OIC response to MEMO's Commentary

I would like to present the following remarks on Dr. Daud Abdullah’s article “The OIC visit to Jerusalem was an act by an organisation in disarray” published on 7 January 2015. The article was heavily loaded with inaccurate information that made it not only unbalanced but also not factual to a large degree.

It should be emphasized that the visit of the OIC Secretary General to Palestine, including Al-Quds, came as expression of political support to the Palestinians, especially at this critical juncture where the Palestinians are pushing ahead with their campaign for international recognition. The visit was upon invitation by the State of Palestine. Further, access of the OIC Secretary General to Palestine and Al-Quds was provided by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

The visit also came while the city of Al-Quds is facing serious Israeli efforts to alter its indigenous character and presenting it as a pure Jewish space. Palestinian institutions in Al-Quds are in a bad shape and need a lot of support. I would like here to mention that the OIC has identified the sectors of Education, Health and Housing as sectors of priority for support. That’s why the OIC has adopted its Strategic Plan for supporting the vital sectors in Al-Quds, with special focus on the aforementioned sectors, which are also at the heart of attention of the Islamic Development Bank through its various projects in the city.

While extending material support to Al-Quds is crucially needed, moral support is also necessary by asserting Muslim ties to the city. The need to visit Al-Quds and maintaining a meaningful Islamic presence in its mosques, streets, hotels and markets is necessitated by the very statement mentioned by Dr. Daud Abdullah when he said “Palestinians, even from within the Old City itself, are barred from worshipping in Al-Aqsa. Indeed, there seems to be very little to celebrate when millions of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians alike, are denied access to Jerusalem by Israel’s apartheid wall and racist policies”. This sad reality should provide Muslims, from all over the world, with extra reasons to visit the city of Al-Quds.

At the religious level, the visit comes in line with the call of our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh‎) to visit Al-Aqsa in the same manner of which Muslims go to visit the other two holy Mosques in Makkah and Medina. Muslims who are serious about their faith should not hesitate in making their intention of visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in revival of a practice followed by Muslims throughout history. We should bear in mind that Muslims visited Al-Aqsa Mosque while it was under the Crusaders’ rule. They considered the visit a renewal of their covenant with Allah, and never considered practicing their duty and right to be recognition of the Crusaders. On the contrary, Muslims deemed their visits to Al-Aqsa as a challenge to the Crusaders’ presence. Likewise, history has shown us that Muslims, including prominent Imams and companions never stopped visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque while Al-Quds was under the Byzantine rule. The late Faisal Husseini, who was a highly venerated leader of Al-Quds, once said on visiting Al-Quds: visiting your brother in Israeli custody, does not mean normalization with or confer recognition upon the jailor. The visit of the Secretary General, likewise, comes in line with the resolutions of OIC resolutions mainly the ones taken by Al-Quds Committee in its last session in Marrakech in 2014.

Regrettably, the article, without any factual base, talked about opening-up back channels for the distribution of Israeli products. The OIC General Secretariat has designated a special department for ensuring the boycott of Israeli products.

As for the voting behavior of some member states, it is important to recall that the OIC is an intergovernmental organization where sovereign nation states form its main units. While the OIC has often experienced differences in positions of its member states on some issues, the OIC has maintained, to a large extent, a unified position on the Palestinian cause. The voting of some member states in a manner that is inconsistent with OIC position on the Palestinian cause is yet a sad reality. However, any serious and fair-minded observer will not fail to notice the tremendous diplomatic support that the Palestinian cause enjoys at the United Nations by the OIC member states. The adoption of the UN resolution recognizing the state of Palestine on 29 November 2012, for example, was unimaginable without the support of the OIC member states.

Maha Mostafa Akeel

Director of Information Department

Chief Editor of OIC Journal

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.