1 - 7 November 2001
Issue No.558
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 1 - 7 November 2001 Issue No.558 |
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A fresh start
New PA commissioner for Jerusalem Serri Nossaiba knows what it will take to further the cause of Arab Jerusalem: money and Arab support. Dina Ezzat reports
When he took on the post of the Palestinian Authority (PA) commissioner for Jerusalem, Serri Nossaiba shouldered the responsibility for one of the most sensitive Palestinian issues: international recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of the would-be Palestinian state.
Nossaiba, who is also the dean of Jerusalem University, inherits this seemingly impossible mission from long-time political warrior Faissal Al-Husseini, who passed away earlier this summer. Maintaining international consensus over the right of Palestinians to regain East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- is a daunting task and Nossaiba is well aware that he needs to garner support in the region.
On Sunday, Nossaiba was in Cairo for consultations with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa on ways for the PA to coordinate its efforts with the Arab League (AL) on the Jerusalem file. "The issue of Jerusalem is not merely a Palestinian concern -- although it is a key Palestinian worry," Nossaiba said following his meeting with Moussa. "It is also an Arab affair, par excellence."
According to both Moussa and Nossaiba, Sunday's meeting was the beginning of what is expected to be a long and sustained coordination process on Jerusalem. This process is likely to include joint responsibilities between Nossaiba and a future AL envoy to Jerusalem. Though the name and mandate of an AL envoy is still in the works, some have suggested that it would be the son of the late Al-Husseini. Others have suggested that it could even be Nossaiba himself.
In all cases, the Jerusalem file seems to have been given a higher profile. With the Israeli leadership desperately trying to preempt any potential negotiations on Jerusalem, a PA-AL Jerusalem "task force" would have one clear mandate: to guard the Palestinian nature of East Jerusalem against the aggressive "Judaisation" being imposed by the Israeli government.
Naturally, this task would be almost impossible without financial and political support, specifically from the Arab world. Increasingly high cost of living is steadily forcing Palestinian residents of Jerusalem to sell their property, and funds are needed to ensure that they manage to stay put. Funds are also needed to pay for the legal expenses of Palestinians forced by the Israeli occupation to leave their houses and land in East Jerusalem.
Because of the financial needs of a sustained effort in East Jerusalem, Nossaiba insists that the first step on this front is fund-raising. He describes the current level of Arab support for efforts to combat "Judaisation" as "okay," but adds that financial support "needs to be increased." Meanwhile, a concerted political and diplomatic effort is needed to maintain and highlight the status of East Jerusalem as an occupied territory. This effort is based on all relevant international documents and the positions of concerned international organisations.
One major objective in Jerusalem that has priority is the drive to restore Orient House -- the unofficial PA headquarters in East Jerusalem that was reoccupied by Israel this summer. "Restoring Orient House is something that we will be working hard to do soon," Nossaiba said. "But Orient House, or any other building, is not the key issue; the key is Jerusalem being the capital of the Palestinian state," he added.
The new PA commissioner for Jerusalem believes that "this is the time" to pursue all possible efforts to save the holy city. "The intentions of the Israeli government are made clearer every day: it does no want to have a real peace settlement. It wants to further occupy Palestinian land," said Nossaiba. "All Arabs have to join hands to save Jerusalem."
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