Arab News

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday affirmed that the Kingdom’s support for the Palestinian people stems from its deep belief in the importance of the Palestinian cause, the permanent representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation said.

Dr. Saleh Al-Suhaibani said that the cause represented “the main pillar of the OIC’s work, an important axis of its interests, and a sense of duty dictated by its firm belief, conscience, and affiliation to its Arab and Islamic nation,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He reiterated the Kingdom’s call for the need to “intensify international efforts to end the conflict, enhance the stability of the entire region, and the Palestinian people who, unfortunately, still suffer from obtaining legitimate rights.”

His comments came during an extraordinary meeting of the open-ended executive committee in Jeddah on Tuesday to discuss the Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, held at the request of the Palestinian and Jordanian delegations and in coordination and consultation with Saudi Arabia, the current OIC summit chairman and chairman of the executive committee.

Al-Suhaibani, who also chaired the meeting — in the presence of OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha — said the incident “a few days ago in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in terms of the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli extremists, whatever their characteristics, cannot be seen in isolation from the events that took place two decades ago when a senior Israeli official did the same.”

He said this resulted in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, stressing that such dangerous developments require the international community to quickly resolve the current situation to avoid regional conflicts and confrontations.

“The Israeli occupation authorities warn against changing the historical and legal status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Kingdom affirms its firm position on the need to provide full protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and stop serious violations and provocations in it,” Al-Suhaibani said.

Saudi Arabia “holds those authorities fully responsible for any results or repercussions regarding the provocative policies and practices they take in the city of Jerusalem and the assault on its people and sanctities, as they ultimately undermine international peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms in respect of religious sanctities,” he said.

Al-Suhaibani highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts toward the Palestinian cause, reiterating the centrality of this issue to the Arab and Islamic nations, and the Kingdom’s full standing by the Palestinian people.

He said “these blatant attacks constitute a provocation to millions of Muslims, and fuel conflict, extremism and instability in the entire region, in addition to being a flagrant violation of the relevant international resolutions.”

Al-Suhaibani pointed to the Kingdom’s constant endeavor to support all efforts aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, in a way that enables them to establish an independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Kingdom called on the international community to take immediate action and compel Israel to stop these provocative practices in order to achieve justice for the Palestinian people.