Some Labor Party leaders agree with their Likud colleagues that Sari Nusseiba, the PLO\'s Jerusalem Affairs chief, should not be allowed to conduct official PLO business in Jerusalem - but some don\'t. When Nusseiba attempted to hold an official diplomatic function for international officials yesterday morning, police banned the event and even briefly arrested Nusseiba and several of his associates. Public Security Minister Uzi Landau explained yesterday that it is the police\'s duty to prevent official PLO activity in Israel\'s capital.
Later in the day, several Labor MKs planned a protest meeting with Nusseiba in Labor Party headquarters - but the party\'s Secretary-General, Ra\'anan Cohen, called off the meeting. Under fire from several of his party colleagues, Cohen later explained that there wasn\'t room for the 1,700+ guests that Yossi Beilin had invited. Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid - Beilin\'s ideological ally - met with Nusseiba later in the day and sharply criticized the government decision: \"Arafat is easy to describe as \'irrelevant,\' but if the government doesn\'t treat someone like Nusseiba with the proper respect, then who *is* the Palestinian that the government will be willing to talk with?\" Prime Minister Sharon explained his position: \"This government has made a clear decision not to allow the Palestinian Authority to operate in Jerusalem as if it were under its control.\" The government closed the Orient House five months ago because the Palestinian Authority\'s official activities there violated Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
Later in the day, several Labor MKs planned a protest meeting with Nusseiba in Labor Party headquarters - but the party\'s Secretary-General, Ra\'anan Cohen, called off the meeting. Under fire from several of his party colleagues, Cohen later explained that there wasn\'t room for the 1,700+ guests that Yossi Beilin had invited. Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid - Beilin\'s ideological ally - met with Nusseiba later in the day and sharply criticized the government decision: \"Arafat is easy to describe as \'irrelevant,\' but if the government doesn\'t treat someone like Nusseiba with the proper respect, then who *is* the Palestinian that the government will be willing to talk with?\" Prime Minister Sharon explained his position: \"This government has made a clear decision not to allow the Palestinian Authority to operate in Jerusalem as if it were under its control.\" The government closed the Orient House five months ago because the Palestinian Authority\'s official activities there violated Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.