to the Diplomatic Community to Take Immediate Action to End Israel's Illegal Occupation of the Orient House

The Orient House and the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) are seriously alarmed at the silence of the international community regarding Israel's illegal occupation of the Orient House on August 10th, 2001.

Representatives of the international community in east Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority are called upon to take a firm political stance against the closure of the Orient House, as an essential element of their commitment to peace, liberty, democracy, and the political freedom of the Palestinian people, in accordance with international legality and legitimacy.

Israel's closure of the Orient House is not only a serious violation of international law and bilateral Palestinian-Israeli agreements, but also a strangulation of the Palestinian political process in east Jerusalem. We specifically demand

Finally, the international community must realize that a just and comprehensive peace in the region can only be achieved through a complete end to Israeli occupation, thus an unconditional Israeli withdrawal to the June 1967 boundaries (including east Jerusalem), a cessation of all Israeli settlement activity on Palestinian territories, and the return of the Palestinian refugees, in accordance with United Nations Resolutions 242, 338, 194, and the 'land-for-peace' equation adopted formally by all parties in 1993.