Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 17/07/2019
OIC General Secretariat
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Wednesday 14 Dhu al-Qidah 1440 AH
17 July 2019 AD
- The Executive Committee, convened in an Extraordinary open-ended meeting at the level of Foreign Ministers at the OIC General Secretariat’s headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, 14 Dhul Qaida 1440 A.H. (17 July 2019) to consider the escalating frequency and brutality of the colonialist Israeli violations backed the US Administration in an attempt to alter the historical and legal status of the city of Al Quds Al-Sharif;
- Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the OIC Charter,
- Based on the resolutions of the Islamic Summits, latest of which is the Fourteenth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, which stress that the issue of Al Quds Al-Sharif is at the core of the Palestinian cause and that comprehensive and just peace can only be achieved by putting an end to the colonialist Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine, with the City of Al Quds being at its heart, as an eternal capital for the Palestinian State.
- Reaffirming all the relevant resolutions issued by the 6th and 7th Islamic Extraordinary conferences and meetings, as well as those issued by the Al Quds Committee at its past sessions.
- Reaffirming all the relevant international resolutions including those of the UN General Assembly, including resolution A/RES/ES-10/19 on the Status of Jerusalem adopted at the Tenth Emergency Special Session held on 21 December, the UN Security Council and the UNESCO, as well as the ruling of International Court of Justice on 9/07/2004 and the conferences of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 on the applicability of the said Convention to the territory of the State of Palestine, including Al Quds Al-Sharif, and the notion of the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
- Expressing its grave concern over the continued attempts to alter the historical and legal status of the occupied city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and the transfer of some states’ diplomatic missions thereto;
- Condemning any position, procedures or decisions aimed at altering the historical and legal status of the occupied city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif;
1. Condemns in the strongest terms the engagement of Israel, the occupying power, in an escalation of its colonialist procedures in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and its attempts to alter the city’s legal character and status and its demographic make-up, including its recent attempts to disfigure the historical realities by opening of the alleged “Jewish Pilgrims’ Path” extending from the Silwan pool to the Al-Buraq Wall (or the so-called Wailing Wall) running underneath the Palestinian homes in Silwan, South of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is in clear violation of international law and the relevant international resolutions. The Meeting underlines that all these practices are null and void and shall have no legal effect.
2. Condemns the participation of representatives of US Administration and their support for the illegal measures carried out by Israel, the occupation power, in Al-Quds Al-Sharif in blatant defiance of the Muslims’ sentiments and in full disregard of international law and norms, which contributes to further consecrating the Israeli colonialist occupation of the territory of the State of Palestine, increases tensions in the region and fuels conflict.
3. Denounces the continued engagement of Israel, the occupying power, in the judaization of the City of Al Quds Al-Sharif, by allowing certain Zionist associations to misappropriate, either through deceit or seizure, real estate properties in the Holy City, latest of which the deceitful operation to lay hands on properties and buildings at Bab Al Khalil (Abraham’s Gate), which belong to the Orthodox Church. The Meeting calls on all churches across the world to stand up to these measures, no matter the circumstances, and to safeguard these properties.
4. Condemns the ethnic cleansing policy pursued by Israel, the occupying power, through the policies of forced displacement and the continued demolition of the homes of Palestinians, more specifically in the City of Al Quds, latest of which was the illegal decision issued by the occupant’s courts to tear down hundreds of houses in the Wadi Al Hums, a district of Sur Al Baher township, under untenable racist excuses and pretexts. The Meeting calls upon all states and relevant international organizations, including the UN Security Council, to intervene urgently and without delay to prevent the demolition of these homes and the forced displacement of their owners.
5. Rejects all the colonial practices of Israel, the occupying power, including settlement activities, the construction of the annexation wall, the racist expansion and other acts perpetrated on the occupied land of the State of Palestine, particularly in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, with the aim to disfigure the city’s Arab Islamic and Christian character, legal status and demographic structure. The Meeting equally rejects the unlawful, provocative tunneling and excavations underneath and around Al-Aqsa mosque, warning against violating the sanctity of Al-Aqsa holy mosque, the first Qibla and the third holiest site for Muslims. It also cautions over continuously dangerous incursions of Israeli officials and settlers, holding the Israeli occupying power responsible for the consequences of such inimical and racist practices.
6. Rejects the unrelentingly frantic assault by Israel, the occupying power, on Palestinian towns and villages of the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, the latest of which was the military campaign and the siege imposed on Al-Issawiya village, which claimed the life of a boy and the injury of dozens of others.
7. Condemns the Israeli occupying power’s actions against the Palestinian refugee camps, specifically in Al-Quds, faulting them as part of Israel’s plans to wipe out the refugee issue, as was the case with Israel’s raid in the Shuafat refugee camp in the city of Al-Quds Al-S, its closure of health and educational institutions, its demolition of homes inside the camp, and the Israeli threats to shut down UNRWA-run schools. The Meeting called for activating the Development Waqf Fund for the support for Palestinian refugees.
8. Calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities under the international law, including through pushing for an end to these dangerous measures by the Israeli colonial occupation authorities, refraining both from conferring legitimacy on any resultant status of this hazardous act and from providing support and assistance to maintain this situation. The Meeting also demands taking the necessary practical actions for the implementation of all relevant international resolutions.
9. Stresses that the Muslim Ummah and the Member States will not sit on their hands and will not condone any hostile action undermining the historical status of Al-Quds, as the capital of the State of Palestine; and calls on all the Member States to make every effort, at all levels, to protect the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, including through such means as divesting from international companies proven complicit in executing projects for the Israeli colonial regime, and banning all contributing entities of entering their respective territories and not to deal with them.
10. Mandates the bureau of the Executive Committee to prepare and coordinate the constitution of a delegation to travel to the capitals of influential countries, with a view to conveying the position of the OIC and the Member States vis-à-vis Al-Quds Al-Sharif and to building international pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to stop its violations and colonial measures in the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif.
11. Mandates the Secretary General to send letters in its name to all relevant international bodies, including the UN Security Council, international parliaments, heads and patriarchs of churches across the world, including The Pope and the World Council of Churches, to brief them on the grave situation in Al-Quds and seek their prompt intervention.
12. Calls on all world countries, especially the USA, and all international institutions and bodies, to comply with the international legitimacy resolutions on Al-Quds, which is an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and to refrain from taking any steps that would imply some form of recognition, overt or implicit, of the illegal annexation by Israel, the occupying power, of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, including through the relocation of their respective diplomatic representations to the city.
13. Further urges all the OIC Member States to boycott countries that have inaugurated diplomatic missions in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and to cease any relations, commercial exchanges with or visits to them, including any joint political, cultural, sports or artistic events, until they backtrack on their decision and abide by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
14. Supports the Palestinian efforts and moves intended to hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, and calls for providing all the necessary political, legal, technical and material support for such efforts. For these efforts to bear fruit, the Executive Committee invites the Member States to respond to the Palestinian request for the OIC countries to institute proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in support of the State of Palestine’s legal action against the United States of America at ICJ.
15. Commends the steadfastness of Jerusalemites in the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, as the first line of defense and an unshakable bulwark against all Israeli colonial plans and ongoing judaization of the city, and calls in this regard for full implementation of OIC resolutions emphasizing support for Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and for strengthening the steadfast resilience of Palestinians, including through implementation of the strategic plan for the development of the vital sectors in Al-Quds, establishing support funds for the holy city within Muslim countries, providing support both to Al-Quds Fund and to the Executive Committee’s Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency, to enable discharge of these two institutions’ mission of driving development across all vital sectors in the blessed city, while preserving the city’s Arab, Islamic and Christian identity, and to strengthen the steadfastness of Palestinians in the face of Israeli judaization measures. The Executive Committee also calls on the Member States, the IDB, along with development funds, civil society institutions as well as the private sector and individuals, to provide the financial support necessary to purchase endangered Palestinian real estate properties in the city of Al-Quds to become waqf properties.
16. Urges OIC Member States who are also members of UNESCO Executive Board to defend and safeguard the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, condemns any attempt to undermine its legal and historical status by any party, and demands sending Monitoring Missions and providing technical advisors to the Old City of Jerusalem and the walls.
17. Invites the Secretary General to take necessary action to expose the Israeli colonial practices in Al-Quds, while emphasizing the dangers they pose for international peace and security.
Related: Alquds
