Ahmed Attaf Calls On the OIC to Raise its Stance on Zionist Threats

Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad, and African Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, stressed on Monday in Jeddah the importance of advancing the collective position of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states in light of the existential challenges and dangerous developments facing the Palestinian cause, the Algerian Press Agency said.

In his address during his participation, at the behest of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in the extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Attaf said: “The serious threats to the Palestinian cause, in particular, and to the Middle East region, in general, require us, as well as the entire international community, to adopt a new vision to anticipate developments in the situation and face the dangers that arise from it.” He added, “This is the challenge of the hour and the absolute responsibility that falls upon us in light of the current situation. Above all, it is a collective duty that is as demanding as it is sensitive.”

The minister explained that the Zionist occupation “no longer even bothers to conceal its expansionist plans, since its leaders now openly call for the revival of the so-called ‘Greater Israel’ project.” He noted that “there is no more secrecy, no more mystery. Now that the masks have fallen, there is no more room for interpretations regarding what is wrongly called ‘the historical and spiritual mission of Zionism.”

In the same context, Mr. Attaf said: “We are undoubtedly facing an Israeli obsession with destroying the Palestinian national project and undermining the foundations of the two-state solution, erasing it from people’s minds after having stubbornly erased it on the ground. We are also facing an Israeli obsession with redrawing borders in the region, jeopardising the security, stability and territorial integrity of Palestine’s neighbours.”

“We are also facing an Israeli determination to impose its whims, its aims, even its illusions, in defiance of the will of the international community, the warnings and cautions of the United Nations and the resolutions of international legitimacy,” the Minister of State continued.

From this perspective, the Foreign Minister added, “we are obliged to adopt, through words and deeds, a collective position that is equal to these existential challenges, on the one hand, and equal to the legendary resistance of our brothers in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, on the other. We must also remain united alongside Egypt and Jordan, brother countries, in the face of the threats that the Israeli expansionist project poses to them.”

“While ensuring that we contribute to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which is in the grip of brutal aggression, it is imperative to block the road to plans to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and displace its population”, Ahmed Attaf insisted.

“While ensuring that we contribute to the development of provisions relating to the post-aggression phase against the Gaza Strip, we must work to consolidate the latter’s status as an integral part of the territory of the State of Palestine”, Attaf stressed the importance of contributing to addressing the urgent priorities of the Palestinian people and working to “preserving the foundations of the two-state solution, as well as the bases for the establishment of the independent and sovereign Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, to maintain the prospect of a just, lasting and final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

On all these fronts, Mr. Attaf continued, “the current situation places at the heart of collective action the call for the international community to take all available deterrent measures, most notably the necessary international sanctions seriously to halt the aggression, enforce respect for international legitimacy, and spare the region the evil of the unprecedented threats and dangers that lurk, with unforeseen consequences and repercussions.”