OIC/Jerusalem Cttee – Declaration – Note Verbale from Senegal

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

Note verbale dated 1 December 1978 from the Permanent Representative

of Senegal to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Senegal to the United Nations presents his compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and, on instructions from his Government, has the honour to transmit to him herewith, in Arabic, English and French, the text of the Final Declaration, Decisions and Recommendations of the eighth session of the Jerusalem Committee, held at Jeddah and 20 November 1978.

The Permanent Representative requests the Secretary-General to have the annexed text circulated as an official document of the General Assembly under agenda items 30 and 31.

Final declaration, decisions and recommendations of the

Jerusalem Committee at its eighth session

(19-20 Dul Hajja 1396 – 19-20 November 1978)

1. The Jerusalem Committee held its eighth session at the headquarters of the general Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference at Jeddah on 19 and 20 Dul Hajja, 1398 (19 and 20 November 1978), under the chairmanship of His Excellency Ambassador Fazal Muqeem Khan, Chairman of the Committee, and in the presence of the members of the Jerusalem Committee:

H.E. H. B.R Choudhury, People's Republic of Bangladesh;

H.E. Ezzal Arab Amin, Arab Republic of Egypt;

Mr. Osman Keita, Republic of Guinea;

H.E. S. A. M. Aly Droes, Republic of Indonesia;

H.E. Tharwat Talhouni, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan;

H.E. Jasafar Mu'awiya, Lebanese Republic;

Mr. Mas'ud Abdulal Altir, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya;

H.E. Mohamed Naseri, Kingdom of Morocco;

H.E. Abdel Mohsen Abu Maizer, Palestine Liberation Organization;

H.E. Major General Fazal Muqeem Khan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan;

H.E. Sheikh Samir El Shihabi, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

Mr. Mohamadou Kan, Republic of Senegal;

H.E. Fateh Bashir Bishara, Democratic Republic of the Sudan;

H.E. Abdul Hamid Darkal, Syrian Arab Republic;

Absent:  Representative of the Empire of Iran.

2. The Organization of the Islamic Conference was represented by the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, His Excellency Dr. Amadou Karim Gaye, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, His Excellency Ambassador Kacem Zhiri, and high officials of the Department of Political Affairs.

3. The Committee considered the agenda with special emphasis on the situation in the Middle East and the latest developments concerning the problem of Palestine and Holy Jerusalem,  The Committee listened to the statement of the Secretary-General on the results of the two meetings held by the Islamic Foreign Ministers at New York, on h and 11 October 1978, and the final communique issued at the conclusion of those two meetings, as well as the press conference held at New York by both His Excellency the current Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

4. In addition, the Committee listened to a comprehensive report by the Assistant Secretary-General on the mission of the Delegation of the Jerusalem Fund and the Islamic Solidarity Fund and the latest developments pertaining to the issuing of the Palestine postage stamp.

5. The Committee listened to the viewpoints of the representatives of the member States, who discussed the dangers surrounding the problem of Palestine and Holy Jerusalem because of the current attempts to impose Zionist solutions on the people of Palestine with a view to liquidating its inalienable national rights and desecrating its sanctuaries and who reaffirmed the commitment to the cause of the Palestinian people at the Arab, Islamic and international levels, particularly the resolutions of the Arab Summit Conferences of Algiers and Rabat, and the resolutions of the Islamic Summit and Foreign Ministers' Conferences, especially the Dakar Conference. They explained that the present dangers posed by Zionism and its allies to the cause of Palestine, the Arabs and the Moslems amount to a negation of Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and international legitimacy, which underlines the need to liberate all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories and to guarantee the right of the people of Palestine to return, its right to self-determination and its right to the establishment of its independent State on its national territory under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the people of Palestine within and outside the occupied homeland.

6. The representatives of the member States also reaffirmed the determination of those States to safeguard the full rights of the Arab people of Palestine and Arab and Islamic sovereignty over the Holy City of Jerusalem and to strengthen Arab and Islamic solidarity.

7. After full and comprehensive deliberations, the Jerusalem Committee decided the following:

First.  The Jerusalem Committee reaffirms that it is imperative for all member States to abide fully by the Charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the resolutions of the Summit Conferences and the Conference of Foreign Ministers. It considers the commitment to the Charter, particularly the resolutions pertaining to Palestine and Jerusalem, an Islamic duty that must never be renounced or jeopardized.

Second.  In view of the current dangers surrounding the problem of Palestine and Holy Jerusalem owing to the attempts to impose on the people of Palestine the solutions of the Zionists and their allies, the Jerusalem Committee decides:

(a) To request His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to proceed to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly's debate on the question of Palestine between 27 November and 4 December 1978 and to participate in its deliberations;

(b) To request His Excellency the Secretary-General to convene the Islamic Group at New York in order to secure effective and comprehensive participation in the above-mentioned deliberations abiding by the Charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the resolutions of its conferences;

(c) To entrust the General Secretariat with the task of continuing its contacts and consultations to convene an emergency Islamic Foreign Ministers' Conference, in the light of the call of the Palestine Liberation Organization in that connexion, during the current session of the General Assembly.

Third. The Jerusalem Committee reaffirms the support of the Moslem world by every possible means, for the Palestinian Arab people in its just struggle for the liberation of its country and the regaining of its ,, inalienable national rights under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the people of Palestine within and outside its occupied homeland.

Fourth. The Jerusalem Committee reaffirms the absolute and permanent commitment of the Moslem world to the Arab and Islamic character of Holy Jerusalem and to Arab and Islamic sovereignty over it denounces Zionist and  racist practices in Holy Jerusalem and occupied Palestine; and draws the attention of world public opinion to the continued Zionist and racist occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands, and also to the occupation authorities' pursuit of a policy aimed at the establishment of colonial settlements, at the suppression of liberty, at the oppression of the Palestinian people and at the continued annexation, judaization and alteration of historical, archaeological and cultural landmarks. The Committee further  draws the attention of world public opinion to the fact that the pursuit of  such a policy endangers world peace and constitutes a challenge to Islamic, Arab and international legitimacy.

Fifth. The Jerusalem Committee calls upon all States members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to redouble their efforts in support of the Arab cause, the essence of which is the cause of Palestine.

It also calls upon them to oppose all the solutions that the Zionist enemy and its allies are trying to impose on the Arab nation, at the expense of the Palestinian Arab people and its inalienable national rights.

Sixth.  The Jerusalem Committee salutes the steadfastness of the Palestinian people both inside and outside the occupied homeland and its commitment to the PLO, its sole legitimate representative, and calls upon all the member States and all freedom-loving and justice-loving Powers and States to support politically, materially and morally the resistance of the Palestinian people and of the confrontation States against the Zionist occupation.

Seventh. The Jerusalem Committee salutes the Syrian-Iraqi meeting and considers it an important Islamic and Arab achievement contributing to the strengthening of Arab and Islamic solidarity and to the strengthening of the resistance against the Zionist enemy and its conspiracies. It welcomes and supports that meeting especially since it has taken place at a time of increasing dangers to the Arab and Islamic causes, in the forefront of which is the cause of Palestine and Holy Jerusalem.

The Syrian-Iraqi meeting and the Arab solidarity which became quit clear at the Arab Summit at Baghdad and which was expressed in its final statement constitute an important step in strengthening Arab and Islamic solidarity and help to achieve the objectives of Arabs and Moslems in liberating their land and regaining the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian Arab people.

Eighth.  The Jerusalem Committee stresses that a just peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved except by liberating all the occupied Palestinian and Arab lands, foremost among which is Holy Jerusalem, and by achieving the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including its right to return, to determine its future and to establish its independent State in its national homeland under the leadership of the PLO.

Ninth. The Jerusalem Committee renews its call to all member States which have not yet issued the Palestine postage stamp to do so as soon as possible, according to the relevant resolutions adopted by the Islamic Conferences.

It also puts on record its thanks to the States that have already issued the Palestine stamp and requests the General Secretariat to stress that member States should implement the resolution concerning the issuing of Palestine postage stamp, according to the resolutions adopted by the Ninth Conference of Islamic Foreign Ministers, held at Dakar.

Tenth.  The Jerusalem Committee thanks the delegation of the Jerusalem Fund and the General Secretariat for their efforts during its first tour of some of the member States and calls for the continuation of such efforts and contacts and the completion of the scheduled visits to other countries before the end of 1978.

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