Israeli issue interrogation orders to Palestinian officials

Jerusalem – Ma’an – High-ranking Palestinian officials were stopped by Israeli police during a top-level tour with international businessmen and ambassadors in Jerusalem on Sunday. Soldiers interrupted the work of Head of the Presidential Bureau Rafiq Al-Husseini and Prime Ministerial Consultant for Jerusalem Affairs Hatem Abd Al-Qader and handed them orders to appear at the Russian Compound Center on Sunday evening for questioning. The two were detained near the protest tent of Mrs Al-Kurd, whose family was forcibly evicted from their home early in November by a group of Israeli settlers. The woman, whose ailing husband passed away after they were evicted, now lives in a tent near the property. The tent has been demolished three times by the Israeli army and its contents destroyed. Dozens of international delegations and dignitaries have visited the site of the tent, and several arrests of individuals helping the Al-Kurd family were reported. Al-Husseini and Abd Al-Qader’s mobile phones were confiscated in front of a group of ambassadors from Tunis, Morocco and Canada, the deputy ambassador of Jordan, former Palestinian Communications Minister Sabri Seidam, Undersecretary for the Ministry of Prisoners’ Arrairs Ziad Abu Ein and a number of international and Palestinian businessmen. Head of Jerusalem Unit of the Presidential Bureau Ahmad Ar-Ruweidhi described the treatment of the men as an attempt to break the efforts of the Palestinian state and condemned the actions. If Israel wants peace, he added, than these are not the appropriate actions to take. The delegation offered their condolences to Mrs Al-Kurd for the death of her husband, and then continued their tour of East Jerusalem neighborhoods including Ras Al-Amud, Al-Bustan and Silwan. The areas are sites where construction of Israeli settlements continues to move forward despite promises at the Annapolis conference to halt construction, and the condemnation of the international community.