Jerusalem's Orient House a symbol of Palestinian struggle
Reopening the historic Orient House in Jerusalem — which served as the PLO headquarters until 2001, when Israel closed it — would have the potential to show Israel's willingness to give the Palestinians more control in their struggle for self-determination.
The young Palestinians active in the current Jerusalem protests were infants when the PLO’s headquarters in Jerusalem were ordered temporarily closed for six months on Aug. 9, 2001, along with nine other Palestinian organizations. Fourteen years later, the six-month closure has been repeatedly renewed along with the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce.
A question that has been publicly asked is whether the reopening of Orient House would help in restoring a local Palestinian leadership that has been decimated for the past two decades.
