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S P E C I A L Struggle for Peace

British official's Jerusalem visit creates uproar

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CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports

Cook yields to Israeli demands on tour of volatile site

In this story: March 16, 1998
Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EST (0330 GMT)

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook yielded to Israeli pressure Monday and agreed to visit a controversial Jewish housing project on Jerusalem's southeastern outskirts with Israeli officials rather than Palestinians.

Cook had intended to make his first visit to the volatile area known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Arabs as Jabal Abu Ghneim with Faisal Husseini, the top Palestinian official in Jerusalem.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly threatened to snub Cook, who is in the Middle East on a peacemaking mission for the European Union, if he did so.

"I'm still puzzled as to why a foreign secretary of Great Britain, on his first visit as foreign secretary to the country, finds it necessary to have the first act in Jerusalem be a visit to Har Homa," said David Bar-Illan, a senior aide to Netanyahu.

"Think what would happen if the prime minister (of Israel) were to visit London and the first person he met was Gerry Adams," Bar-Illan said, referring to the Sinn Fein leader.

By changing his plans, Cook also aroused the wrath of Husseini, who said, "This compromise is not suitable. If he insists on going with the Israeli officials, he must come out with a statement that the Israelis taking him there represent an occupying force."

Palestinian official threatens settlers

Palestinian-Israeli negotiations have been deadlocked since Israel began building the housing project a year ago. Heavy equipment could be seen clearing land at the site Monday, forcing a flock of sheep and a herdsman off a hillside.

Suicide attacks by Muslim militants have added to the tension, and last Friday, Jewish settlers stormed into the Palestinian part of Hebron on Jerusalem's southeastern outskirts to stone a house and smash Arab property.

The settlers claimed that Palestinians shot into their enclave first, but the Palestinians retaliated by throwing rocks. Israeli soldiers sent to restore order fired rubber bullets at the Palestinians and wounded two journalists.

On Monday, Palestinian security chief Jibril Rajoub announced, "Any Jewish settler who tries from now to come into Palestinian-controlled areas and attacks Palestinians will not leave alive."

Rajoub's comments prompted settler spokesman Yisrael Meidad to say, "A terrorist is always a terrorist. If Rajoub is not doing his job, he shouldn't threaten anybody else."

Cook said he intended to make clear that Britain and the European Union oppose the expansion of Jewish settlements.

"I have no objection whatsoever to Israeli officials explaining their point of view to me as I will explain our point of view to Prime Minister Netanyahu," Cook said at a news conference with Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan in Amman.

Cook anxious to see housing project
Robin Cook
Cook

He added, "I am anxious to see Har Homa for myself. I would have thought that it would be in the interests of both parties ... that I were informed by seeing the situation for myself.

"I do want to take this opportunity to say quite clearly that our approach has been impartial, that we do want to make progress on the peace process with both parties."

A British official said that after visiting the disputed site with Israeli officials, Cook would cross into the West Bank to observe the project with Palestinian officials.

"If he wants to cross over the lines and go over to the other side ... it's not anything we can object to except that it is obviously a loaded message," an Israeli official said.

The housing project is located in a sector of Jerusalem won by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and claimed by Palestinians as the capital of a future state.

Netanyahu on Monday reiterated Israel's position.

"Jerusalem remains the undisputed and indivisible capital of the Jewish state in which we will build new communities for Arabs and Jews alike, including Har Homa," he said.

U.S. questions visit

Netanyahu said Cook, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency until June, would do little to enhance Europe's ambition to mediate in the Middle East by diving immediately into the acrimonious Jerusalem issue.

"There are of course ways to play a positive role in advancing the peace process," Netanyahu told reporters. "I don't think the issue of Jerusalem -- or entering the issue of Jerusalem -- is one of them."

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin agreed, saying he doubted that Cook's visit would help matters much. Rubin said the controversy over Cook's visit is "a reflection of the general deterioration in the process that we are so concerned about."

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel and Reuters contributed to this report.


Struggle For Peace
 
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