Islamic countries called to back Jerusalem Fund
Palestine, Economics, 6/2/2000

The preparatory meeting to the Islamic foreign ministers' conference that wound up works here earlier this week called on Islamic countries to back Bayt Mal Al-Quds (OIC Jerusalem Fund).

The meeting, which adopted a set of draft resolutions, urged Islamic countries, financial institutions, funds, chambers of trade and industry and businessmen to help Jerusalem Fund carry out housing, health and educational projects in Jerusalem and to preserve the Arab-Islamic identity of the holy city.

The Casablanca-based Bait Al Mal, set up during the Al-Quds Committee's 16th session in March 1997 in Rabat, seeks to preserve the Arab and Islamic heritage in the holy city of Al Quds and to foil Israeli attempts to judaize the city and alter its demography and architecture.

They called the Vatican to join in the struggle against the attempts to judaize the holy city in a bid to secure coexistence between religions and to press for the implementation of the UN resolutions stipulating Israel's withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied in 1967, including Jersualem.

They voiced appreciation for the accord concluded last February between the Palestinian authorities and the Vatican, rejecting all attempts and unilateral decisions to distort the identity of the holy city.

Participants also denounced Israel's initiative to hold the meeting of the international bookshops union in Jerusalem and urged the union to boycott the meeting and to participate instead in the congress of bookshops associations and unions slated to be held in Cairo on August 12.

The Jeddah meeting hailed the move made by King Mohammed VI-during the Africa-Europe summit in Cairo last April-- to cancel the debts owed by least developed African countries to Morocco and to exempt their products from all customs duties, calling other OIC members to follow suit.

The draft resolutions adopted by the Jeddah meeting will be submitted to the foreign ministers' conference scheduled for June 27 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Previous Stories:
  Jerusalem fund needs money   (5/31/2000)
  Arab League calls for establishing an international court to try Israeli war criminals   (5/19/2000)
  Draft resolutions of the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut   (3/9/2000)

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