Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau says that the documents and databases recovered from the Orient house are being meticulously examined. Some of the information has already been transferred to the General Security Service (GSS). Investigators uncovered weapons and an array of documents and computer files of important intelligence information, including maps and photographs of Israeli police and other Israeli security forces in operation, and documentation pertaining to the vast ongoing illegal construction in the Arab sector of the capital. Also confiscated were files on every Jewish community in Judea, Samaria and Gaza which were to one day serve vital for PA forces in a military offensive against Yesha communities. Police sources say that the material will keep many people busy for a long time. Minister Landau says that he has been working to close down the center of PLO activity in Jerusalem since taking office 5 months ago, and he sees it as a \"historic privilege\" to be the government minister to carry out the order, thereby \"restoring Israeli sovereignty\" to all parts of Jerusalem.
A look at the Oslo agreements shows that opening PLO offices in Jerusalem is a blatant violation of them. The Israeli-Palestinian agreements specifically provide that Jerusalem is excluded from Palestinian jurisdiction (Interim Agreement, Article XVII.1). Moreover, the Interim Agreement states that all PA offices can only be located in areas under Palestinian territorial jurisdiction in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Interim Agreement Article I.7).
The left-wing Gush Shalom group says that the closing of the PLO Orient House was a blow to its activities. A statement released by the group reads in part: \"What was hardly mentioned in the media was the special role this place has for the Israeli peace camp. In no other Palestinian venue were peace-seeking Israelis such frequent visitors, always made to feel at home and engage in fruitful discussion and dialogue.\"
How long will Israel keep the Orient House? Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert says that he spoke with the Prime Minister on this very question: “\'I can to tell you,\' he said to me in no uncertain terms - in the strident Arik [Sharon] voice that I have known for years - \'in the most clear-cut way that we will never move from here. We will never evacuate the Orient House.\'\"
Olmert was asked if the decision to keep the Orient House would hold in tact under the heavy international pressure. Olmert: “There is no ‘heavy international pressure.’ There is heavy media pressure. There is nothing that the Israeli media will balk at doing in order to undermine our position on this, as well.”
A look at the Oslo agreements
The left-wing Gush Shalom group says that the closing of the PLO Orient House was a blow to its activities. A statement released by the group reads in part: \"What was hardly mentioned in the media was the special role this place has for the Israeli peace camp. In no other Palestinian venue were peace-seeking Israelis such frequent visitors, always made to feel at home and engage in fruitful discussion and dialogue.\"
How long will Israel keep the Orient House? Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert says that he spoke with the Prime Minister on this very question: “\'I can to tell you,\' he said to me in no uncertain terms - in the strident Arik [Sharon] voice that I have known for years - \'in the most clear-cut way that we will never move from here. We will never evacuate the Orient House.\'\"
Olmert was asked if the decision to keep the Orient House would hold in tact under the heavy international pressure. Olmert: “There is no ‘heavy international pressure.’ There is heavy media pressure. There is nothing that the Israeli media will balk at doing in order to undermine our position on this, as well.”