Final Communiqué of the Expanded Meeting of the Executive Committee held at the Level of Permanent Representatives to Consider the Israeli Escalation against the Occupied Syrian Golan

Date: 26/04/2016

The Executive Committee convened in its expanded extraordinary meeting at the level of Permanent Representatives at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on 26 April 2016 at the request of the State of Kuwait, Chair of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), to consider the recent Israeli escalation against the occupied Syrian Golan,

Reaffirming all resolutions of Islamic Summit and CFM conferences on the occupied Syrian Golan, the most recent of which is the Final Communiqué of the 13th Islamic Summit Conference held in Istanbul on 14-15 April 2016;

Referring to the UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981) dated 17 December 1981 and to all relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly;

Deeply concerned at Israel’s persistent attempts to defy the will of the international community and its continued occupation and annexation of the Syrian Golan, which are considered null, void and illegal by the international community;

Affirming that the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of War (dated 12 August 1949) applies to the occupied Syrian Golan, and that the building of settlements and the bringing of settlers to the occupied Syrian Golan is a violation of this agreement;

Affirming the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of acquisition of territories by force;

1. Condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Government for holding its weekly session in the occupied Syrian Golan, and the subsequent statements of the Israeli Prime Minister on 17/04/2016 that "the Golan Heights will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty." It considers that these Israeli acts and statements that are internationally unacceptable come in the context of the Israeli occupation's continued attempts to consecrate the annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan, in a blatant violation of relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions and the principles of International law; calls on the international community to impose deterrent sanctions against Israel in case of non-compliance with international legitimacy resolutions.
2. Reaffirms the OIC's unequivocal position considering the Golan Heights Arab territories, and expresses unconditional support for the legitimate right of the Syrian people to restore their full sovereignty on the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967.
3. Calls on the international community, especially the UNSC, to assume its responsibilities in compelling Israel to implement the international legitimacy resolutions calling on Israel to fully withdraw from all occupied Arab territories to the line of 4 June 1967, including the Syrian Golan, the Palestinian land, Shebaa Farms, and the Lebanese Hills of Kfarchouba, consistent with the UNSC resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 497 (1981), reaffirming that its persistent is a threat to the stability of the region and to international peace and security.
4. Underscores the importance of pursuing the works of the Human Rights Council, particularly item 7 on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan.
5. Condemns strongly Israel, the occupying power, and its macabre acts to change the legal status, demographic composition, and institutional structure of the occupied Syrian Golan, and for its practices of land confiscation; water resources appropriation; building and expansion of settlements and transfer of settlers and immigrants thereto, exploitation of their natural resources and establishment of projects on them.
6. Calls on all UN Member States not to recognize any of the measures and procedures taken by the Israeli occupation power in the occupied Syrian Golan and to consider them null and void, in compliance with the UNSC resolution 497.
7. Condemns strongly Israel's attempts to impose Israeli nationality and identity cards on the Syrian Arab citizens, as these measures constitute a flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of War, and the relevant resolutions of the UNGA and other international bodies.
8. Mandates the General Secretariat to coordinate and conduct necessary contacts and consultations to implement the provisions of this Communiqué, including calling on the UN Security Council to condemn the measures taken by the Israeli occupying power, which constitute a clear violation of Security Council Resolutions (242), (338), and (497), and to stress that these measures are null and void and without legal effect.

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