Israel's War Against Peace

Israelis Shut the Jerusalem Office of a Moderate Palestinian
By JOHN KIFNER (The New York Times)


ERUSALEM, July 9 — Israel today shut down the office here of Sari Nusseibeh, the leading voice of moderation among Palestinians, accusing him of undermining Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem by serving as an agent of Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Nusseibeh, scion of one this city's princely Arab families, a tweedy, Oxford- and Harvard-educated intellectual, has been a driving force among Palestinians who have signed a statement urging their compatriots to abandon suicide bombings against Israeli civilians as counterproductive. He has publicly said Palestinians must abandon their claim to a right of return to Palestinian lands. His stands have drawn death threats from other Palestinians, and the Palestinian Authority has had to provide him with guards.

A little after 9 this morning, the Israeli police converged on Al Quds University, where Dr. Nusseibeh is the president. They ordered the staff outside, carted out boxes of computer disks and files and changed the locks, staff members said. Their warrant, written in Hebrew, said the office was operating in violation of the Oslo accords, though the Israeli Army has virtually obliterated the accords in recent weeks by reoccupying seven West Bank cities that were under Palestinian control.

Dr. Nusseibeh was traveling abroad and could not be reached for comment.

"Sari Nusseibeh's amiability," said Uzi Landau, the minister of public security, who ordered the seizure, "should not mislead us into thinking that he can't be used, like the Trojan horse, to steal in and undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem."

Mr. Landau, a hard-line Likud member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet, added, "A civil representative of the Palestinian Authority was operating from the heart of Jerusalem with the aim of putting our sovereignty in question." Al Quds University is in mostly Arab East Jerusalem.

Hours later and a few blocks away, just outside the limestone walls of the Old City, a Palestinian shot and wounded a police officer who tried to search him. In the ensuing gun battle, a 70-year old Palestinian passer-by was shot to death, though it was not immediately clear whether he was shot by the police or the gunman, who was arrested.

Abed Ajaj, a son-in-law of the dead passer-by, Mahmoud Bashir, 70, said Mr. Bashir had at least 70 grandchildren, and had been on his way to Al Aksa mosque when he has killed.

"You just can't believe in one second the head of the family is gone," Mr. Ajaj said as relatives and friends began to gather for mourning. "All we have here is promises, promises. Twelve years, nothing changes."

With tensions running high, with Israeli forces enforcing curfews on most West Bank cities and with the government warning of possible suicide attacks, Israeli peace advocates and Palestinians criticized the move against Dr. Nusseibeh.

"As far as our government is concerned, nothing surprises me too much," said Yossi Sarid, the leader of the dwindling peace camp in the Israeli Parliament. "It's very unfortunate, very stupid. The government is talking all the time about another leadership. Sari Nusseibeh is known to be a very moderate Palestinian. He is very courageous to express his views sometimes, and I don't think he deserved such an attitude."

Nabil Aburdeineh, a close adviser to Mr. Arafat, said: "This is a clear violation of the signed agreements. It has nothing to do with security; it has everything to do with damaging any sign of cooperation in the future. What kind of future can they be planning?"

The future of East Jerusalem is one of the most sensitive points of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians demand that the city — or, symbolically, its largely Arab eastern sector — become their capital. The Israelis claim as theirs the "undivided city" that they gained after the 1967 war.

Mr. Landau and Dr. Nusseibeh have tangled before. In December, Mr. Landau ordered Dr. Nusseibeh detained for an hour and questioned after he tried to have a reception for diplomats and other local figures to break the Ramadan fast. The Israelis also shut Orient House, the headquarters of the previous Palestinian representative in East Jerusalem, Faisel Husseini.

As the political jockeying continued, Islamic Jihad said that one of its operatives, Muammar Daraaghemi, was slain today as he went on a suicide mission near Jenin, on the West Bank. The Israeli Army said it was investigating.