The British Council has decided to keep its library and information center in East Jerusalem open just one day after closing it because of a threatened Anglo-American war in Iraq. The council, which is the British government’s cultural arm overseas, had closed its public-access services for Palestinian people February 24, including the Jerusalem library, a reference facility in Tel Aviv, and all English-language classes, in response to a directive from the Foreign Office advising against “all non-essential travel” to Israel by British nationals.
But British Council Press Officer Brionie Huish said in Jerusalem’s Ha’aretz newspaper February 26 that all the information center staff had turned down an offer to leave the country, allowing them to reopen the library. She added that e-mail and letters protesting the shutdown also helped reverse the decision.
“We didn’t see the effectiveness in keeping it closed,” said council spokesman Scott Talmon.
Posted March 3, 2003.