The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly denounced Israel’s persistence in its violations against the Palestinian people, their holy sites and land and criticized the Middle East Quartet’s report on Palestine.
A new Middle East Quartet report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is flawed because it “lacks objectivity,” charged the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) , according to Anadolu Agency.
In a statement, OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani commented on the report, which proposes a negotiated two-state solution as the only way to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine.
“The unabated construction of settlements, the unchecked terror committed by settlers, the Judaization of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and its imposed isolation, the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the apartheid policies of the Israeli authorities and the failure of the international community to enforce its own resolutions related to the Palestinian issue are forming the environment and cause that invite violence, propagate tension and deepen the sense of frustration, injustice and helplessness among Palestinians,” Madani said.
Decrying the way the report by the Quartet – made up of the U.S., the UN, the EU, and Russia – equates the Palestinian people and the Israeli occupiers, Madani said: “The report is not objective while describing Israel’s occupation and its illegal policies which hinder a political solution.”
Madani called on the Middle East Quartet to act as a mediator to halt Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital is East Jerusalem.
Madani also expressed his disappointment over the content of the recent report by the Quartet Committee on the Middle East. The report, Madani said, assigned equal blame on the oppressed Palestinians and their oppressor. ”
In using the term, ‘Palestinian violence’ the report glosses over the fact that the Palestinians are an occupied people, of whom more than 2420 have been killed, some by burning to death, during the last two years alone,” the OIC chief was quoted as saying. He added that “Palestinians have been living under the yoke of a racist occupation for 50 years, collectively punished by destroying their homes and infrastructure, depriving them of water and electricity supplies, and seizing their financial and natural resources.” He also said the Quartet’s report lacked objectivity when it failed to see the Israeli occupation, policies and illegal practices as the main obstacle and fundamental cause that hinder any progress in the political process.
He expressed the need for the Quartet to assume its political, legal and moral responsibility fully and be an honest mediator in sponsoring a multi-track political process based on a specific timeframe, clear international references and definite steps for ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. Madani also deplored the unjustified use of veto power and the submission to the far-right parties in order to prevent any attempt to compel Israel to respect international resolutions and human rights conventions.
The report released on Friday said the expansion of Israeli settlements, attacks on civilians, and the dire humanitarian condition in Gaza are “severely undermining hopes for peace.”
The report also reiterated that a negotiated two-state outcome is the only way to achieve an enduring peace that meets Israeli security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, ends the occupation that began in 1967, and resolves all permanent status issues.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the unified capital of the Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.
