Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 26/02/2024
Mr President, Members of the Court,
I have the honor to appear before you on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to express the confidence that we place in your High Jurisdiction so that, through the advisory opinion requested, you may enlighten the General Assembly of the United Nations in its task.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation comprises fifty-seven member States and is the collective voice of the Islamic World. This intergovernmental organization had been created following the arson attack on the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 1969. Its Charter includes among its objectives our support for the right of the Palestinian people to create their own sovereign State, with al-Qods al-Sharif as its capital.
Accordingly, our organization is particularly attentive to the just struggle of this people and is deeply concerned by the current aggression that Israel, the occupying power, is carrying out against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the vital risk that Israel's operations are posing to them. Hence, OIC held an extraordinary summit in Riyadh on 11 November to discuss this issue. I would like to inform you of the positions taken on this occasion by the Organization that I represent.
Given the seriousness of the situation, we have warned of the consequences of the war being conducted by the Israeli occupiers in the Gaza Strip. We condemn this aggression, which has been going on for nearly five months now, claiming thousands of victims, and which has given rise to massive war crimes and the risk of genocide, as you recognized in your order of 26 January.
We also condemn in the same strongest manner the crimes committed by Israel, the occupying power, and the settlers in the West Bank and in the city of Al-Qods Al-Sharif. We denounce the refusal by Israel, the occupying power, to put an end to its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory and to the multiple violations of the norms of international law that the continuation of this occupation entails. Moreover, we deplore the inability of the Security Council to implement international law so as to halt this spiral of violence and bring justice to the Palestinian people.
It is in this context that we recalled that a just, lasting and comprehensive peace based on the two-State solution is the only way to ensure security and stability for all the peoples of the region and to protect them from cycles of violence and war. In the same spirit, we called on all countries to stop exporting arms and munitions to the occupation authorities, knowing that the army and the settlers are using them against the Palestinian people.
On that occasion we do denounce "... all forms of hatred and discrimination, and all theories that enshrine the culture of hatred and extremism". In addition, we proclaimed the imperative for the international community to take immediate and swift action to put an end to the massacre and targeting of Palestinian civilians, so as to confirm that there is no difference between one life and another and no discrimination on the basis of nationality, race or religion. These are the sine qua non conditions for lasting peace.
We also expect your Court to condemn the accelerated colonization of East Jerusalem and the Israeli attacks on the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Al-Qods.
We therefore hope that the advisory opinion you are about to issue will be an opportunity to remind you, under your authority, of the imperative duty incumbent on Israel, the occupying power, to put an end to its occupation of Palestinian territory, which has lasted for too long, and to make reparation for all the consequences.
Now our counsel, Mrs Chemillier-Gendreau, to whom I would ask you, Mr President, to give the floor, will explain the legal aspects on which the Organization of Islamic Cooperation believes it can provide further clarification.
Thank you for your attention.
