A government order forbidding gatherings in Jerusalem organized by the Palestinian Authority led to the detention Monday of Sari Nusseibeh, the PA's senior official in the city, and five other Palestinians. The gathering was planned as a reception for foreign diplomats to celebrate the Id al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Nusseibeh said that he merely wanted to invite the diplomats "to drink a glass of orange juice and eat cookies" at the Imperial Hotel in the Old City, located not far from the Tower of David, where Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert hosts his own annual Id al-Fitr reception.

According to Yediot Aharonot, Olmert learned Saturday

The gathering would have "contributed to the loss of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem" - Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau

night of the Palestinians' plans to host the Old City reception and immediately called Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau. Landau, who has been spearheading the government's crackdown on PA institutions in the city, including the Orient House in August, conducted a telephone survey of the other government ministers. On Sunday night, Cabinet secretary Gideon Sa'ar signed the official order forbidding the event.

Landau said allowing the gathering would have, "heaven forbid, contributed to the loss of [Israeli] sovereignty in Jerusalem."

Nusseibeh said he was given the order forbidding the reception less than an hour before it was scheduled to start. "I did not do anything. I just apologized to the people for not being able to hold it," he said, shortly after being released by the police after an hour's questioning. "It's too bad that instead of sending representatives with holiday greetings, the government chose to use an iron fist," he added.

Jawad Boulous, the attorney representing the owners of Orient House and one of the other Palestinians detained by the police on Monday, said they "did not intend to violate the order and our purpose was to remain there only for a few minutes to apologize to those who arrived. The police were unwilling to wait even for the few minutes it would have taken," he added.

Boulous said that the reception was a traditional affair that Nusseibeh's predecessor, Faisal Husseini, had hosted for years.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the decision to forbid the gathering. "This government has made a clear decision not to permit the PA to operate in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," he told the Likud Knesset faction. "We were criticized when we closed Orient House, but this is the policy and this is what will have to be."

Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres said, "It was a mistake to have acted as [the police] did." Nusseibeh, Peres said, should be treated "like the president of a university."

Several other ministers complained that they had not participated in the telephone survey that led to the government's decision. Minister without portfolio Salah Tarif (Labor) was mistakenly not called at all. Sa'ar said he left messages for other ministers, but they had not returned his call.

"Israel must act wisely, and not only correctly," Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said following the detention of Nusseibeh, Maariv reported. "In this case, we did not act wisely." Associates of Ben-Eliezer said he would have objected to prohibiting the Old City reception, but he had not been included in the telephone survey. "It is not hard to miss the Defense Minister, especially since he was in his office at the time," the associates said.

The United States expressed its concern over the incident, voicing its first criticism of Israeli actions in weeks. The police detention of Nusseibeh was "provocative and counterproductive," said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

Nusseibeh holds ad hoc reception in another hotel
Shortly after the police released him, Nusseibeh went to the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem. Foreign diplomats, including the consuls from Greece, Belgium, Turkey and other countries, met with him there. Also attending the ad hoc reception was opposition leader, Yossi Sarid of Meretz, who invited Nusseibeh to attend to speak at a Meretz party gathering.

"This was the government's height of stupidity," Sarid said. Sarid criticized the government especially because Nusseibeh was seen as "a symbol of moderation, a voice of wisdom."

"It's very easy to present Yasser Arafat as irrelevant," Sarid said. "But if the government doesn't relate to a man like Nusseibeh with the respect he deserves, then who is the Palestinian worthy enough that this government would be willing to talk to?"

Nusseibeh, 52, an Oxford-educated philosophy professor who is also president of Al-Quds University, is a leading Palestinian moderate. Nusseibeh has stated that Palestinians erred in insisting on the right of return for Palestinian refugees as part of a final peace deal. He also has confirmed Jewish rights to Jerusalem, rebuffing claims by Arafat and other Palestinians that there had never been any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. Nusseibeh was appointed two months ago by Arafat to oversee Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem after Husseini's death.

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