OIC Press Release

Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), expressed his deep concern at the signing by US President George Bush of a law requiring the American Administration to consider Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Israel as this law carries concomitant political and legal implications that are detrimental to Islamic interests.

The OIC Secretary-General deplores the decision, which previous American administrations had refused to take. He considers that its adoption, precisely at this time when Israel is waging a campaign of unprecedented aggression against the Palestinian people, is bound to inflame the sentiments of Muslims in every Islamic country and will not render the task of the United States any easier as a sponsor of the peace process in the Middle East region.

He affirmed that the decision stands in total contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions 465, 476, and 478 of 1980, which deem as null and void the Israeli laws that consider Al-Quds the unified capital of Israel and aim to alter the legal status of the Holy City. The new American decision flies in the face of the agreements signed by the Palestinian and Israeli sides under the patronage of the United States of America in the White House.

The OIC Secretary-General declared that the Organization of the Islamic Conference has taken note of the letter addressed by the American President on this matter to the US Congress and of the statements issued by the White House to the effect that this law is not binding on US foreign policy and that the status of Al-Quds must be determined in the Final Status Talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.