Orient House (بيت الشرق bayt ʾal-šarq, האוריינט האוס) is a building located in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1980s and 1990s. Built in 1897 by Ismail Musa Al-Husseini, it has been owned by the Al-Husseini family since.
Originally intended to serve as a family residence, it was at times vacated to host important guests, such as Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in 1898 and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1936. ==Overview== During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Orient House remained east of the ceasefire line, in the area controlled by Jordan.
Originally intended to serve as a family residence, it was at times vacated to host important guests, such as Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in 1898 and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1936. ==Overview== During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Orient House remained east of the ceasefire line, in the area controlled by Jordan.
Originally intended to serve as a family residence, it was at times vacated to host important guests, such as Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in 1898 and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1936. ==Overview== During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Orient House remained east of the ceasefire line, in the area controlled by Jordan.
Between 1948–1950, the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was located there and two years later, its owner turned it into a luxury hotel called "The New Orient House". Following the 1967 Six-Day War and the capture of East Jerusalem by Israel, the hotel was closed and the building was mostly neglected.
Between 1948–1950, the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was located there and two years later, its owner turned it into a luxury hotel called "The New Orient House". Following the 1967 Six-Day War and the capture of East Jerusalem by Israel, the hotel was closed and the building was mostly neglected.
Many of the first residents of the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Itri, who arrived from the United States in 1968 before their flats were ready, were temporarily lodged in the Orient House. In 1983, the Arab Scientific Association, a PLO-affiliated organization led by Faisal Husseini, rented a part of the house.
Orient House (بيت الشرق bayt ʾal-šarq, האוריינט האוס) is a building located in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1980s and 1990s. Built in 1897 by Ismail Musa Al-Husseini, it has been owned by the Al-Husseini family since.
Many of the first residents of the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Itri, who arrived from the United States in 1968 before their flats were ready, were temporarily lodged in the Orient House. In 1983, the Arab Scientific Association, a PLO-affiliated organization led by Faisal Husseini, rented a part of the house.
In 1988, Israel closed the House and banned PLO activity in it.
Orient House (بيت الشرق bayt ʾal-šarq, האוריינט האוס) is a building located in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1980s and 1990s. Built in 1897 by Ismail Musa Al-Husseini, it has been owned by the Al-Husseini family since.
Items confiscated by Israeli authorities included personal belongings, confidential information relating to the Jerusalem issue, documents referring to the Madrid Conference of 1991 and the Arab Studies Society photography collection.
It was renewed four years later in 1992.
Husseini died a few years later in May 2001. During the Second Intifada in August 2001, the then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon determined that with the expectation of a massive Israeli response, the conditions were as favorable as they would ever be for Israel to undertake the forcible closure of Orient House.
Other Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, such as the Governor's House and the headquarters of Force 17 were shut down and raided in the same operation. In January 2010, at a meeting of the Quartet on the Middle East, representatives from the European Union and Russia suggested reopening Orient House and other Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem as a way of bringing the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05