Muslim and world experts discuss Jerusalem's future
Regional-Morocco, Politics, 9/30/1998

Several Arab, Muslim and international experts will meet next February 23-25 in the Moroccan city of Casablanca to discuss the future of the Arab city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), and Israel's increasing Judaization policy.

The encounter will be sponsored by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the European Commission, the Arab League and the World Islamic League.

The theme of the colloquy was chosen in view of several considerations, especially Israel's plans seeking to Judaize the holy city, erase its arab and islamic landmarks and alter its demographic composition, said Saleh Bakr Al-Tayar, Chairman of the Euro-Arab Studies Center.

The Israeli plans are implemented on a daily basis through the construction of settlements, the expulsion of the city's arab inhabitants and various other measures imposed on the Palestinians, including the restriction of the right to build houses, Al-Tayar added.

The projected colloquy will debate ways to counter the Israeli government's decision to enlarge the area of the Jerusalem municipality, which represents a blatant violation of the Oslo Accords, he said.

The future of the holy city was chosen as a theme for the encounter is justified by the U.S Congress decision to transfer in 1999 the American embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, which will mean a backing to Israel's intention to make of the city its eternal capital, Tayar added.

The Paris-based Euro-Arab Studies Center decided to devote all the colloquy's sessions to the future of Jerusalem in the presence of several world personalities directly involved in the Middle-East peace process, including Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Al-Tayar underlined that President Arafat is determined to proclaim an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Tayar added that Arafat will have the total support of the Arab-Islamic world and of Europe in this undertaking.

The colloquy will be an opportunity for participants to engage in objective discussions that will be crowned with practical proposals destined to help the Arab, Muslim and international decision-makers adopt adequate decisions, he said.

Participants in the encounter will set a committee that will be in charge of activating the Al-Quds Bait Al-mal (Jerusalem Fund), aimed at raising funds for the preservation of the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem.

The Colloquy's proceedings will revolve around several axes, including "the status of Al-Quds in the monotheist religions," "Al-Quds in international accords and legislation," "the future of al-quds in international diplomacy" and "the role of investments and development projects in safeguarding Al-Quds identity."

Previous Stories:
  Israeli soldiers out of Aqsa mosque, demands muslim leader   (8/26/1998)
  Jerusalem committee calls for halting normalization with Israel   (7/31/1998)
  Three-way Cairo summit warns against Judaizing Jerusalem   (7/6/1998)

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