This statement was sent to the UN Secretary General the President of the General Assembly and the Members of the Security Council by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

"The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, an international women's peace organization, strongly protests Israel's illegal occupation of the Orient House in East Jerusalem in the early hours of Friday, 10 August 2001.The occupation of the Orient House and the closure of seven other Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem has not only deprived poor and underprivileged people of humanitarian services, but has also put Occupied Arab Jerusalem under great political and economic stress.

The institutions that were closed, headed by Orient House, provided the poorest segments of society in East Jerusalem with financial and other forms of support directed to cover their health, social, housing, and legal needs, in addition to developmental needs to many community institutions. Orient House was also a venue for political, diplomatic and peace dialogue and an information center for many international agencies. To enforce their illegal act, the Israeli military authorities have put many parts of East Jerusalem under a state of siege, preventing people from getting to their jobs.

The closure of the Orient House is one more in a long list of Israel's gross violations of international law. It also reduces still further the chances of returning to the negotiating table.We urge the United Nations and its Member States to take immediate measures to return to the Palestinians the Orient House and other and institutions Israel has closed down and to halt Israel from further violating the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions. We further call on the United Nations and its Member States to protect the Palestinian people from state terrorism and humiliation by Israel and to take every measure needed to end Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as defined by the 1949 armistice agreements. Enough innocent blood has been shed on all. This will be stopped only by ending the occupation."