JERUSALEM CHOSEN AS ISLAMIC TOURISM CAPITAL FOR 2016

image: Ma'an — **A general view of the Al-Aqsa compound.**(MaanImages/file)

Ramallah, 8 Sha’ban 1435/6 June 2014 (MINA)- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has chosen Jerusalem as the capital of Islamic tourism for 2016, Palestinian officials said Thursday (5/6).
According to Ma’an News Agency monitored by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), PA minister of religious affairs Mahmoud Habbash said, the decision is a step towards breaking Israel’s siege of the city’s Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The fact that Israel tries to hide the Arab and Islamic identity of the city and builds settlements will not change the fact that “Jerusalem is the religious and political capital of Palestine,” he added.

Habbash said he hopes Arab and Islamic delegates would visit Jerusalem and its holy sites.

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The 1st OIC International Forum on Islamic Tourism was held in Indonesia on 2-3 June, The conference was attended by the OIC Secertary General H.E Iyad Ameen Madani, ministers of the OIC Countries, international businessmen, including a delegation of Japanese businessmen although not of OIC members.

East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 by Israeli military forces and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community. (T/Nidiya/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)