti of Jerusalem, and a member of the "Higher Arab Committee for the Salvation of Palestine" that played a crucial role in defending Jerusalem before Israel's creation in 1948. She is also a second cousin of Arafat's mother.
According to Palestinian historians, the roots of the Al-Husseini family are most probably Moroccan. Traditionally, many Moroccan pilgrims used to pass through Jerusalem on their way to Mecca. One of the gates to old Jerusalem is still called the "Gate of Moroccans." Historically, many pilgrims preferred to stay in the holy land of Hijaz or Palestine until death and wished to be buried there.
Al-Husseini was born in Baghdad in 1942. His father, having played an influential role in the "Great Arab Revolt" (1936-1939) waged in Palestine against the British Mandate and to resist the increasing waves of Jewish immigration, moved to Iraq in order to participate in the Rashid Ali Al-Kilani's revolution against British domination. When that revolution failed, the revolutionaries were put to trial, among them was Al-Husseini's father. Al-Husseini was born when his father was under arrest.
The family fled Iraq, first to Egypt, then Syria, then Saudi Arabia.
With the end of World War II, the conflict increased on the land of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. The Al-Husseini family found that it was high time to return to Jerusalem. Abdel-Qader took command of the Holy War Brigades and sacrificed his life only 40 days before the establishment of Israel on 15 May, 1948.
The family moved once again to Baghdad where Al-Husseini received his secondary school education. During the tripartite aggression against Egypt in October 1956, Al-Husseini asked to join the armed forces of Egypt. He did not come to Egypt, however, until after the coup d'état of Abdel-Karim Qasim, which overthrew Iraq's monarchy.
Al-Husseini played a part in founding the Union of Palestinian Students in Gaza sector in 1965. That same year, he joined the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which was under the leadership of Ahmed Al-Shuqairy at the time.
Al-Husseini subsequently moved to Aleppo, Syria, where he completed his university studies. In June 1967, East Jerusalem fell to the Israelis. He decided to return to his hometown after 19 years of wandering.
When the International Middle East Peace Conference opened in Madrid in 1991, Arafat appointed Al-Husseini as a member of the Palestine delegation. In April 1993, he headed the Palestinian delegation in Washington talks with the Israelis, succeeding Haydar Abdel-Shafi, a widely respected Palestinian figure, who resigned after learning of Arafat's secret talks in Oslo.
In April 1996, Al-Husseini became a member of PLO's executive committee, the highest Palestinian decision making body headed by Arafat.
In Jerusalem, Al-Husseini was frequently arrested by the Israeli authorities. He also survived several attempts on his life. In 1994, an Israeli truck collided with his private car. Eight persons were injured, but he was unhurt. The following year his home came under heavy shooting while he was inside.
In the summer of 1995, a debate was held in London on "The present status of Jerusalem and the future of the Peace Process." In this debate Al-Husseini said: "I hate to see Jerusalem divided just as it is now. We should keep the city united and open to all sects. Both Palestinians and Israelis must feel that Jerusalem is their capital." West Jerusalem, he noted, was also Palestinian.
