Islamic Leaders to Urge Muslim Countries to Sever Ties with IsraelIslamic leaders will call on all Muslim countries to boycott Israel and sever relations with the Jewish state, according to a draft declaration adopted on Friday by foreign ministers of Islamic states.The foreign ministers approved the draft during a two-day meeting and will submit it to the three-day summit of the Organization of the Islamic Organization (OIC), due to open on Sunday, to center on showing solidarity with the Palestinian uprising against Israeli suppression. The draft urged Muslim countries which have relations with Israel and those considering such moves to sever ties, including economic relations, closing liaison offices, and suspending any form of normalization with the Jewish state until it fully complies with the relevant UN resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Four Arab countries - Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Tunisia - which had low-level relations with Israel, have decided to break off their trade ties with the Jewish state. The draft declaration of the Islamic summit condemned the Israeli violation of human rights, particularly the killing of Palestinian civilians in the past six weeks. More than 190 Palestinians have been killed and thousands of others wounded by the Israeli security forces in the worst Palestinian-Israeli clashes since the two sides signed the Oslo accords in 1993. The draft denounced Israel's continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, a move which hinders the Middle East peace process. It blasted Israel's failure to honor international resolutions and commitment to the peace process, and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories. The document expressed support for the resolutions adopted by the October 21-22 Cairo Arab summit, particularly the decision to set up two funds worth 1 billion U.S. dollars to safeguard the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, and aid the Palestinians injured in clashes with the Israeli forces and the families of those killed. OIC member states should speedily offer assistance to the Palestinian people, it stressed, calling for measures to help boost the Palestinian economy, such as exempting tariffs and lifting restriction on Palestinian goods. It called for an impartial investigation commission to inquire into the clashes between the Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators protesting against Israeli violation of Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem. The Islamic leaders will reaffirm support for the Palestinian people's efforts to recover the occupied lands and establish an independent state on their own territories with East Jerusalem as its capital. |
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