The State Department said today that the decision to receive a group of Palestinian protestors on the grounds of the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem yesterday was made by the Consul General there and that the U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, Samuel Lewis, may not have been aware of it or approved it in advance.
Responding to questions about the incident, the Department’s chief spokesman, John Trattner, said “The Consulate General in Jerusalem was approached recently by prominent West Bank residents who asked that an American representative of the staff see a group of people who were worried about the humanitarian aspects of conditions in Nafha prison,” a prison in Israel for persons held on charges of terrorist activity.
According to Trattner, “A group of approximately 40 persons” who come to the consulate “was somewhat larger than expected. When the group arrived at the consulate yesterday, they were permitted to enter the grounds at Nablus Road.” He said the group remained in the garden where they talked with a consular representative and after giving him a petition they departed.
Trattner said “We are not aware of a protest by the Israel government.” He said he didn’t know if the Ambassador in Tel Aviv was asked about the meeting or approved it. He said the consulate in East Jerusalem makes its own decisions, including any involving a group of people presenting a petition. He observed that “there wasn’t time to call Tel Aviv and even if there were, I’m sure the Consul General would make his own decision.”
On another matter related to the Middle East Trattner said “the U.S. wasn’t consulted in advance” about a fact-finding mission to that region to inquire into the Arab-Israeli conflict by a delegation representing the nine member states of the European Economic Community (EEC). “Obviously, we are interested in that fact-finding mission and we will learn about it in the course of our conversations,” Trattner said. He added, “We would object to any mission which detracts from the peace process now under way” in the Middle East. The mission is to be headed by Foreign Minister Gaston Thom of Luxembourg who is acting president of the EEC Ministerial Council.
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