OIC conference communiqué praises Jordan’s pro-Palestine efforts

AMMAN — The 14th summit conference of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has commended the Jordanian efforts and the role of His Majesty King Abdullah, Custodian of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, in defending, protecting and preserving the city and its Islamic and Christian holy shrines.

The conference, in its final communiqué issued on Saturday, also praised King Abdullah’s role in supporting the steadfastness of Jerusalem’s Arab Palestinian inhabitants on their land against illegal Israeli violations and measures aimed at changing the Arab, Islamic and Christian identity of the city, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The conference renewed its rejection of all Israeli attempts to undermine the historical Hashemite custodianship reaffirmed by the important agreement co-signed by His Majesty and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman on March 31, 2013.

It also commended UNESCO’s pro-Jerusalem resolutions, including the agreement on the definition of the “Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Qudsi Al Sharif” as identical terms.

The statement also affirmed that Bab Al Magharibeh hill is an integral part of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and the right of the Jordanian Al Quds Endowments and Al Aqsa Affairs Department, considered as the only body in charge of the supervision of the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque, to manage, restore, preserve and govern access to the Al Haram Al Sharif.

The conference reemphasised the centrality of the cause of Palestine and Jerusalem for the Muslim Ummah, reaffirming its principled and continued all-level support for the Palestinian people to regain their inalienable legitimate national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of the independent and sovereign state of Palestine along the 1967 borders, with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital.

It also reaffirmed the need to protect the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in accordance with Resolution 194 and to roundly counter any denial of these rights.

The conference affirmed rejection and strong condemnation of any illegal and irresponsible decisions to acknowledge Al Quds as the alleged capital of Israel, the occupying power, and considered such decision null and void and an affront to the legal, historical and national rights of the Palestinian people and the Islamic Ummah.

The conference reaffirmed the OIC member states’ support for the cause of Palestine and Al Quds Al Sharif, the central cause of the Ummah, in international forums, including by voting for relevant resolutions at all international organisations.

The conference called for Israel’s full withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan to the borders of June 4, 1967, in accordance with Security Council Resolutions Nos. 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the principle of “land for peace”, the terms of reference of the Madrid Peace Conference and the Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002.