4 November 2015 - PUIC Desk

GENEVA- SWITZERLAND,
17 OCTOBER 2015

H.E. the PUIC Secretary General Prof. Dr. Mahmud Erol KILIC, accompanied by H.E. the Assistant Secretary General, participated in the proceedings of the 133rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17-21 October, 2015.

In view of the request made by the Speaker of the Palestine National Council(PNC) to hold an emergency PUIC Session to consider ways of responding to and confronting the Israeli aggressions on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in particular, and the city of Al-Quds, In general, His Excellency the Secretary General decided to dedicate the Consultation Meeting of the Islamic Group, which is held for carrying out the necessary coordination on the Emergency Items on the Agenda of the 133rd Assembly of the IPU, in order to consider this significant matter.

The Consultation Meeting was held at the Conventions Center in Geneva on 17th October 2015, under the Chairmanship of H.E. the Speaker of the National Assembly (Majlis Al-Nuwab) of Lebanon Mr. Nabih Berry. The Meeting was attended by H.E. Mr. Azzam Al- Ahmed, Head of Delegation of the Palestine National Council (PNC) and a large number of the august PUIC Member Parliaments.

1-    EMERGENCY ITEMS:
-    Adoption of a unified stance on issues of common concern to the Islamic Group relating to the emergency Item on the Agenda of the IPU 133rd Assembly:
-    Following discussion by the Member Parliaments of the Emergency Items on the Agenda of the IPU, submitted by the Parliaments of the State of the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Syria and Mexico, coordination was established between the delegations of the esteemed Member Parliaments. The delegations of the National Assembly of the Sudan and the UAE Federal National Council agreed to integrate their proposals into a joint emergency Item on “Providing Necessary Protection for Refugees of Wars and Conflicts”.
It is worthwhile to mention that this item was subsequently adopted as an Emergency Item at the IPU Assembly.

2-    CONFRONTING THE ISRAELI AGGRESSIONS ON THE CITY OF AL-QUDS AND THE BLESSED AL-AQSA MOSQUE:  
Having concluded consideration of the emergency Items, the special session on studying the situation in Palestine was commenced. In the beginning, His Excellency Mr. Nabih Berry expressed his appreciation of convening this special session on events taking place in Al-Quds and Palestine. He stood up in honor of Palestine and delivered his exhaustive speech.

2.1. Speech of Chairman of the Meeting:
H.E. the Speaker of the National Assembly of Lebanon, Mr. Nabih Berry, Began his speech on this important issue by expressing his appreciation of holding this special session on developments in Al-Quds and Palestine.
In His exhaustive speech he referred to the first conference, held in Tehran, several years ago, on supporting the Palestinian cause, where the late Faisal Al –Hussaini, Chairman of Bait Al-Sharq Foundation, warned that the plan of judaizing Al-Quds is proceeding forward, and that it is required to take urgent measures at all levels to stop this design; Mr. Berri added that an expert, explained, at a PUIC meeting in Istanbul, the processes of settlement and excavations carried out by the occupation authorities. His Excellency stressed that today we are facing the biggest challenge ie. The time and spatial partitioning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and that these authorities continue the judaization of the Islamic and Christian Character of Al-Quds, the elimination of the Arab Character of the City in general.
In conclusion, he called for:
2.1.1.    Formation of a parliamentary Fund for preserving the solidity  of the building and restoring the damage done to the blessed Al-Aqsa, as well as for supporting the steadfastness of citizens of Al-Quds.
2.1.2.    Boycotting the commodities produced by the settlements, as Europe is doing, in support of the Palestinian people.
2.1.3.    Standing firm on the side of the Palestinian people and their hopes, and their right to be liberated and return to their homeland, as well as establishing the State of Palestine with Al-Quds as its Capital.

2.2.    Speech of the Head of the Palestinian Delegation:
In his exhaustive speech H.E. Mr. Azzam Al-Ahmed stressed that despite the conflicts prevailing in the region during the last five years, which aimed at isolating the conflict with the Zionist enemy, especially in Palestine, the Palestinians continue to believe that they are spearhead of defending Islamic, Christian and Arab rights and remain ready to defend the Islamic and Arab rights as well as Al-Quds.
He stated that the recent Al-Quds battle began last year in the wake of burning alive the boy Mohammed Boukhdair, on which the world kept silent. He pointed out that during the past two weeks more than 40 people, mostly children less than 15 years old, were martyred in defense of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in order to thwart its time and spatial partitioning.
He added that it is high time to act, as parliamentarians, in conjunction with the European Parliaments, to achieve further recognition of the State of Palestine, and to exercise pressure on governments and civil society organizations in order to provide protection for the entire Palestinian people, and also ensure protection for Islamic and Christian sanctities. Furthermore, we have to act together with the friends of Muslim and Arab States for the adoption of a resolution that specifies a firm date for ending the Israeli occupation of the territories of the Palestinian State.

2.3.    Interventions by participating Delegations:  

The Session was also addressed by delegations from the august Parliaments of:
•    Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
•    State of Kuwait,
•    People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
•    State of the United Arab Emirates.

Their Statements included the following main points:
•    Stressing support to the cause of Palestine, and confronting Israeli attempts to obliterate the identity of the Palestinian people, as well as attempts to usurp lands and desecrate holy sites, especially in Al-Quds.
•    Condemning Israel’s violations of Palestinian territories particularly Al-Quds and the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
•    Supporting and assisting the Palestinians in their fight against racism and terrorism.
•    Condemning also the repeated violations by the occupation authorities of the holy sites in the city of Al-Quds and building the racist separation wall and the settlements.
•    Denouncing the illegal measures and practices carried out by Israel in the city of Al-Quds to judaize the Holy City and tarnish its Arab and Islamic landmarks.
•    Denouncing Israel’s State terrorism which constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.
•    Reiterating that the cause of Palestine is the cause of all the Islamic World and a cause for all lovers of peace and humanity.
•    Importance of covering the reality of events in Palestine through the mass media, especially television channels.

Having listened to the speeches and interventions, H.E. Mr. Nabih Berry, Chairman of the meeting, mandated their Excellencies Heads of delegation of the PNC, representative of the Jordanian Senate, representative of the Kuwaiti National Assembly and representative of the UAE Federal National Council, to be assisted by the PUIC General Secretariat, to introduce the proposed amendments in the Final Communique of the meeting to be issued on behalf of all the participants. This is what has actually been done: the meeting adopted a final communique which included all the amendments proposed by the participants in the meeting. [as enclosed]