İhsanoğlu condemns Israeli attack on sanctities and freedom of worship in Palestine

The secretary general of the Organisation of the Islamic Congress, professor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, has condemned today’s (04.10.2010) dawn attack by a group of extremist Israeli settlers on a mosque in the town of Beit Fajjar to the south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. He stated that this evil enterprise contravened both the Geneva Convention and international law.

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In a written press statement, İhsanoğlu asserted that the desecration of the mosque, the burning of the copies of the Quran in it and the scrawling of racist graffiti on its walls constitutes a clear attack on freedom of worship and the holiness of sanctities.

İhsanoğlu also reconfirmed that the presence of these illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land constituted a flagrant violation of international law and are a real impediment to the achievement of progress in the peace process. He called on the Quartet and the international community to work toward forcing Israel to halt all forms of settlement activities and other practices which affect the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.