Islamic countries decide to end all political contact with Israel
Regional-Palestine, Politics, 5/28/2001

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) called on Saturday its members to sever political and economic ties with Israel as long as the Zionist regime carries on its aggressions against the Palestinian people and authority.

In their final statement, the OIC foreign ministers who held in Doha an extraordinary session said all member countries that had established or planned to start relations with Israel were called to suspend these ties and close all missions and offices in Israel. The statement also asks for an end to economic relations and to all forms of normalization with the Jewish state until the latter complies with United Nations resolutions related to Palestine, to Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The meeting also said Islamic countries should coordinate with Arab states their drives to boycott Israel.

The OIC ministerial meeting appealed the United Nations to force Israel to pay reparation for the moral and material losses resulting from its aggression against the Palestinian people.

"The conference calls on the United States to promptly intervene to stop Israeli aggression and prevent the Israeli government from continuing to use lethal and internationally banned weapons against civilians," the document said.

The OIC foreign ministers also requested the UN to set up an International Criminal Tribunal where Israeli officials, whom OIC holds responsible of war crimes, will stand trial as war criminals.

The meeting insisted that these criminals "should be prosecuted, in the same way as in similar cases," the final statement said. The OIC also agreed to entrust Qatar as Chairman of the Ninth Islamic Summit Conference to contact UN Security Council permanent members and express the Islamic Ummah's (community's) call for an immediate halt of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.

On financial aid, the OIC called on its members to allocate emergency funding to the Palestinian health and educational sectors.

Morocco was represented at the meeting by foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, who deplored the silence of the international community over the massacres perpetrated by Israel and the subsequent despair and frustration feelings that lead to more violence. Benaissa also stressed that statements on solidarity with Palestine are no longer enough and urged the Islamic countries to make of the backing to the Palestinian people a commitment and a duty.

The head of the Moroccan diplomacy also recalled that king Mohammed VI, who chairs the OIC's Al-Quds committee, has repeatedly expressed the Islamic nation's clear stance against the barbarous and inhuman acts committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and the frequent violations of holy sites in Al Quds. He added that the sovereign held contacts with several world leaders and international organizations calling them to interfere to end Israel's abuses.

Previous Stories:
  Arab-African ministerial conference condemns Israeli ruthless repression against Palestinian children   (5/24/2001)
  Arab group at the UN meets today   (5/22/2001)
  Palestine: Arab follow-up committee calls for emergency meeting of UN Security Council   (5/21/2001)

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