The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned countries that have made the “illegal and irresponsible decision” to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In a joint statement at the end of a summit in Makkah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, political leaders and heads of state from Islamic nations urged countries that have moved their embassies to Jerusalem to rethink their strategy as it constituted “a serious violation of international law and international legitimacy”.
The OIC also urged member countries to take “appropriate measures” against these countries, including the United States which recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 as President Donald Trump brushed aside decades of established protocol.
Again in May 2018, he transferred the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem with Guatemala following suit soon.
Said the OIC communique: “The Palestinian people have the right to achieve their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State.”
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital and the US move was roundly condemned by Palestinians who said the US could no longer call itself as a neutral mediator between the two sides.
The OIC’s statement came as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is all set to roll out economic aspects of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan at a conference in Bahrain later this month.
The plan, described by many as the “deal of the century”, has been rejected by the Palestinians, who say Trump’s policies are blatantly biased in favour of Israel.
Kushner, who was in Jerusalem on Friday on the latest leg of a regional tour to sell his peace plan, had looked to an alliance with Saudi Arabia against Iran as a way to gain Arab support.
But Saudi King Mohammed bin Salman told leaders of the IOC countries gathered at the summit: “The Palestinian cause is the cornerstone of the work of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is the focus of our attention until the brotherly Palestinian people get all their legitimate rights.
“We reaffirm our unequivocal rejection of any measures that would prejudice the historical and legal status of Quds [Jerusalem].”
The meeting was the third international summit to be held in Makkah since Thursday after the emergency summits of the Gulf Cooperation Council And the Arab League.
The OIC also backed Saudi Arabia over escalating tensions with Iran, as King Salman holding out a warning that “terrorist” attacks in the Gulf region could imperil global energy supplies.
The remark came after sabotage attacks damaged four vessels, two of them Saudi oil tankers, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and twin Yemeni rebel drone attacks shut down a key Saudi oil pipeline.
“We confirm that terrorist actions not only target the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also target the safety of navigation and world oil supplies,” the King told OIC member states.
Tehran has strongly denied hand in any of the incidents.
In a tweet just before the start of the summit, the King vowed to confront “aggressive threats and subversive activities”.
“Undermining the security of the kingdom effectively undermines the security of the Arab and Islamic world,” said OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed al-Othaimeen, voicing solidarity that was shared by other members.
Analysts say Riyadh’s strategy to counter Tehran is hamstrung by divisions within the GCC countries.
“This strategy from the GCC states is flawed. Flawed because in one sense they don’t want to talk to Iran. Iran has asked for a dialogue and they don’t want to sit at the table and talk to Iran and sort out all the issues they have with Iran. There are conflicts between the GCC member states. The GCC is not united and it is fragmented,” Abdullah Baaboob, a Gulf and Middle East analyst told Al Jazeera.
The OIC summit also urged the US to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of “terrorism”.
HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani participated in Thursday’s opening session of the GCC where HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah appealed to leaders of Arab Gulf countries to achieve the aspirations of their peoples and put aside their differences for overcoming critical regional challenges.
The Prime Minister chaired an official delegation at the summit which was attended by leaders and delegation heads of member states. He also headed Qatar’s delegation to the Arab League and OIC summits.
Earlier, upon arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport, HE Sheikh Abdullah was received by Deputy Governor of Makkah Region Prince Badr bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, GCC Secretary-General Dr Abdullatif Rashid al-Zayani and Jedah Mayor Saleh al-Turki.
Sheikh Abdullah is the highest Qatari official to visit Saudi Arabia since a diplomatic row erupted between the neighbours two years ago.
In June 2017, four Arab nations–Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt–cut off all ties with Qatar and imposed a land, air and sea blockade, accusing the country of unfounded and trumped-up charges.
A political analyst attributed several reasons to Qatar’s participation in the three Makkah summits, saying the most important was Doha’s keen desire to see a peaceful region.
According to him, Qatar has always been a strong advocate of peace and it supported solving differences through dialogue and mediation. “Qatar’s mediation has led to peace in several parts of the world,” he pointed out.
Besides, he said, the letter written by Saudi King Salman, inviting Qatar to attend the summits, had a profound impact on Qatar, which saw the overall picture of the Middle East as critical and one that needed urgent attention.
Kuwaiti mediation led by the Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah also has played an important role, he said.
Speaking at Thursday’s GCC summit, HH the Amir of Kuwait said that the region had for many years suffered wars and conflicts that had compounded pain and deepened wounds.
“Today, we are witnessing dangerous and accelerating developments in all its repercussions which threaten our security, and our Arab region is still suffering from unprecedented tension.” he added.
His Highness called on the GCC leaders to restore unity “of our ranks which enabled us over the past four decades to develop common Gulf action and confront many dangers and challenges.”
He called for making it clear for the allies that escalation and tension in the region “will only lead to confrontation and destruction of our resources, wisdom should prevail and dialogue should be the only way to prevent our region wars we have long suffered from.”
Analysts say Qatar has always felt the need to maintain regional stability was more important than dwelling on bilateral differences. According to them, policy-wise Qatar is against war in the region and opposes sanctions as a means to settle political scores anywhere in the world.
The summits come after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering drone attacks on oil pumping stations in the kingdom, which were claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, and the sabotage of oil tankers off the UAE coast.
Aiming to defuse the escalating tensions in the Gulf, Qatar’s Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had held talks with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran earlier this month.
“Washington seems to have bet on Doha to de-escalate by opening back channels with Tehran. The question is whether Saudi and especially UAE can agree on Doha as a mediator,” Andreas Krieg from King’s College London told Al Jazeera.
“The fact that the Saudis contacted the Amir of Qatar directly suggests that the tension with Iran is taken very seriously in Riyadh. So the kingdom is ready to build a broader-than-usual consensus on how to deal with Iran,” Krieg said.