DOHA, 27 May — Members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) decided yesterday to “halt all political contacts with the Israeli government as long as the aggression ... against the Palestinian people continues”.
In a statement issued at the end of a ministerial meeting here, OIC countries said they decided to “halt all political contacts with the Israeli government as long as the aggression and the blockade against the Palestinian people and its national authority continue”. The conference also called on “member states which have established, or have started to take steps to establish relations with Israel within the context of the peace process, to break these relations”.
The 22-point statement also called for a halt in normalizing ties with Israel and for the closure of its missions and offices in member states. The 22-member Arab League had decided on a similar step at a meeting in Cairo this week, placing pressure on the OIC members to do the same. The OIC also urged Washington “not to obstruct the UN Security Council” in providing protection for Palestinians.
The OIC urged the United States to take urgent action to halt Israeli “aggression” against the Palestinians, at an emergency ministerial meeting in the Qatari capital yesterday. Qatar’s emir, as president of the OIC, called on “the American administration and President George (W.) Bush to intervene urgently” to bring an end to the violence. “It is not possible to stay silent about the Israeli aggressions,” said Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani, whose country convened the one-day talks on the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
Saudi Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Nizar Madani accused Israel of turning the peace process to a war operation, in reference to its ongoing military attacks against unarmed Palestinians. “Israel has been using its powerful military force to besiege the Palestinians and make them hostages inside the West Bank and Gaza,” he told the OIC meeting.
Madani warned that the current Israeli military escalation would lead to the eruption of a new wave of violence and instability in the region. He urged Arab and Islamic countries to stand united to face the Israeli challenge. He stressed the need for halting all Arab ties with Israel.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat slammed the UN’s “total impotence” in the face of mounting deaths in the Palestinian territories, pinning the blame on the United States. “Who is imposing this silence on the Security Council ... at the expense of our people and our martyrs?” Arafat asked. Arafat vowed that the intifada (uprising) would continue “until the Palestinian flag is hoisted in Jerusalem.” Israel was being “protected” despite “shirking” peace accords signed with the Palestinians, he charged.
Israelis and Palestinians faced growing international pressure yesterday to put a halt to bloodshed as the United States prepared a new round of shuttle diplomacy to defuse the conflict. William Burns, the new US envoy for the Middle East, was due to hold separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Arafat today, a US Embassy official said in Tel Aviv.
The visit will mark a new level of involvement by the administration of President George W. Bush, who had adopted a lower profile in peacemaking than his predecessor, Bill Clinton. But on the eve of the new diplomatic initiative, there were few signs the two sides were any closer to ending their hostilities, which have claimed more than 500 lives since last September.
