OIC blasts Israeli decision to evict Palestinian lawmakers from Jerusalem

The largest pan-Islamic group condemned on Monday an Israeli decision to expel four Palestinian lawmakers from their home city of Jerusalem.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary- General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the Israeli move "constituted an aggression against the freedom and rights of the elected deputies of the (Palestinian) people," a statement by the Jeddah-based body said.

Israel announced four Hamas-aligned Palestinian Legislative Council members, namely Mohammad Abu Tir, Mohammas Totah, Khaled Abu Arafa and Ahmed Atoun, were stripped of their residency rights and given one month to leave Jerusalem.

The Israeli move "came within the framework of the continued systematic and escalating Israeli policy of evacuating al-Quds city of its indigenous population with a view to judaizing the city and altering its character and demographic reality," Ihsanoglu said, using the Arabic name of Jerusalem.

It also constitutes a flagrant violation of the international law and Geneva Fourth Convention, which prohibits the occupation authorities from deporting citizens from territories under occupation, the chief of the 57-member group said.

The statement said that Ihsanoglu has extended urgent messages to a number of international officials, urging them to intervene to dissuade Israel from its decision.

Source: Xinhua