Jerusalem – Al-Quds Committee declaration – Letter from Morocco

LETTER DATED 4 SEPTEMBER 1980 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE

OF MOROCCO TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF

THE SECURITY COUNCIL

I have the honour to transmit to you herewith the final declaration adopted by the Al Quds Committee at its extraordinary session held at Casablanca (Morocco) under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II from 5 to 7 Shawwal 1400 H (16-18 August 1980).

As Permanent Representative of the host country, the Kingdom of Morocco, whose sovereign is Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, I should be grateful if you would have the text of this declaration distributed as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Mehdi Mrani ZENTAR

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

of Morocco

Annex

FINAL DECLARATION OF THE AL QUDS COMMITTEE, EXTRAORDINARY SESSION,

CASABLANCA, 5-7 SHAWWAL 1400 H – 16-18 AUGUST 1980

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

The extraordinary session of the Al Quds Committee was held under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II at Casablanca on 5, 6 and 7 Shawwal 1400 H (16, 17 and 18 August 1980).

The participants in the meeting of the Committee were His Excellency Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO, and the following members of the Committee:

The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya did not attend the session.

His Majesty Hassan II, as Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, held a limited meeting on the evening of Saturday, 16 August 1980 at the Royal Palace, which was attended by Mr. Yasser Arafat and heads of delegation of member countries of the Committee.

His Majesty delivered an important address in which he described the true historical, political and cultural background to the problem. He referred to the criminal burning of the Al Aqsa mosque and the subsequent convening of the first Islamic Summit in 1969. He stressed that Israel's recent decision to annex the city of Jerusalem was an act of vandalism and piracy aimed at obliterating the Islamic character of the holy city.

His Majesty appealed for the adoption of practical and credible action to take up the challenge made to the Islamic world and to respond to that grave Zionist decision. He also urged the Committee to draw up a programme of action which would attract wide support among those members of the international community that were sympathetic to and undertood the Moslems' priority cause, namely, the liberation of Jerusalem.

Mr. Yasser Arafat, speaking as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, described the painful situation which the people of Palestine were facing courageously, after the exactions perpetrated by the enemy, the profanations of the holy places and the acts of terrorism and violations of human rights. He observed that the object of the enemy, in making his decision, was not only the annexation of the holy city but also, and primarily, the alteration of the holy places of the Islamic religion.

He paid a tribute to the role played by His Majesty, as Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, and to the promptitude with which he had asked the Committee to hold an extraordinary meeting. In so doing, His Majesty had, as usual, shown his willingness to act for the best and for good causes. That was exemplified in the message sent to him by His Majesty, which had been characterized by courtesy and by Islamic and humanist commitment, as was customary in the case of His Majesty.  It was, indeed, that which had led the Islamic countries to make him Chairman of the Committee. Mr. Arafat earnestly appealed to all Arab countries to continue their support for the Palestinian revolution. He stressed the dangers to which the Islamic nation was exposed and the plots that were being woven against it. He commended the Declaration of Taif (Saudi Arabia), issued after the official visit of the President of Iraq to Saudi Arabia with a view to liberating Al Quds by means of a Jihad.

H.R.H. Saud El Faisal, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, drew attention to the danger which the Israeli decision to annex Al Quds posed to Islamic identity, the values of Islam and the Moslem faith, and to the need to deal with the situation by drawing up a clear and effective plan of action to safeguard Moslem interests. He stressed the practical steps already taken by Islamic countries in implementation of the resolutions of earlier Islamic conferences.

Mr. Abdallah Touré, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of Guinea, expressed his country's support and backing for the Al Quds Committee under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II and for His Majesty's efforts in such difficult circumstances, when Israel was again using the language of violence and resorting to a policy of Judaization and of flouting Moslem values and feelings. He had already conveyed to the Committee President Ahmed Sekou Touré's proposal for the formation of a commission, to be presided over by His Majesty the King, as part of the programme of action of the Al Quds Committee.

H.E. Marwan El Kassem, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Jordan, announced that his delegation, too, would submit to the Committee a working paper containing proposals for dealing with the new situation.

The secretariat distributed a message from H.E. Mr. Habib Chatty, Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in which he stated that the aim of the Israeli decision was to present the international community with a new and irreversible fait accompli, encouraging the enemy to continue his policy of final annexation of other occupied Arab territories, such as Al Quds Al Sharif.  He drew attention to the fact that Israel was continuing to defy international law and its instruments, and urged the Islamic States to seek new ways and effective measures and to emphasize the need to change the attitude of certain international circles which appeared to be unaware of the provocative and aggressive practices which Israel consistently pursued.

    A limited group was set up on Sunday morning to study the working papers submitted to the Committee and produced a summary, in the form of a consolidated draft document, which was submitted to the plenary Committee at its meeting in the evening of that day.

FINAL DECLARATION

The Al Quds Committee held its closing meeting on Monday, 7 Shawwal 1400 H (18 August 1980) under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II, and adopted the following final declaration:

     An extraordinary session of the Al Quds Committee was held under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II with the participation, at the request of PLO, of its leader Yasser Arafat. The Committee met at a time when both the question of Al Quds Al Sharif and the question of Palestine were at a particularly critical stage, with the enemy's occupation forces stepping up their terrorist activities against the Palestinian people and continuing their policy of Judaizing and plundering the Holy City. This followed the promulgation by the Israeli Knesset of a "basic law" annexing Jerusalem, under occupation since 1967, to the remainder of Palestine, under occupation since 1948, and proclaiming Jerusalem to be the unified and eternal capital of Israel.

In addition to annexing Al Quds – both sectors included – to make it the capital of the Zionist entity, this new law seeks to exclude the question of Al Quds from any consideration of the question and to rule out any possibility of a decision by Israel to make an unconditional withdrawal. This legislation is also a cover for Israel's rejection of any just political solution to the question of Palestine, in which the city of Al Quds is the element on which any settlement involving the total withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories hinges. The new law likewise confirms Israel's categorical refusal to implement the recent Security Council resolution (476 (1980)), under which all legislative, administrative and other measures which purport to alter the character and status of Al Quds Al Sharif are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith.

The Israeli decision is considered to be the most serious development in the Zionist enemy's escalating campaign against Arab and Islamic Palestine, its rightful heritage and the international system of law. It is considered also to be a challenge and provocation to 2 billion Moslems and Christians throughout the world and to all countries which abide by the Charter of the United Nations, demanding a response from them and prompting them to take effective action to put an end to aggression by the enemy and ensure that the law prevails.

The Arab and Islamic countries intend to meet that serious challenge by reaffirming their commitment to liberate Arab Al Quds and make it the capital of an independent Palestinian State. They consider this commitment to be a national, Arab, Islamic and human duty incumbent on all Arab, Islamic and friendly countries, which must assist the Palestinian people in their struggle to exercise their right to return to their homeland, their right to self-determination and their right to establish a State on their national soil.

In reacting to the racist war of religion declared by zionism through its recent decision, the Arab countries reaffirm their determination to continue the struggle for the liberation of Al Quds Al Sharif from the Zionist yoke, for the struggle reflects a resolute human determination to achieve liberation and is the legitimate duty of any citizen whose homeland is occupied and whose national rights are ravaged.

In observing how much this new Zionist aggression against the Holy City of Al Quds and the Palestinian people has offended the deepest feelings of millions of Moslems, the Arab and Islamic countries undertake to accept the challenge by deciding to use fully all the means at their disposal to ensure the continuation of the heroic struggle being waged by the Palestinian people within and outside their occupied territories and to give them unlimited support until the Holy City is liberated and an independent Palestinian State is established.

The Arab and Islamic countries reaffirm their unshakeable determination to have all means at their disposal used in the struggle against the enemy and to utilize every practical and effective measure to that end. The Committee took the following decisions:

I. AT THE ISLAMIC LEVEL, the Al Quds Committee:

1. Reaffirms the commitment of the Islamic member States to implement forthwith the decisions adopted at the extraordinary session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held recently at Amman, and earlier resolutions of the Islamic Conference;

2. Provides material and moral support for PLO so as to enable it to intensify its armed struggle and consolidate the resistance of the heroic Palestinian people both within and outside occupied Palestine,

3. Invites Arab and Moslem States to use all weapons and means at their disposal in their relations with States which subscribe to, support or encourage the Israeli decision, or participate in or contribute to its implementation either directly or indirectly, in accordance with the joint Iraqi-Saudi Arabian communiqué of Taif. It likewise invites those States to impose a political and economic boycott, which could be applied to:

(a) Countries with diplomatic representatives or missions at Al Quds;

(b) Countries which have transferred or announced the transfer of their diplomatic representatives or missions to Al Quds;

(c) Countries which recognize Al Quds as the capital of Israel;

4. Also invites Arab and Islamic States to approach other States to inform them that any official visit by their leaders to occupied Jerusalem would constitute an act of encouragement and support for the Israeli decision, and to dissuade them from arranging such visits;

5. Instructs the Secretary General of the Islamic Conference to contact member States and invite them to join in the boycott of Israel;

6. Provides its backing and support for the peoples of Lebanon and Palestine in their struggle against the war of extermination relentlessly waged by the Israeli enemy, particularly in southern Lebanon and in Palestinian population centres;

7. Reaffirms the need to establish national associations in member States with a view to mobilizing the Islamic peoples and making them aware of the question of Al Quds and Palestine.

II. AT THE LEVEL OF CONTACTS WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD, the Committee:

8. Calls for the establishment of a committee of heads of State to plan in conjunction with His Majesty The King such preliminary consultations as he may deem appropriate in order:

(a) To deal with new developments concerning the question of Al Quds;

(b)   To invite the countries of Western Europe, Japan and Canada to support the call for Israel's immediate and unconditional withdrawal from occupied Arab and Palestinian territories, including Al Quds, and to invite them publicly to condemn Zionist aggression and take specific measures to that end;

(c) To call on European political parties and fraternal parties members of the Socialist International to expel the Israeli Labour Party from membership by reason of its approval of steps to establish settlements in the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories and its decision to annex Al Quds;

(d) To call on the European countries that facilitate the emigration of Jews to occupied Palestine to put an end to the measures concerned, in view of the fact that such emigration is conducive to the establishment of settlements in the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories, including Al Quds, and serves to encourage Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people;

(e) To invite its members to make every effort among Western countries and Japan, Canada and Australia with a view to securing the widest possible recognition of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and obtaining for it a wide range of support at the diplomatic and political levels;

(f) To request the countries of the non-aligned movement that maintain

relations with Israel to sever diplomatic relations with that country and impose economic sanctions on it;

9. Entrusts, furthermore, to a delegation appointed by the Chairman of the Al Quds Committee the task of establishing contacts with countries that have embassies at Al Quds, conducting a campaign to explain the position of the Islamic States and asking the countries in question to transfer their embassies from Al Quds;

10. Undertakes to take the necessary action to bring about the adoption, in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, of international decisions to apply the sanctions provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter on Israel by reason of its continued occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories and its defiance of decisions adopted by the international community and to continue efforts to have the draft resolution on sanctions against Israel submitted by the Arab and Islamic groups to the Security Council implemented;

11. Urges all States within the international community to shoulder their responsibilities by opposing Israel's challenge to international decisions, specifically by adopting practical measures to repel Israeli aggression and strengthen the Palestinian and Arab struggle and taking a firm position on immediate and unconditional withdrawal from all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories;

12. Calls for intensification of contacts with the Vatican and with Christian countries in order to prevail on them to take a firm stand against the Israeli decision to annex Al Quds;

13.   Reaffirms its decisions to take advantage of the contribution of Lebanon at the national level and of that country's religious organizations in order to establish the necessary contacts to alert public opinion to the question of Al Quds and Palestine;

14. Resolves to take advantage of the human potential that the Arab

communities, particularly the Lebanese community in the United States and the Latin American countries, represent in order to counter the Zionist lobby in those countries;

15. Launches a large-scale information campaign denouncing the Israeli decision and explaining Arab and Islamic rights in Al Quds, concentrating the information campaign at this stage on publicizing the dangerousness and scope of the Israeli decision;

16. Launches a large-scale information campaign on the problems of Palestine and Al Quds directed at United States public opinion in general and United States university circles in particular, in view of their major impact on United States policy;

17. The Al Quds Committee recommends, furthermore, that the forthcoming Islamic Summit Conference should proceed to implement the resolutions adopted by the earlier Islamic Conferences relating to the granting of prompt support and backing to the Arab front-line States and the Palestine Liberation Organization, with a view to developing a global strategy against the enemy and meeting the urgent requirements engendered by the new situation that has arisen on the Arab political scene;

18. The Committee recommends that the resources of the Al Quds Fund should be augmented in order to meet the needs arising from the Palestinian struggle and the resistance of the Palestinian people;

19. The Al Quds Committee recommends that voluntary donations should be collected in all Islamic countries for Palestine and the Al Quds Fund;

20. The Committee recommends that the forthcoming Islamic Summit Conference draw up an effective plan of action for imposing sanctions on Israel at the economic, political and cultural levels and at the level of the mass media in order to change the attitude of certain countries that support Israel and to put an end to the occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories, in view of the fact that their consistent support of the Zionist entity can only harm their interests in their relations with the Islamic world, since it has become clear that the objective of the Zionist entity from now on is to consolidate its occupation and to pursue its expansionist plans, following its decision to annex Al Quds and treat it as its "eternal capital", and bearing in mind in taking such a decision the racist religious war that Israel is waging against the Arab and Islamic countries;

21. Lastly, the Committee recommends that an extraordinary special session of the Ministers for foreign affairs of the Islamic countries on the question of Al Quds be convened on 18 September 1980 in the Kingdom of Morocco.