But the seizure and closure of Orient House in East Jerusalem is of a different order.

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More recently, the Oslo peace process gave the embryonic political institutions of the embryonic Palestine a powerful foothold in the city, symbolised by the transformation of Orient House, a former hotel, into a cross between a town hall and an embassy.

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On arrival in Jerusalem the cortege, made up of people of all ages, many of them waving the Palestinian national flag and carrying pictures of Husseini, stopped at Orient House, the Jerusalem headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority, where Husseini had had his office.

CNN: An emotional and mostly peaceful ceremony

As news of Husseini's death spread, hundreds of Palestinians arrived at Orient House to share their grief, reciting passages from the Koran.

CNN: Palestinians mourn death of Husseini

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, who is campaigning for re-election on May 17th but not, according to the polls, doing well, ordered the closure of three offices in Orient House , the Palestinians' de facto headquarters in East Jerusalem.

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