The Israeli occupation authorities have denied entry to Palestine to Dr. Abdulaziz bin Othman Al-Twaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and his accompanying delegation. At invitation from President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, Dr. Altwaijri had decided to visit Ramallah at the end of December 2012, at the head of a delegation from ISESCO, to assess needs and achievements of educational, scientific and cultural institutions in Palestine. ISESCO today in a communique faulted Israeli decision denying delegation entry to Palestine as a flagrant breach of international rules, underlying that Palestine, both as a member State of ISESCO and UNESCO, and as a non-member observer State of the United Nations, has the full right to receive visiting delegations from the Muslim world and beyond, including personalities with outstanding services to the Palestinian people. In the same vein, the Palestinian National Commission for Education, Culture and Science has denounced the Israeli act as unethical. In a statement on that occasion, the Commission said: "The interdiction of ISESCO's delegation, representing the countries of the Muslim world, will only strengthen our determination to continue standing steadfast against Israeli occupation policies and its ongoing aggression on educational and cultural institutions in Al-Quds." "Together with ISESCO, we will continue to lay bare Israel's mischievous plots to judaize Al-Quds and obliterate its Islamic and Arab identity," the Commission further stressed. ISESCO also pledged persistent support to educational and cultural institutions across Palestine, insisting that Israel's denial of entry into Palatine to ISESCO's delegation will only heighten the Organization's resolve to maintain its support to the State of Palestine.
