The Jeddah-seated OIC headquarters hosted a ministerial-level open-ended extraordinary meeting on Wednesday 17 July 2019, convened by the OIC Executive Committee, to consider the Israeli violations in the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdelaziz Al-Assaf, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, chair of the current OIC summit.
In his address at the inaugural session, the OIC Secretary General, Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen extended his thanks to the headquarter state, the Kingdom of Saud Arabia, represented in the person of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, for having facilitated the convening of the OIC executive committee at such a short notice.
The Secretary General said that the meeting was being held against the background of the escalated Israeli illegal policies aimed at Judaizing the City of Al-Quds, obliterating its historic features, altering its legal and historic status and isolating it from its Palestinian environment, and more particularly the recurrent Israeli aggressions targeting the Holy Mosque of Al-Aqsa through repeated incursions and closure of its gates.
Al-Othaimeen called for action to expose the Israeli practices which pose serious threat to international peace and security in view of what the City of Al-Quds/Jerusalem is witnessing and the undermining of chances to achieve a peaceful settlement based on the two-state solution. He further underlined the need for the international community to engage in a political process under multi-party international sponsorship, with the aim to achieve an end to the Israeli colonialist occupation.
The Secretary General went on to say that in the face of the Israeli provocations in Al-Quds/ Jerusalem, it was imperative to build up political action, through actual contributions on the ground for the execution of developmental plans and programs for the City’s benefit.
On his part, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, stated that the Kingdom, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, holds the Palestinian cause at the forefront of its concerns and stresses its unwavering support for the Palestinian people to recover their legitimate rights and establish their independent state on the borders of 1967 with Eastern Al-Quds/ Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
He further noted that the Kingdom is committed to the preservation of the authentic, historic, legal and religious status of Eastern Al-Quds/ Jerusalem and the Islamic shrines there and in particular the Holy Mosque of Al-Aqsa.
As for H.E. Riyad Al-Maliki, Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine, he stated that Al-Quds was facing the most serious onslaught since the beginning of the Israeli colonialist occupation. He drew attention to Israeli’s ever-expanding colonialist ambitions, as clearly manifested through the declarations of Israeli officials who repeatedly confirm Israel’s intention to annex, illegally, the illegitimate settlements established on the occupied Palestinian territories, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif.