A joint Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League took place on 11 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was aimed at ending the imperialist-backed Israeli genocide of the people of Palestine. The representatives of more than 50 states participated in this extraordinary summit, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, Syria, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco and Pakistan.
The participants at this summit resolved to “mobilize international support to suspend Israel’s participation in the United Nations General Assembly and all its affiliated entities” and to “call on all countries to ban the export or transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel”.
The summit condemned the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the barbaric, inhumane and brutal massacres being committed by the colonial occupation government against the Palestinian people. It demanded the immediate cessation of this aggression by Israel. It rejected the description of this genocidal war as “self-defense” or its justification under any pretext.
The summit called on international organisations to break the siege on Gaza and enable the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and fuel into the Gaza Strip. It resolved to “Support all steps taken by the Arab Republic of Egypt to confront the consequences of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza. We support its efforts to bring aid into the strip in an immediate, sustainable and adequate manner.”
The extraordinary summit called on the UN Security Council to “take a decisive and binding decision that imposes a cessation of aggression and curbs the colonial occupation authority that violates international law”. It resolved that “Inaction is considered a complicity that allows Israel to continue its brutal aggression that kills innocent people, children, the elderly, and women, and turns Gaza into ruin.”
The summit called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to complete the investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in all the occupied Palestinian territories.
The summit reaffirmed the demand for a sovereign State of Palestine including the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Following the Summit, it is reported that Indonesia and Malaysia are planning to put forth a resolution in the UN General Assembly calling for the expulsion of Israel from the UN for its genocidal war crimes.
US imperialism has been systematically trying to break the unity of Arab and Islamic countries, in support of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to establish a sovereign Palestinian state. In 2020, the US mediated bilateral agreements between Israel and some members of the Arab League, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, under the banner of the Abraham Accords. This was a compromise in favour of Israel, as these agreements did not insist on the rights of the Palestinians being fulfilled.
The fact that all Arab states and all members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have expressed their resolve to unitedly oppose Israel’s genocidal war and defend the right of the Palestinian people to their own state is a positive development. It shows that the efforts of US imperialism to break their unity and weaken their support for the Palestinian cause has not succeeded.