International conference on Al Quds to launch solidarity fund

An international colloquy to be held in the city of Fes (200 km east of Rabat) this June 4-8 is projecting to launch a fund for the Arab youth solidarity with Al-Quds (Jerusalem), organizers announced.

In a press briefing held Tuesday, members of the colloquium's organizing committee said the event is part of efforts to realize solidarity with the Palestinian people and with the cause of Al-Quds, mainly in the economic field.

The conference is sponsored by the Arab Youth Association, the youth branch of the Moroccan party Socialist Union of Popular Forces, the Moroccan Association of Support to the Palestinian People's Struggle and the General Union of Palestinian Students. Youth associations from several countries are expected to attend the meeting.

In addition to consolidating solidarity with the Palestinian people, the goal of the conference is to "shed light on the economic situation of Al-Quds and the Palestinian people and denounce Zionist acts meant to alter the Arab and Islamic identity of this holy city," said the organizers.

The committee also denounced the huge sums of money injected by Israel in housing projects in the city, such as the payment of two million dollars for a 50 square-meter flat or the imposition of heavy taxes for Palestinians who refuse to sell their land.

The event will also try to draw international attention to the deterioration of historic and religious sites and violations of the Palestinian people's rights.

Organizers explained that the participation of Western youth associations is the best way to transmit these messages and inform international public opinion on the motivations of the Arab side which is advocating tolerance and justice values and those of the "Zionist" side which seeks to alter the identity of the Jerusalem both by force and through economic pressure.

Several Palestinian, Arab and international figures are expected to attend the event.