PA Violations In Jerusalem

List of Violations of The Oslos Accords By The Palestinian Authority As Pertains To The Establishment Of Offices In Jerusalem

THE LIST

A list of the institutions, including their addresses and a description of their functions, was recently prepared by security sources and brought to the attention of the political level.

1- PA Ministry of Religious Affairs located on Shalshelet Street, at the entrance to the Temple Mount. "Main office of Hassan Tahboub, the PA's Minister for religious affairs. Activity: Tahboub attends PA Cabinet meetings and organizes and initiates marches, rallies and press conferences in Jerusalem on behalf of the PA. Using the Jerusalem office as his base of operations for Judea, Samaria, Gaza and East Jerusalem, he hosts foreign delegations and official guests of the PA. The PA also appointed Ibrahim Kandelfat to serve as Tahboub's assistant in charge of Christian issues and communities in Jerusalem."

2- Office of the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Holy Land located on the Temple Mount. "Main office of Ikrama Sabri, appointed Mufti by the PA. Activity: Sabri issues religious edicts, including a recent prohibition on the sale of land to Jews and on applying for an Israeli passport. He gives weekly sermons at Al-Aksa Mosque which frequently incite to violence against Israel. In recent addresses, Sabri has denied Israel's right to exist, glorified sacrificing one's life in terror attacks and denied any Jewish connection to the Western Wall. Sabri also travels to areas within pre-1967 Israel for working meetings with Israeli Arabs."

3- PA Security Force: "There are several centers of PLO Authority Security Forces activity in the city, including the Shabiba office in the A-Sharif building on Salah-a-Din street, the Temple Mount and the Orient House. Activity: plainclothesmen belonging to the PLO General Intelligence Service, Jibril Rajoub's Preventive Security Service, and the Force 17 Presidential Guard conduct patrols, intelligence-gathering and enforcement activities, and operate on the major thoroughfares of East Jerusalem. PLO Authority security agents also use threats to thwart real-estate deals between Jews and Arabs. They enforce strikes on businesses and schools, threaten journalists who criticize the PA, and guard various personalities and places in the city. They have abducted people, taken them outside Jerusalem for interrogation and resorted to gunfire on several occasions to carry out detentions. Two Arab security agents are facing trial before Israeli courts on charges of kidnapping Jerusalem residents and taking them to areas under PA control. Complaints have been lodged with the Israel Police concerning other suspected members of the PA security forces operating in Jerusalem. On January 28, 1997, 4 PA security agents broke into an Arab home near the Rockefeller Museum. When Israeli police arrived at the scene, the PA agents threatened to open fire on them (Haaretz, January 29, 1997). Two were arrested and found to belong to the PA Preventive Security Service."

4- Orient House on Abu-Obeida Street near the American Colony Hotel: "Main office of Faisal Husseini, appointed by Chairman Arafat to head Jerusalem affairs for the PA. Activity: Husseini takes part in PA cabinet meetings as a minister and also heads the Arab Studies Society, based in the Orient House and financed by the PA. Husseini has turned the Orient House into the key hub of PA activity in Jerusalem. The PA finances its operation and pays the salaries of its employees. The building houses various PA offices, such as the Office of Mapping and Geography. Orient House also hosts a range of PA diplomatic activity such as receptions, ceremonies and meetings between PA officials and foreign diplomats. Husseini holds regular meetings with foreign consuls, and in recent months has hosted the Belgian Deputy Minister for International Cooperation, the Chairman of the European Parliament, the Swedish Minister for International Cooperation, the Jordanian Minister of Industry and the Director-General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The PA also uses the Orient House as a base to organize protests and press conferences, raise funds and purchase Jerusalem real estate."

5- Ministry of Education: "Although it does not have an office in Jerusalem, the Ministry is active in the city. The Ministry has taken control of the private educational system in eastern Jerusalem which serves nearly half of the city's Arab students. Schools run by the Muslim Wakf, Christian churches and UNRWA operate with special permits issued by the Ministry, and they utilize curriculums, books and tests prepared by it."

6- Ministry of Youth and Sport: "Operated out of the Orient House until Israel demanded its closure in August 1996. The PA moved the main office to Ramallah, but the Ministry continues to operate in Jerusalem out of a club named "Al-Hilal" on Ibn Batuta street. The club's director, Nabil Abu Omar, also serves as a Deputy Director- General of the Ministry of Youth and Sport. The ministry's prime activity in the city centers around preparing groups of youth to be activated by the PA in the event that disturbances break out in Jerusalem. The club is also utilized as a meeting place by senior PA officials."

7- Office of Mapping and Geography: "Operated in the Wadi Joz neighborhood until Israel demanded its closure in August 1996. The PA promised to relocate the office to Abu Dis, outside Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. Despite this commitment, the PA reopened the office in Orient House, where it continues to operate under the direction of Khalil Toufakji."

8- Office of Council Member Hatam Abdel-Kader in Beit Haninah in an apartment next to the home of PA council member Hatam Abdel- Kader. "Activity: In August 1996, after Israel demanded its closure, Abdel-Kader signed an affidavit addressed to Internal Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani pledging that the office served as his private office and did not represent the PA or the elected council. Despite this promise, Abdel-Kader continues to use the office to conduct official business of the council and its Jerusalem Committee, of which he is a member. In October 1996, two months after signing the affidavit, Abdel-Kader hosted an official meeting of the council's Jerusalem Committee in his office (Al- Hayat Al-Jadeeda, October 7, 1996)"

9- PA Housing Council on Ali Ibn Taleb street in East Jerusalem. "Activity: The Council works in coordination with the PA in planning and administering building projects in the PA areas and Jerusalem, and fundraising on their behalf. Members of its board of directors include the PA's Minister of Justice and Minister of Housing. The Housing Council's leadership has held working meetings with PA Chairman Arafat."

10- Jerusalem Committee of the Elected Palestinian Council: "The committee has held meetings in the Orient House and at least one meeting in the office of Council member Hatam Abdel Khader. Activity: a parliamentary committee of the elected PA Council, the committee carries out various activities in Jerusalem, including organizing demonstrations against Israel on Jerusalem-related issues and preparing action programs for Jerusalem which are forwarded to various PA ministries. The committee also assists Palestinians in solving local issues."

11- PA Small Business Project on Khaled Ibn Waleed street in the Wadi Joz neighborhood. "Function: while its stated purpose is to assist and encourage Arab-run small businesses, it is used as a cover for disbursing funds to various Arab projects in Jerusalem. For example, it recently assisted in the restoration of a school building in Wadi Joz."

12- National-Islamic Committee to Confront the Settlements in the office of the PA Mufti on the Temple Mount. "Sub-committees have been established in various eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Silwan. Established on October 18, 1996 by the PA, the committee is headed by the PA's Mufti, Ikrama Sabri. Coordinates PA efforts against Israeli settlements. Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the administrator of the mosques on the Temple Mount, is also a member of the committee."

13- Palestinian Institute for the Wounded in the Nuzha building in East Jerusalem. "Headed by Dr. Ibrahim al-Jelad, the Institute for the Wounded was empowered by a "presidential decree" of Yassir Arafat on June 14, 1995, to address the needs of Arabs wounded in the 1936 riots and the 1948 war, as well as those of the Intifada. Hard-core Fatah activists and PA security agents are known to operate out of the office as well."

14- PA Energy Center on Wahabat al-Bardiya street in Beit Haninah: "The Center works to develop Palestinian energy strategy and programming. Established by a "presidential decree" of Yassir Arafat on December 20, 1993, its main office opened on September 26, 1994. On November 17, 1996, it published an ad in An-Nahar congratulating Yassir Arafat which appeared under the heading, "Palestinian National Authority" and included the PA's official emblem. On its Internet site on the World Wide Web, the PEC states, "In July 1996, the center became part of the President's Office, and subject to the decisions made by the President himself."

15- Wafa News Agency on Ibn Abu Taleb street in the Friteh building. "Connected to the PA Ministry of Information, WAFA serves as the official PA news agency."

16- Al-Quds University: "Its administrative office is located next to the Rockefeller Museum, and two of its colleges, Hind al- Husseini college near the Orient House and the religious college for women in Beit Haninah, are located within the city's municipal boundaries. Function: Two years ago, four colleges were united to form Al-Quds University. Certified by the PA Ministry of Higher Education, it follows PA directives. Arafat instructed the University to open faculties of medicine and law and recently approved the school's establishment of a master's program in public relations. The University is working together with Faisal Husseini's Arab Studies Society, based in Orient House, to establish a College for Regional Studies. The University does not have the requisite certification from the Israeli Council on Higher Education to operate and grant degrees, as demanded by law."

17- Al-Mukassad Hospital in East Jerusalem. "Formerly independent, the hospital has come under the effective control of the PA. In June 1996, the PA Minister of Health and his Director-General visited the hospital in an attempt to solve a dispute between the staff and administration. Arafat then appointed a committee to study ways of solving the labor troubles and financial problems. In January 1997, in the wake of the committee's recommendations, Arafat issued a "presidential decree" ordering the replacement of the hospital's administration (Haaretz, January 12, 1997), which was subsequently carried out (Israel Radio, January 22, 1997)."

18- Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. "Seizing upon the Jerusalem institution's financial difficulties, the PA has attempted to gain control over it. In September 1995, following a meeting between Faisal Husseini and the hospital administration, the PA transferred $1 million to the hospital to help cover its debts. The PA's elected council has held deliberations concerning the makeup of the hospital's administrative council."

19- Jerusalem District Governor the office is located in Abu Dis, outside Jerusalem's municipal boundaries: "The PA divided Judea, Samaria and Gaza into 16 districts, including a Jerusalem district that encompasses all of eastern Jerusalem which is under Israeli sovereignty. The PA appointed Jamil Othman Nasser to serve as Governor of the Jerusalem District. Nasser conducts activities within Jerusalem, providing its residents with a range of services and involving himself in various matters. For example, on October 23, 1996, he joined with Force 17 in an attempt to wrest control over the Muslim religious establishment on the Temple Mount from the Jordanians. He also involves himself in resolving disputes among Arabs in Jerusalem."

20- Supreme Islamic Council at the entrance to the Temple Mount: "The PA is attempting to take control over this body, which was established in 1967 to oversee Muslim religious affairs in Jerusalem. In mid-January 1997, the PA appointed 18 new members to serve on the Council, including PA Jerusalem District Governor Jamil Nasser. The PA recently sought to unilaterally replace the Council's treasurer, whose salary is paid by Jordan, with a loyal Fatah activist.