REPORT OF THE 8th MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE HELD DURING THE 13th SESSION OF THE PUIC CONFERENCE

TEHRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
26 RABIUL THANI 1439 A.H.
13 JANUARY 2018

The 8th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Palestine convened within the framework of the activities of the 13th Session of the PUIC Conference held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, on 26 Rabii Athani 1439 A.H., corresponding to 13 January 2018;
H.E. Aleaddine Boroujordi, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran chaired the Meeting which was attended by the representatives of the Parliaments of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Senegal, Sudan and Turkey. The Meeting was also attended by representatives of the National Assembly of Niger and Syria’s People’s Assembly, respectively. The representatives of the member Parliaments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Guinea, were absent.
H.E. Chairman of the Meeting welcomed the attendees and spoke about the decision of the chief of the American Administration on Al-Quds which represents a violation of international laws and which led the Muslim Ummah to speak with one voice against this ill-advised decision. The stance adopted by Muslims has had a positive impact on the position of the international community in its entirety as evidenced by the deliberations of the UN Security Council whose members expressed, in their majority, opposition to this decision.
H.E. added that despite the conspiracies plotted by Americans and Zionists in the Middle East, in particular in Syria and Iraq, to turn the attention of Muslims away from the Palestinian cause, the resistance of the countries in the region, backed by popular forces in Iraq and Syria, caused these conspiracies to fail. A case in point is the thirty three-day war in Lebanon. Thus, the Palestinian cause has remained a first priority of the Muslim World.
H.E. Aleaddine Boroujordi underscored the importance of the role played by the Parliaments in harmonizing the positions of Islamic States and limiting conflicts within them.
His Excellency the Secretary General of the PUIC, Professor Dr. Mahmud Erol KILIC addressed the Meeting and pointed out the important developments on the Palestinian scene during the previous year, including the unjust American decision to recognize the City of Al-Quds as the capital of the occupying Zionist state of Israel and to relocate the American embassy to the Holy City, the unjust Israeli bill to be discussed in March 2018, whereby a ban on calls for prayer shall be imposed on Mosques in Al-Quds and inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory (1948). H.E. added that achieving the national Palestinian reconciliation, we believe, is the hard rock that will stand in the face of the unjust attempts and plans of the Zionist enemy.
H.E. Mr. Radhouan Al-Akhras, Member of the Palestinian Parliament and Vice-Chairman of the Specialized Standing Committee on Palestine, outlined the current situation in Palestine and expressed how sorrowful he feels as he talks about Palestine and Al-Quds. He added that the decision of the enemy, taken a century ago, was actually directed against all of us - Muslims and Palestinians alike and led, fifty years ago, to the occupation of Palestine. Today, the forces of occupation have control over 70% of the West Bank. In other words, only 2% of the Land of Palestine as stipulated under the Sykes-Picot Agreement remain unoccupied.
H.E. added that the Zionist entity has decided to build one million housing units in the West Bank and that if we assume that each of these units will be inhabited by 5 Israelis, then the presence of 5 million Zionists would mean that there will be no place for any Palestinians on their land.
The Palestinian official commended the position of the peoples of the Islamic Ummah while pointing out at the same time the weakness of official positions to live up to expectations. In this regard, he asked questions about the number of countries which officially cut relations with the USA or Israel and about the number of countries which stopped purchasing arms after Trump’s declaration and, even worse, the number of countries having signed contracts with the Zionist entity for the same purpose.
The representatives of the PUIC Member Parliaments in the Specialized Standing Committee on Palestine took the floor in the following order: Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Indonesia, Chad, Turkey and Syria. They all stressed the pivotal importance of the Palestinian cause and the necessity to ensure that no hostile act, conspiracy, or attempts to worsen the situation in the region would divert attention away from this cause. The representatives called upon Muslims to set their differences aside and to focus all their attention on the Palestinian cause and on Al-Quds as well as provide support to the resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist enemy.
The representatives condemned the decision of the head of the American administration on the City of Al-Quds, praised the opposition expressed by Muslim peoples to the said decision and called for more support to be provided to the Palestinian people in their struggle.                                      
HAVING LISTENED TO THE STATEMENTS AND INTERVENTIONS, THE MEETING DECLARED THE FOLLOWING:
The 8th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Palestine convened within the framework of the activities of the 13th Session of the PUIC Conference held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, on 28-29 Rabii Athani 1439 A.H., corresponding to 16-17 January 2018;
Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the OIC Charter and the PUIC Statute;
Pursuant to the resolutions adopted by PUIC Conferences and all Islamic meetings on the cause of Palestine, and the city of Al-Quds, in particular,
Referring to the UN General Assembly resolution that condemns the head of the US Administration’s decision on the city of Al-Quds, as an illegal decision and a violation of international law,
Recalling the communiqué of the emergency meeting of the Presidential Troika held in Tehran on 18 December 2017 to examine the ramifications of the decision of the head of the US Administration on the city of Al-Quds;
Taking into consideration the Communiqué of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Standing Committee on Palestine held in Tehran on 18 December 2017, in conjunction with the Emergency Meeting of the Presidential Troika, on the same subject of the decision of the head of the US Administration on the city of Al-Quds,
Commending the convening of the Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference in Istanbul on 13 December 2017, upon the invitation of the Republic of Turkey, and welcoming the Final Communiqué it adopted,
Expressing support for the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as cus-todian of the holy sites in Al-Quds Al-Shareef, and for the consistent position of the Jordanian Awqaf Department on preserving the sanctity of the holy shrine and its historical status as a place of worship,
Appreciating the role Morocco plays through Al-Quds Committee and Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Shareef Agency to reinforce the steadfastness of the Maghdisi people in the face of all measures aimed at Judaizing the holy city,
1.    Affirming the centrality of the Cause of Palestine and its Capital Al-Quds among the issues of attention to the Muslim Ummah, the commitment of Muslims throughout the world to the pivotal character of this cause, and the need to defend and champion it with a view to realizing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, namely the liberation of Palestine from occupation, the return of refugees, and the establishment of the independent State of Palestine on the territory of Palestine, with Al-Quds as its capital.
2.    Stressing that the City of Al-Quds is an integral part of the Palestinian territory, and strongly condemning the occupation authorities which repeatedly violate the holy sites in Al-Quds with a view to Judaizing the city and obliterating the Islamic and Christian identity of its landmarks, and hurts the sentiments of world freedom-loving people throughout the globe,
3.    Rejecting categorically and incontestably the decision taken by the Head of the US Administration on Al-Quds on 6 December 2017, considering it a grave aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people and a null measure that leads the region towards further violence and anarchy, therefore requiring the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution rejecting the American President’s decision on Al-Quds in order to avoid its negative implications on international peace and security.
4.    Reaffirming the right to resistance, in all its forms, as a legitimate right, until the realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people, chief among which is the right to establish the independent Palestinian State.
5.    Declaring support for the third uprising (intifada) of the Palestinian people with all the means available in the Muslim world, to reassure the Palestinian people that the Muslim Ummah stands by them and supports their struggle to achieve liberation and eliminate the Zionist injustice and aggression on Palestine, and that Muslims and Arabs give concrete expression to the fact that defending Palestine and Al-Quds is the duty and responsibility of every Muslim and every Arab.
6.    Calling on Islamic States to avoid conflicts among themselves, so that all efforts will be harnessed towards putting the potential of the Ummah on a track that would enable the Palestinian people to attain their legitimate rights.
7.    Reaffirming the need to accelerate action in order to implement the Palestinian reconciliation agreement, so that national unity will be strengthened and all forces will be mobilized to address threats to the Cause of Palestine.
8.    Requesting the need to activate the decisions banning any dealing with the Zionist entity and requiring non-violation of boycott laws, and to reject normalization with this entity whatever form it takes, while insisting on the need to boycott Israeli and US goods in the Muslim world.
9.    Calling on the Governments of member Parliaments which have political or economic relations with the Zionist entity to freeze those relations, so that the US Administration goes back on its wrong decision on Al-Quds and abandon the idea of relocating the US Embassy to the City.
10.    Calling on the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to end the membership of the Knesset of the Zionist entity in the IPU as punishment for this entity’s transgressions of international laws.
11.    Reaffirming the need to release the Palestinians abducted and detained in the occupation’s prisons, particularly the minors among them, and those under administrative detention, especially the Palestinian parliamentarians.
12.    Stressing the importance of activating the funds established for Al-Quds and intensifying all types of financial support in order to reinforce the Palestinian people’s steadfastness in the face of the occupying power by ensuring material support and providing for the daily needs of this resistant people.
13.    Commending the decision of the Islamic Parliament of Iran and the Council of Representatives of Iraq to mandate their respective Governments to declare Al-Quds as the eternal capital of Palestine, and inviting all PUIC member Parliaments to follow suit, thereby consecrating the fact that Al-Quds is the eternal capital of the independent State of Palestine.