Communiqué from the OIC regarding the grave situation in the oPt – OIC letter, annex

Identical letters dated 11 July 2014 from the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

In my capacity as a Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), I have the honour to attach hereto the text of the Final Communiqué of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of OIC on the grave situation in the occupied State of Palestine, including Al-Quds al-Sharif, which was adopted in Jeddah, on 10 July 2014 (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter and its annex as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 35, 36 and 52, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Abdallah Al-Mouallimi

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

Annex to the identical letters dated 11 July 2014 from the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

Final Communiqué of the Expanded Extraordinary Meeting of the Executive Committee at the Level of Foreign Minister on the Grave Situation in the Occupied State of Palestine, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif

The Executive Committee

Convened in its expanded extraordinary meeting at the level of foreign minister, held at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) General Secretariat in Jeddah on 10 July 2014 (11 Ramadan 1435),

Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and pursuant to the OIC resolutions on the issue of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif,

Paying tribute to the Palestinian people's resistance in the face of the Israeli aggressions and reiterating its support for the Palestinian people's just struggle to recover their inalienable national rights, including the concretization of the sovereignty of this independent State of Palestine with Al-Quds/Jerusalem as its capital,

Affirming that the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, which encompass Gaza and the West Bank, including Eastern Al-Quds, constitute a single geographic unit,

Following closely the barbaric military campaign executed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip through the use of war planes and heavy weapons targeting hundreds of positions in the besieged Gaza Strip, most of them residential homes occupied by civilians, civilian facilities, infrastructure and farming areas, which has led to the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including many children, women and the aged,

Condemning in the strongest terms the heinous crimes of abduction and assassination perpetrated against the Palestinian youth Mohamed Abu Kdhir at the hands of extremist settlers in the occupied city of Al-Quds, expressing its condolences and deep consolation to the Palestinian people on the child's martyrdom, endorsing the massive international condemnation of this outrageous crime, holding Israel, the occupying authority, fully responsible for the fallouts of such barbaric acts and crimes perpetrated by the extremist settlers against the Palestinian people, as the party that aided their establishment on the occupied Palestinian territories,

Reaffirming that the continued Israeli crimes and exactions in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the military aggression, the judaization of Al -Quds Al-Sharif, the siege and the settlement activities, constitute grave war crimes and violations of international law and a blatant infraction of the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy,

Reaffirming that the brutal military aggression which Israel, the occupying authority, continues to perpetrate all across the occupied Palestinian territories, forms a blatant violation of international law, and a serious threat to the security and stability of the entire region,

Having reviewed a report submitted by the State of Palestine on the grave situation in Palestine and the violations perpetrated by Israel, the occupying authority, in the city of Al-Quds/Jerusalem, and its aggressions against the civilian inhabitants and the sacred places including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and having listened to H.E. the Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine and the interventions of Their Excellencies the ministers, heads of delegations and the OIC Secretary General;

Strongly condemns the ceaseless brutal Israeli raids of the Gaza Strip, with the use of fighter jets and heavy weapons, which destroyed scores of homes and buildings over the heads of their inhabitants, and claimed the lives of dozens of martyred Palestinian civilians and maimed many others.

Calls on the international community, and in particular the United Nations Security Council, to shoulder its responsibility in preserving international peace and security and taking every necessary measure to put an end to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to ensure Israel's abidance by the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law.

Calls on the OIC Member States to act in favour of the early convening of an emergency open session of the United Nations Security Council to examine the current Israeli violations and aggressions against the Palestinian people, their homeland and their sacred places, and to put an end to the Israeli aggression and provide the necessary protection for the Palestinian people.

Requests the OIC Ambassadorial Group in Geneva to act in favour of the convening of an emergency session of the Human Rights Council with a view to setting up a special international task force to investigate Israel's crimes and violations against Palestinian human rights and its continued aggressions against the Palestinian civilian inhabitants.

Invites the Secretary General, in coordination with the chairmanships of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers and with Palestine and the chairmanship of Al-Quds Committee, to set the established ministerial Contact Group in motion without delay, including initiating contacts with the influential international parties, acting for an immediate end to the Israeli aggressions and conveying the OIC's message on the city of Al-Quds/Jerusalem.

Invites the State of Palestine to complete the process of its accession to all international organizations and Covenants, and more particularly to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.

Calls on the international community to include the leaders of the settlers and the extremist settler communities, including "Price Tag" and "Hilltop Youth" factions, on the list of terrorists and criminals wanted for international prosecution by the states of the world and the international community organizations, and underlines the need to pursue these crimes legally in all international fora and relevant institutions concerned with international criminal law.

Calls on the Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to convene a meeting to define the measures that need to be adopted to impose observance of the Convention in the occupied State of Palestine, including Eastern Al-Quds/Jerusalem, and to take the necessary practical measures to put an end to the ceaseless violations and crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation and the settler militias against the civilian Palestinian citizens.

Strongly condemns the settlement activities of Israel, the occupying authority, and the transfer of its citizens to the occupied Palestinian territories, including Eastern Al-Quds, which constitute the main reason behind the crimes perpetrated by the settlers and which are war crimes under international humanitarian law and violations of resolutions of the United Nations, particularly of the United Nations Security Council, as well as obstacles that stand in the way of the resumption of a credible peace process and that jeopardize the chances of achieving the two-state solution.

Strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli acts of incitement, aggression and violation in occupied Eastern Al-Quds and particularly in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stresses that the continuation of these racist acts is bound to have serious repercussions on the security and stability of the entire region.

Calls on the international community to take immediate action to compel Israel to lift the illegal and inhuman Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

Reiterates its support for the National Consensus Government under the leadership of the Palestinian president, and calls on the international community to provide it with the necessary assistance to ensure its success, and not to allow Israel to undermine the Palestinian government, including through its withholding of the collected Palestinian taxes.

Calls for a prompt international intervention to end the Israeli abusive detention campaign, which has affected, over the past few days, more than 800 Palestinians, including parliamentarians and recently liberated prisoners, including pre-Oslo prisoners, and to act for their release. The Committee also underlines the illegitimacy of the occupation courts and their rulings. In this regard, it reiterates that the freedom of all the detainees, foremost the Members of Parliament, is a basic condition for the achievement of peace, and expresses, accordingly, its full support for the international campaign for the freedom of the leader Marwan Al-Barghouthi and all the other prisoners, and for the Robben Island Declaration.

Calls for the boycott of the companies that operate in the colonial settlements established on the occupied Palestinian territories, settlements that constitute a violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and an infraction against United Nations resolutions and international law, in accordance with the list of companies submitted to the OIC by the Palestinian government.

Calls for the constitution of an international legal team in the OIC to conclude and follow up the setback with regard to the criminal cases of Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court and conclude the State of Apartheid case against the current Israeli government, and for the necessary budgetary allocation to be provided for such a team.

Requests the Secretary General to conduct a comprehensive review of all Summit and Council of Foreign Ministers resolutions on Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds Al-Sharif, the Palestinian question and the Arab-Israeli conflict, monitor those that are yet to be implemented and follow them up with relevant Member States.

Requests the Secretary General to follow up Member States' commitment to the concept paper on supporting Al-Quds that was approved at the 40th Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in Conakry.

Reaffirms the importance of continued close coordination and cooperation between the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States, the Non-Aligned Movement, the other international organizations and the international community, to ensure a comprehensive follow-up of the grave situation witnessed in the occupied Palestinian territories as a result of the escalated Israeli aggression, and to take the necessary steps to compel Israel to stop these brutal actions.

Invites Member States, OIC institutions and Arab and Islamic funds to provide urgent support for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the health sector to confront the serious shortages of resources, drugs and medical equipment resulting from the unjust Israeli blockade of, and unceasing military attack against, the Gaza Strip.

Expresses appreciation for the efforts exerted by the Arab Republic of Egypt to end the Israeli aggression and achieve calm; commends the decision to open Rafah crossing to receive the wounded and provide the necessary treatment to them, and invites Member States to contribute urgently to the provision of the needed health care to the wounded and extend assistance to the inhabitants of the Strip.

Agrees to the Committee addressing individual messages, through the OIC Secretary General, to each of the five permanent Member States of the United Nations Security Council, the Secretary-General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the President of the European Union to denounce the recent Israeli escalation in the occupied territories, and to call for prompt action to stop the aggressive Israeli military campaign against the Palestinian citizens, and for the adoption of the necessary steps to put an end to the said hostile practices, which constitute a violation of the principles of human rights, in addition to calling on them to shoulder their responsibilities in preserving international peace and security and in compelling Israel to abide by international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.

The participating delegations expressed thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for convening the meeting and for its wise chairmanship thereof.

The participating delegations expressed thanks to the Secretary General for efforts he exerted to prepare for the meeting, which contributed to its success and to the achievement of its objectives.

Mandates the Secretary General to assume coordination such as to ensure the proper follow-up and execution of the provisions of this declaration.