The closure of the Oriental House in Jerusalem has come about after the endless Israeli attempts to erase the Arab identity of Jerusalem and destroy any identifying features of Palestinian existence in the town.

Speaking at the Dubai Press Club on Thursday, Izhaq Al Budieri, Director of the Arabic Studies and Research Society at the Oriental House in Jerusalem, highlighted the miserable economic, political and social situation in Jerusalem and focused on the issue of the closure of the Oriental House.

The Oriental House was founded in the early 1980s by Faisel Al Husseini. One of the most important symbols of the Palestinian existence, the House contained a library, the Arabic Studies and Research Center, besides other cultural and service sections.

The importance of the House came from collection of valuable manuscripts and documents relating to the Palestinian-Israel dispute and also to the daily life of people in Palestine.

The Israeli government totally refuses to accept the idea of the Palestinian existence in Jerusalem.

"Israelis always dealt with the Jerusalem issue as a different case, unlike the other territories, as it is the core of the Arab-Israel dispute.

"Israelis consider leaving Jerusalem out of the question, and they are working very hard to enhance their existence in Jerusalem by challenging the whole world and building more colonies and increasing the number of settlers.

"Moreover, they are working on the destruction of the Arab infrastructure in Jerusalem, which the Palestinians have managed to build in the last eight years during the signing of the peace agreements between the Israelis and Palestinians," stated Al Budieri.

"They even forced the Palestinians who live on the outskirts of the town to leave their homes. However, the Palestinians did not give up and, instead of leaving Jerusalem because there is no place left for them, they started to rebuild the old houses and even used chicken coops to live in, to use every corner in the town because there is no place left for them," Al Budeiri pointed out.

"Despite all the Israeli efforts to erase the Arab identity in Jerusalem, the Oriental House managed to continue its job and carry out its activities. The Oriental House in Jerusalem was one of the most important symbols of the Palestinian existence, which Israel saw as a threat and tried to shut down and end all its activities."

Five years ago and during the Netanyahu phase, there were many attempts to shut down the House, but the attempts have not gone beyond stopping the House's activities.

However, this time Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon used the international crisis after the recent events that took place in the U.S. to achieve his ugly goals, and he went beyond that.

He not only ordered its closure but also ordered the seizure of all the old and valuable manuscripts and documents, studies, research and paperwork that related to the daily life of the Palestinians, which was documented and kept in the Arabic Studies and Research Society, claiming that the Israeli authorities need to check each and every document and paper in the House.

He noted: "Israelis told us that they will not hand over the House until they finish the process of checking all the papers, which means not before two years, as the papers and documents there are in the hundreds of thousands."

The problem is that the issue of the Oriental House lacks political backing or support to defend it, as the entire Jerusalem region is out of Palestinian control.
Not only that , but there is no International campaign organized to support this issue and fight the government of Israel atrocity for the freedom of expression.

Israeli government ignore all UN and International pleads and request for any reasonable request , not even recognizing the Palestinian rights.

The Question , what are the Israeli government afraid of in keeping this house open for the Palestinians and why they took all the documents and the historical and important manuscripts.....the reason is obvious ..they want to hide the fact and destroy any evidence of the Palestinians right to exist and also destroy their history...

This is happening while the whole world is sitting quite.....So how , the world is expecting peace in the Middle East , while is Israeli government is committing these atrocities...

Israel must learn from History, that in this age they can not erase a nation and a Population from existence , and demand their deportation from their homeland..and deny them their basic right to exist and to live peacefully....Israeli government are not doing the best for the Jewish people , but what is best for them as politician...at the end the Jewish people will pay the price....