Final Communiqué Adopted by OIC After Emergency Meeting to Discuss Situation in Jerusalem

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Date: 12/05/2021

Arabic: العربية

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, at its virtual emergency meeting held on Tuesday 29 Ramadan 1442, corresponding to 11 May 2021 to discuss the aggression by Israel, the occupying Power in the Palestinian territories, particularly, Al-Quds Al-Shareef.

Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,

Pursuant to the resolutions adopted by the ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions, including resolutions No. 242 (1967); 252 (1968); 338 (1973); 465; 476; 478 (1980); and 1073 (1996), and 2334 (2016), and the conferences of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) on applicability of the provisions of the Convention to the land of the State of Palestine and the protection of civilians in times of war,

Driven by the historical, moral and legal responsibility of the Islamic ummah towards the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef,

Affirming that safeguarding and protecting Al-Quds Al-Shareef and its historical, spiritual and legal status, confronting everything prejudicial to this status and taking all necessary measures and steps to achieve this end are the central task and raison d’etre of the OIC,

Having reviewed the grave situation in Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the hazing which the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian people have suffered at the hands of the Israeli colonial occupation forces,

1. Condemns in the strongest terms the repeated attacks by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people in Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the entire occupied land of the State of Palestine, in particular, the growing attacks since the beginning of Ramadan targeting citizens in Al-Quds Al-Shareef, preventing worshipers from accessing the holy sites for their religious rites in the blessed month and during the Easter celebrations, barbaric storming by the Israeli occupation forces of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and attacking the Palestinian worshipers there; also condemns the Israeli occupation forces’ continuation of their colonial programmes – building settlements, attempting to confiscate Palestinian properties, forceful eviction of Palestinians from their land, particularly the residents of Al-Quds in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods and all Al-Quds Al-shareef neighbourhoods, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law;

2. Reiterates that these attacks are part of ongoing and systematic policies of the Israeli authorities through which they seek to change the historical and legal status of Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the land of the State of Palestine, paving the way for the implementation of annexation and colonial expansion policy, which risks further destabilizing the region, threatening international peace and security, and undermining international efforts to create a conducive climate to launch a credible political process;

3. Condemns the widespread aggression by the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian people across the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially the barbaric bombardment deliberately targeting civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip, which killed and injured many, including many innocent children; calls on Member States to act urgently at all international levels, including the Security Council, to condemn the repeated Israeli occupation’s contempt for the lives of the Palestinian civilians, targeting them deliberately and repeatedly to kill them, and to work to stop the aggression and prevent its recurrence.

4. Holds Israel, the illegal occupying authority, fully responsible for these heinous attacks, including terrorism and tyranny of the Israeli colonialists against defenceless Palestinian citizens, and the attendant grave developments and repercussions;

5. Invites the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to rise up to its responsibility and stop the barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people and their properties in Al-Quds and the entire occupied land of the State of Palestine, including Islamic and Christian holy sites, provide international protection for them, hold Israel accountable for these crimes and impose sanctions on the colonial and racial segregation system established on the land of the State of Palestine;

6. Demands that the relevant international actors, including United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and special rapporteurs implement relevant international resolutions and recommendations and activate the necessary mechanisms to stop these violations, hold their perpetrators accountable, and deter them;

7. Holds the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for the terrorist and criminal acts perpetrated by the Israeli colonialists and their militias against the defenceless Palestinian citizens, with the protection and support of the occupation army, including groups and associations requisitioning Palestinian properties; and calls on Member States and all relevant international actors to condemn these acts and take necessary measures against their perpetrators and the bodies they belong, including placing them on lists of national terrorists;

8. Affirms that the Israeli judicial apparatus and the military occupation courts are in the forefront of entrenching occupation and colonial and racial segregation system in the occupied Palestinian land, including Al-Quds Al-Shareef, and that all their decisions against the Palestinian are null and void and of no legal effect;

9. Invites Member States’ ambassadors and OIC representatives to act quickly in their states and organizations of accreditation, particularly in the Security Council Member States’ capitals, to convey the image of the situation and the OIC’s position thereto, to request them to implement the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, to rise up to their responsibilities and take necessary measures to confront and stop these attacks by condemning and standing up to them, holding their perpetrators accountable and, to stop dealing and identifying with the colonial system established by Israel on Palestinian land, including moving their countries’ embassies to, or opening representative offices in, Al-Quds; invites, in this regard, states that have already done so to reverse this illegal step and to implement previous OIC resolutions on the matter;

10. Expresses disappointment that some international actors deal with the volatile situation in Al-Quds as a matter of equality between the Israeli colonialist occupation and the Palestinian people under occupation; asserts that the position of international law and international legitimacy resolutions is clear on the situation, what is happening and how it must be handled. Equating a coloniser with a colonized people is immoral, inaccurate and unacceptable and creates a false balance between the unjust and the victim of injustice, it indicates not only lack of seriousness to stop the escalation but also the absence of a credible political process in the horizon;

11. In this regard, invites the Security Council and the international quartet, including the United Nations Secretary General, to adhere to the principles of international legitimacy and unequivocally condemn the colonial Israeli occupation measures in Al-Quds and the occupied Palestinian land and to confront actual annexation measures on the ground, including through requisitioning the Palestinian people’s properties, demolition of their homes, their forceful eviction and repeated attacks by the Israeli army and settlers’ terrorism, by taking all necessary measures to stop them, in order to create the ground for a credible political process that will lead to dismantling and ending the long term colonial and racial segregation system established by the Israeli occupation for the occupied Palestinian land, including Al-Quds Al-Shareef, and enabling the Palestinian people to reclaim their legitimate rights;

12. Expresses its rejection and condemnation of any illegal stances, resolutions or measures that contribute to entrenching Israeli occupation and changing the existing historical, legal and political condition in Al-Quds Al-Shareef as a flagrant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions which undermine security and stability in the region. Reiterates its adherence to a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-State solution and to East Jerusalem being the capital of the State of Palestine, in line with adopted international principles, including United Nations resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Invites the international community to act effectively and seriously to achieve this solution;

13. Salutes the efforts of the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people everywhere defending their legitimate rights and their presence on their national land, particularly Al-Quds, the eternal capital of the State of Palestine, and preserving their Arab identity as well as their Islamic and Christian holy sites; salutes the Palestinian people in Al-Quds for their courageous stance and sacrifices in defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of Holy Sepulchre and their properties in Sheikh Jarrah and all neighbourhoods of Al-Quds Al-Shareef;

14. Confirms that the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef shall remain the central issue of the OIC; renews its support for the Palestinian people in their efforts to gain their inalienable rights, notably their right to self-determination, to establish their independent state, and their right to return; reiterates its commitment to all resolutions adopted by relevant organizations and its determination to continue working to support the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights. Invites Member States to provide political, legal and material backing and all forms of support for the resilience of the Palestinian people in Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the entire land of the State of Palestine;

15. Salutes, in this regard, the efforts of the Member States and the OIC General Secretariat, particularly the ongoing efforts of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in defending the holy city and supporting the steadfastness of its people; reaffirms the importance of the historical Hashemite custodianship of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Al-Quds and its role in defending them and the existing legal and historical status there, and in preserving the Arab, Islamic and Christian identity of the sanctuaries; and affirms that the Hashemite management of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque waqfs is the only body authorized to manage all affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Quds Haram Al-Shareef;

16. Appreciates the role played by the chair of the Al-Quds Committee in protecting the sanctuaries in Al-Quds Al-Shareef and standing up to the measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to Judaize the holy city.

17. Calls upon the holding of an emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers or an open-ended meeting of the Executive Committee at Ministerial level at the earliest convenience to review the situation;

18. Resolved to take up these grave violations in the UN General Assembly, in view of the fact that the informal meeting of the UN Security Council on May 10 ended without a substantial outcome; calls upon the President of the UN General Assembly to convene an emergency session of the UNGA to discuss these outrageous developments, with a view to putting an end to these atrocities against the Palestinian people, ensuring the accountability for these crimes and providing international protection for the Palestinian civilian population; and requests the OIC Secretary General to support the efforts of the representatives of the Member States in New York towards ensuring the convening of an emergency session of the UNGA;

19. Calls upon the OIC Group in the UN to engage with other countries and facilitate the international efforts for the establishment of an international mechanism for the protection of the Palestinian civilian population in accordance with the Final Communique of the Seventh Extraordinary Islamic Summit and the Resolution ES-10/20 of the UN General Assembly, with a view to ensuring credibly their safety and well-being, including through dispatching of international protection force, and ensuring accountability for the violations of their rights and freedoms;

20. Reaffirms its commitment to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to end the occupation, gain freedom independence and establish a sovereign, independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its eternal capital, and to continue to work at all levels with states and international organizations to achieve that end.