Arafat calls Islamic countries to oppose Judaization of Jerusalem
Palestine-Regional, Politics, 2/15/2000

President of Palestine Yasser Arafat asserted in Marrakesh Monday that the Barak government has built much more settlements and made much more attempts to Judaize the holy city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) than Netanyahu's Cabinet did in three years.

Arafat, who called Islamic countries to oppose the "rampant Judaization" of the holy city, said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Cabinet started building 4,128 new housing units during the past three months, i.e. more than the number of units built by foremer Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in three years.

"A bold stand on the part of the Islamic nation is necessary to say no to the expulsion of inhabitants, to the construction of more settlements and to the rampant Judaization of the city and holy shrines there," Arafat said before the opening of the first session of the administrative board of the Bait Mal-Al quds Agency which convened in the city of Marrakesh, some 330 km south of Rabat.

Bayt Mal Al-Quds, based in Casablanca, was created upon the proposal of the late King Hassan II, during the 15th session of the Al-Quds committee in January 1995.

The agency will be raising funds from the OIC member countries, institutions, private enterprises, associations, Muslim and Arab communities and individuals. It was created to save the holy city of Al-Quds from Israeli attempts to obliterate the Islamic and Arab identity of the city, protect the rights of Palestinians, support the city's Arab inhabitants and safeguard its civilization and religious, cultural and architectural legacy.

Touching on the role of King Mohammed VI, President Arafat said he is confident that the king will continue the work of his late father, who devoted his life to the service of the holy city.

Arafat called the Islamic and Arab world to back the Palestinian people in facing up the settlement machine that destroys the land, the people, history and sacred shrines and to adopt a historic bold stand to drive back the lethal threat endangering the occupied city. Danger is threatening the holy city and Palestine from all parts, he said.

He appealed for confronting the occupying aggressor who does not hesitate to resort to the worst repression, persecution and aggression means and said despite all the efforts made for the sake of peace, security and stability all across the Middle East, reality on the field in Al-Quds and in Palestine is contrary to all the noble criteria of peace.

He said the situation is imputed to the Israeli government which insists on Judaizing the holy city, implementing its settlement policy and tearing apart our homeland and preventing the Palestinian people from exercising their right to self-rule and statehood.

After he pointed out that Al-Quds, the capital of Palestine was occupied in 1967 and was subject to international resolutions, President Arafat renewed the Palestinian people's resolve to recover their land and to set up an independent state with Al-Quds as its capital, insisting again and again that Al-Quds is the capital of Palestine.

Touching on the peace negotiations, President Arafat said Israel's shilly-shallying in implementing the agreements signed by the two sides led the negotiations to the current deadlock that he described as "dangerous."

After he stated that Israel refuses to abide by all international conventions and resolutions, be they issued by the Security Council, the Arab and Islamic summits, the Non-Aligned Movement or the Al-Quds committee, Arafat said besides the backing to the Palestinian people's struggle, it is necessary to stage a large-scale campaign to push the whole international community, and especially the peace process sponsors, to shoulder their responsibility.

The Palestinian president also renewed backing to Syria and Lebanon. "We deem that the liberation of their lands will contribute to the consolidation of peace on the Palestinian track," he said.

In his opening speech, King Mohammed VI had said that the Judaization of the holy city of Al-Quds will not serve peace and will not provide an atmosphere of security and stability in the region and urged all associations, non-governmental organizations and individuals from all over the world to extend assistance to the fund.

The administrative board includes the finance ministers of the member countries of the Al-Quds Committee as well as the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Palestine's ambassador to Rabat, Abu Marwane, who is the agency's chairman.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Quds Judaization does not serve peace, King Mohammed VI says   (2/14/2000)
  Arab tour by Arafat   (2/11/2000)
  Administrative board of Bayt Mal al-Quds agency convenes in Morocco next week   (2/10/2000)

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