The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Thursday declared East Jerusalem the Capital of a future Palestinian state.
“We emphasise that it will never be possible to give up on the aspiration to a sovereign and independent state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, which we regard as a prerequisite for peace and security in the region,” the 57-member bloc of Muslim nations said.
The organisation urged the international community to follow its precedent and said that the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem the Capital of Israel was unlawful.
“Just like the fact that Israel’s decision to annex Al Quds [Jerusalem] and its actions and practices therewith are never accepted, we declare that this statement is identically null and void from the point of view of conscience, justice and history,” the bloc said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the declaration and said the statement had failed to impress him, Al Jazeera reported. “The truth will win in the end and many countries will certainly recognise Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and also move their embassies,” he asserted.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan organised the OIC summit hastily in Istanbul in an effort to put together a coherent opposition to the United States’ move. In the opening speech of the meeting on Wednesday, he had said Israel is an “occupying state and a terror state”, and that Jerusalem is a “red line” for Muslims.
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