All Israelis agree that Jerusalem is their eternal capital. There is no difference of opinion among Jews on this issue, whether they are from the far right wing or the far left; center-right or the center-left; doves or hawks, Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews. In this respect, they disregard international law as well as the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly, and the International Court of Justice, as well as local, regional and international human rights organizations. All these organizations agree that Jerusalem is a holy city, which is part of the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 Arab – Israel war. All international resolutions have reiterated unequivocally that the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel is an illegal and unlawful act. But Israel has always been adamant on annexing the eastern part of the holy city and it continues building new settlements despite global protests and condemnations, including those of the United States and the European Union. Israel's actions are a stumbling block to the peace process that started with the Oslo Accords and that has been stalled for a number of years. The fact is that Israel does not want peace. On the other hand, we can see that Arabs and Muslims seem incapable of doing anything concrete in the case of Jerusalem. Also, they are indifferent to what is happening in the form of systematic and orderly attempts to Judaize Islam's third holy city and the seat of the first Qibla to where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made his Night Journey. As part of this, attempts are being made to evict its Arab population who suffer from displacement, in addition to persecution and denial of access to the necessities of life. Apart from Judaization, construction of settlement homes on usurped Palestinian land is going on nonstop. Arabs and Muslims can only denounce this and beg the UN Security Council and international organizations to do something about it, but they are unable to do anything by themselves because of the biased position of big powers, especially the United States, with regard to the Palestine issue and all matters related to Israel. The Jewish state is deliberately creating problems and crises to preoccupy Arabs and Muslims with issues other than what it is doing and planning with regard to the future of the holy city and its Arab population. We can see examples of this in the case of the Danish cartoons and the US video film offensive to the Prophet (pbuh), which were produced by supporters and allies of Israel. Arabs and Muslims were engaged for some time in holding protest rallies and demonstrations against such acts. In this way, Israel was able to realize two goals. Firstly, to distract attention from what is going on in Jerusalem: Judaization, altering the landmarks of the holy city, and persecuting and driving its original Arab inhabitants out of the city. Secondly, focusing on such ugly caricatures and third-rate films helps to prevent protesters from realizing what is taking place around Al-Aqsa Mosque and other sites in Jerusalem that is much more serious and offensive to the Prophet (pbuh) than those caricatures and films.
It should be noted that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was formed for the cause of Jerusalem when Israelis burned Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. This prompted the Islamic world to wake up, and eventually their governments took the initiative to establish the pan-Islamic body. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia convened an Islamic summit conference in Rabat, Morocco, which decided to form the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the name of which was later changed to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Rabat conference also decided to make Jerusalem the permanent headquarters of the OIC. It was also decided to make Jeddah the temporary headquarters until the liberation of Jerusalem. Tunku Abdul Rahman of Malaysia was the first secretary general of the OIC. Later, a high level committee, called Al-Quds Committee, chaired by the king of Morocco, was formed. The OIC is now apparently preoccupied with what it called Islamophobia rather than the issue of Jerusalem and the grim fate of its people who have been subjected to various forms of persecution and injustice at the hands of Israel. Instead of holding conferences and seminars on the issue and sending delegations to world and Muslim capitals to brief officials on the latest situation in Jerusalem and the ongoing Judaization of the holy city, the OIC is organizing a conference on Islamophobia in Istanbul, Turkey. A number of eminent legal experts have been invited to discuss issues of Islamophobia and religious intolerance. They include the well-known Egyptian lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, Emeritus Professor of Law at DePaul University of Chicago, Doudou Diène of Senegal, an expert in the field of human rights and UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination, and the international law expert of Pakistan Ahmer Bilal Sufi. I don't know what these experts and the OIC can do to counter Islamophobia. It would have been much better if the pan-Islamic body had convened a conference to discuss the issue of Jerusalem and the blatant aggression on the holy city and its Arab population whose homes have been destroyed and whose lands have been confiscated, which has reduced their means of living and conditions for survival. Priority should also be given to carrying out studies about the topic of intolerance among various religious sects that was discussed by the extraordinary Islamic summit held in Makkah in August 2012 during which Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah proposed the establishment of a dialogue center to discuses the viewpoints of various Islamic sects and schools of thought. Finally, we must not forget the tragedy being experienced by Jerusalem and the conspiracy being hatched against it whether through Judaization, the building of settlements, the displacing of its people, the constructing of the apartheid wall or the so-called excavation work around Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is essential to remember that history will not forgive those who abandon any endeavor to support the holy city, whether they be Arab or Muslim officials or the OIC, which was established to support the cause of Jerusalem. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
