OIC Press Release

Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), has been following with growing concern the continuation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories and the Israeli government’s non-compliance with the latest resolutions of the UN Security Council calling on Israel to put an end to its aggression and immediately pull out of all the occupied Palestinian territories in addition to Israel’s refusal to heed the repeated calls made by American officials in this context in blatant and serious defiance of the will of the international community.

The Secretary–General expresses his deep concern over the Israeli genocidal slaughter and massacres of Palestinian citizens, which constitute genocidal crimes and crimes against humanity. He expresses as well his strong condemnation of the Israeli practices which have created a tragic humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as Israel has prevented humanitarian organizations from carrying out their humanitarian duties in reaching and saving the wounded and burying the dead, prevented ambulances from operating, besieged hospitals and cut off water supplies and electric power from hospitals, houses and homes, and laid siege for days on end to civilians who were kept under curfew on top of other brutal measures that are in flagrant contradiction with the conventions governing the treatment of civilians under occupation, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Secretary-General also expresses his strong denunciation and condemnation of Israel’s persistent use of lethal weapons of destruction in its arbitrary strikes at civilian areas and his strong condemnation of its violations and desecrations of Christian and Islamic holy places in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the violations that took place at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and at the Lutheran Church, and the destruction of the mosques in Nabuls, Toul Karam, and other towns.

The Secretary-General further condemns the Israeli measures of besieging Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and destroying his headquarters. He considers that these practices constitute a blatant attack on all the values governing international relations and reaffirms that the Palestinian authority, headed by President Yasser Arafat, is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The Secretary-General exhorts the Islamic Ummah to take a firm and resolute stand vis-à-vis this grave aggression and to defend the Palestinian people at this hour of dire need by extending to them all forms of assistance. He calls on the United Nations Security Council to use all means at its disposal to promptly and fully implement its latest resolutions—namely Resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002)—so as to guarantee Israel’s withdrawal from all the occupied Palestinian territories and end the butchery and grave violations that are claiming the lives of the Palestinian people.

The Secretary-General also urges on the American government the necessity of imposing the demands it has made of the Israeli government promptly and without delay. He also appeals to the Vatican officials to save the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem from the Israeli threats of invading it and to prevent Israel from perpetrating horrendous massacres there.

The OIC Secretary-General expresses his deep alarm and apprehension that this grave situation may lead to widening the scope of the conflict and thus result in an unpredictable and terrible consequences. Hence, it is incumbent upon all officials to deploy unrelenting efforts to avert such dangers by ending the Israeli aggression and securing Israel’s immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories.