We now own Omar Square

By Kalman Lipskind
18 March 2005

Hundreds of Palestinians live near the restaurants, shops and two large hotels in Jerusalem's Omar Ibn al-Khattab Square. Feisal Husseini held many political meetings inside the old Imperial Hotel, situated in the heart of the street. Even today, after Husseini's death, senior Palestinian officials continue to meet at the hotel. Now, however, without the knowledge of any of the managers of the hotel or shops, the compound has passed into Jewish hands. Two groups of Jewish investors from abroad have recently secretly purchased the land in the area. Most of the buildings on the street, which extends from the entrance to Jerusalem's Old City at Jaffa Gate to the Arab Market, have been owned by the Greek Orthodox Church for many years. The investors, who paid millions of dollars to buy the land, had a clear goal, which is to redeem Jerusalem's land [for the Jews].

The deal itself was conducted in total secrecy. Some of the money was transferred through various European banks. None of the Palestinians managing or working in the hotels and shops that were sold knew about the deal. Now church officials fear that the publication of the deal will cause a massive rift with the Palestinian leadership.

Over the years, the Greek Orthodox Church has not interfered with the Palestinians and has allowed them to carry on with their lives peacefully. The Petra Hotel, under the management of the Palestinian Qurash family, and the Imperial Hotel, under the management of the al-Dajani family, are the two major properties sold in the secret deal. They are important centres for East Jerusalem's Palestinian population. Sari Nuseibah recently held some of his meetings at the Imperial Hotel, and even hosted the Yahad Party chairman, Yossi Beilin, there.

The man behind the deal is Nikolaos Papadimas, whose nickname is Niko. He is the right-hand man of the head of the church, Patriarch Irineos Skopelitis, who authorized Niko to manage the church's property and financial affairs.

In one of the church's real estate deals, Niko rented to the Israeli Defence Ministry the area where the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] put up Checkpoint Number 300 between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. According to the contract signed between Niko and senior Israeli defence officials, the Defence Ministry transferred 903,000 shekels to the offices of Attorney Gilad Sher, who represents the church, as rent payment for the land.

Several days later, Niko signed the huge clandestine deal in which the Greek Orthodox Church sold its properties in the square. Niko signed the contract with an Israeli lawyer, who represents the two groups of Jewish investors who decided to redeem the lands of the holy city...

It is worth noting that, during the past year, other parties tried to purchase the hotels. Attorney Ya'aqob Kavorkian, who today works for the Patriarchate's financial department, confirmed to Maariv that he had also held negotiations on purchasing the hotel a year ago. Kavorkian, who also serves as the lawyer of the al-Dajani family, which owns the Imperial Hotel, said that the family knew nothing about the sale of the hotel to Jews. Deputy Patriarch Metropolis Isikeous claimed that he knew nothing about the deal either.

*This article was published in Hebrew by the Israeli newspaper Maariv on 18 March 2005. It has been translated into English by Raffi Gold.

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