OIC to hold emergency talks on Israel

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation will hold an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday amid tightening Israeli control in the West Bank and following remarks by a senior US diplomat who casually suggested Israel has a right to claim a huge swath of the Middle East.

In a statement published on Sunday, the OIC said foreign ministers will discuss illegal Israeli occupation decisions "aimed at promoting settlement, annexation and attempting to impose alleged Israeli sovereignty on the occupied West Bank".

"This meeting aims to coordinate positions and discuss ways of action to confront these invalid decisions and measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities, the latest of which was the decision to start procedures to settle lands in the occupied West Bank under the name of 'state property', as part of its illegal schemes aimed at changing the legal, political and demographic status of the occupied Palestinian territory and undermining the two-state solution," the statement said.

Also on Sunday, the OIC joined the foreign ministries of Arab and other Muslim-majority countries in a sweeping condemnation of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee's remarks in an interview, where Huckabee supported Israel controlling most of the Middle East, including the occupied West Bank.

Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the US-based rights group DAWN, called for the ambassador to be sacked.

Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin, West Bank, told China Daily that the situation "is very much complex" when it comes to the reality on the ground, noting an "unprecedented expansion of settlement activities, like confiscation of land and settler atrocities" over the Palestinians and other types of racial discrimination supported by the Israelis.

"For the Israeli army, the West Bank has become the focal point for the Israeli policies and Israeli procedures and this goes in different directions and political level. (The)Israeli government is the most radical supporter of settler activities,"Yousef said, describing Huckabee's comments as "radical and fundamentalist".

"Unfortunately, I think the meeting of Arab and Islamic countries will not give more answers to these statements," he said, noting that especially when these countries have joined the US-led "Board of Peace".

"Calling out the ambassador …could be one step (to peace), but if they can withdraw from the Board of Peace, can they do it? Can they speak in one collective voice? Political statement is important but it is not enough," he added, calling it ironic as members "have to draw (in) even their funds".

Saul Takahashi, former deputy head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in occupied Palestine, said Huckabee's comments are indicative of the contempt the US administration holds for Palestinian rights, for the sovereignty of countries in the Middle East, and for international law in general.

Although Huckabee may be an extreme example, that kind of contempt is shared to varying degrees by the majority of the US political elite, and has underpinned US policy in the Middle East for decades, Takahashi said, citing the need for "fundamental change".

"I'm sure most countries that have joined the 'Board of Peace' hope they will be able to maneuver (US President Donald) Trump into taking positions beneficial to Palestine; however, that is a very risky gamble," he said.

jan@chinadailyapac.com