NEW YORK, July 12 (KUNA) -- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Tuesday deplored the recent Quartet report on the Middle East question for "equalizing between responsibilities of those under occupation and the occupiers." The OIC, in a statement read on its behalf by the State of Kuwait acting Permanent Delegate to the United Nations, Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Jarallah, at a Security Council session on the Middle East, said the Quartet report, which lacks a balanced and firm language, "provides a camouflage for Israel that has decided to build hundreds of settlements in the vicinity of the occupied East Jerusalem, only two days after its release." It called for adopting a firm and unbiased approach to reach a settlement to the conflict, through ending the Israeli occupation.
The statement, read by the Kuwaiti envoy, urged the council to work seriously and urgently "to tackle this tragedy which has dragged on for a long time." "Israel, the occupation force, continues systematic killing and extra-legal executions against the unarmed Palestinian people who have been reeling under the military occupation for more than five decades, where the number of civilian Palestinians killed by the occupation troops and the radical Israelis and settlers over the past few months reached 216 including 50 children," the OIC statement said.
The OIC condemned the Israelis' aggression and arson attack on the Palestinians as well as the emerging acts, perpetrated by the "terrorist organization Daesh," alluding to the so-called Islamic State (IS) in other parts of the Middle East.
Such breaches are tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity that won't be forgotten with time and those who have been committing them must be brought to international justice, stressed Al-Jarallah, citing the OIC statement.
He expressed profound concern at Israel's policy of falsifying the genuine Arab-Palestinian identity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and changing its demographic status, through "the illegitimate takeover of Palestinian lands and executing policies that are tantamount to racial cleansing against the Palestinians." Al-Jarallah also condemned recurring attacks on worshippers at Muslim and Christian prayer places, which foment violence, radicalism and racism, called anew for lifting the siege on Gaza and reiterated solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to attain their legitimate rights. (end) mao.rk