AL-QUDS DOMINATES MUSLIM DONOR SUMMIT

Baku, 3 Sya’ban 1434/13 June 2013 (MINA) – Muslim donors are meeting in Azerbaijan to discuss ways of protecting Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) against judaization policies, supporting the Palestinian cause against aggressive Israeli occupation.

“We condemn the policy of Israel against Palestine,” Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said in the meeting on Tuesday (11/6), according to OnIslam.net report as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

OIC member-states opened Tuesday a donor conference in Baku to discuss ways of protecting Al-Quds against Israeli policies of judaizing the holy city.

Ihsanoglu said the conference aims to discuss means of financing a strategic plan of the sectoral development of the holy city.

He said the meeting is also meant to highlight that thousands of Palestinian children have no access to education, the public health sector is in a deplorable state, and the population of Al-Quds faces problems with obtaining medical care.

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The meeting is attended by a host of representatives of international organizations, including, ISESCO, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development and the Islamic Development Bank.

Representatives of the OIC member countries; foreign ministers, officials of foreign offices as well as heads and members of diplomatic missions accredited in Baku, are also attending the meeting.

Al-Quds is home to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Islam’s third holiest shrine Al-Aqsa Mosque, and represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel occupied the holy city in the 1967 war and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community or UN resolutions.

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Since then, Israel has adopted a series of oppressive measures to force the Palestinians out of the city, including systematic demolition of their homes and building settlements.

Erasing the remaining history of Arabs and Palestinians in Al-Quds, the Israeli Knesset has adopted a new law that orders Hebraizing all Arabic names of the city’s neighborhoods.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reiterated resolve of the Muslim world to protect Al-Quds. “Jerusalem’s multi-cultural identity must be preserved to stop Judaicizing policies,” he told the attendees, reported Hurriyet Daily News.

“Turkey is making great efforts in this way, and it will continue to do so.Turkey will never leave Jerusalem and the Palestinian people alone and stands by their righteous cause,” he added.

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The top Turkish diplomat blamed Israel for failure to reach a peaceful solution to the Palestinian problem. “The OIC should work harder for Palestinians to reach independence,” Davutoglu said.

“Israel’s illegal settlement activities obstructed peace efforts.” US-sponsored peace talks collapsed in 2010 over Israel’s refusal to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

There are more than 164 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, eating up more than 40 percent of the occupied territory.

The international community considers all settlements on the occupied land illegal. (T/P012/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)