Foreign Ministers of member countries in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) strongly condemned Israeli's policy of refusing to conform to the UN Security Council resolution No. 497 for 1981 on the occupied Syrian Golan.
In the closing statement of the OIC Foreign Ministers Annual Coordination Meeting which was held at the UN headquarters in New York, the Ministers denounced Israel's policies of annexing, building settlements, confiscating lands, diverting water resources, and imposing the Israeli nationality on the Syrian citizens of the occupied Golan.
The Ministers demanded that Israel withdraw completely from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of June 4, 1967 according to the UN Security Councils resolutions No. 242 and 338, the land-for-peace principle, the Madrid Conference reference, and the Arab Peace Initiative.
They reiterated their demands that Israel immediately conform to the 4th Geneva Convention on protecting civilians at times of war and apply the Convention's provisions on Syrian detainees in the occupied Syria Golan, affirming the need for Israel to release all the Syrian detainees from the Golan, some of whom have been detained for over 25 years.
The Ministers denounced the US administration's decision to impose economic sanctions on Syria, reiterating their rejection of the so-called "Syria Accountability Act," saying that this act is null and void and that it represents a blatant overstepping of international law and UN resolutions and shows flagrant bias towards Israel.
They affirmed solidarity with Syria and appreciation of its stance which calls for resorting to dialogue and diplomacy in international relations to resolve all disagreements, calling on the US to reconsider its position towards the Act as soon as possible and annul all resolutions in regards to it.
The Ministers reiterated that the issue of Jerusalem is central to the Arab and Islamic nations, stressing the need to defend the Islamic and Christian sanctities in it and condemning the constant aggression on these holy places.
They expressed deep concern and condemnation of the escalating Israeli practices of settlement, transporting more Israeli settlers, building the apartheid wall, the illegal digging under al-Aqsa Mosque, the demolition of Palestinians' homes, eviction of Palestinian families, confiscation of Palestinian lands, homes and possessions, and depriving Palestinians from the right to live in Jerusalem.
The Ministers pointed out that all of these practices aim at emptying the city illegally of its Palestinian inhabitants, calling for taking immediate action to stop them as they constitute a blatant violation of international law, the 4th Geneva Convention, and UN relevant resolutions.
The meeting stressed the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland and rejected any plans to relocate them, demanding that Israel halt all settlement activities and cease the construction of the apartheid wall, in addition to condemning the collective punishment imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people, particularly the siege on Gaza, calling for lifting the siege and beginning the reconstruction of Gaza.
The Ministers demanded to take serious steps to ensure that justice is served regarding the Israeli crimes against Palestinian citizens in Gaza, voicing strong denouncement of the Israeli aggression on Freedom Flotilla which resulted in the death and injuring of dozens of supporters who were on board.
In this regard, they welcomed the UN Secretary General's forming of an investigating committee in this regard and welcomed the Human Rights Council fact-finding mission.
The meeting affirmed support for Lebanon in liberating the rest of its occupied lands, strongly condemning the Israeli violation of Lebanon's sovereignty including the Israeli spy networks in Lebanon.
The Ministers expressed full support of Sudan and the efforts to achieve true national reconciliation and peace in it, in addition to expressing full support to the unity, stability and security of Yemen, denouncing all attempts at undermining them.
They also denounced and rejected the attempts to link Islam to terrorism, affirming that the struggle of peoples under foreign occupation in order to claim their rights of self-determination and freedom is not a terrorist act.
The meeting called for making the Middle East free of nuclear weapons in accordance to UN resolutions, warning against the repercussions of Israel's continuing refusal to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and subject its nuclear facilities to the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Ministers also welcomed the joint declaration issued in Tehran on May 17 by the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil on the exchange of nuclear fuel, calling on the international community to support this declaration and capitalize on the positive atmosphere it created in order to reach comprehensive agreements on all aspects of this issue in the future.
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