Should the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation Be Dissolved as It Has Lost Its Raison D'etre

By New Age Islam Staff Writer

30 January 2024

The OIC Was Formed for The Cause of Palestine

Main Points:

1.    The OIC has done virtually nothing for the solution of the Israel-Palestine problem.

2.    It has not been able to restrain Israel against Gaza and West Bank.

3.    Its members are 57 Islamic countries including Palestine.

4.    It has not been able to stop genocide of Palestinians by Israel.

5.    It has only condemned Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

6.    In fact some of its member countries have established diplomatic and trade relations with Israel.

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The interim, judgment of the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to stop killing common Palestinians, destroying structures and infrastructure and preventing medical and essential supplies like food, water, electricity and fuel from reaching them. The Court also told Israel not to disrupt the access of medical facilities to pregnant women who are about 15 per cent of the women population. Many women bleed to death and many new born babies have died due to lack of medical care. More than 24000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's bombardment and about 85 per cent of the buildings have been destroyed.

The interim ruling of the ICJ suggests that it believes that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. More than ten thousand of those killed are children. Thousands of children from 7 to 10 are in Israel's prison and are undergoing torture. Despite all this, the Arab and Islamic countries have been watching all the aggression helplessly. These countries have only made statements of condemnation against Israel's genocide and have humbly requested Netanyahu to stop attacks.

The most disappointing role was played by the Organisation of Islamic Co-Operation (OIC) that comprises 57 Islamic countries including some powerful countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Libya, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Syria, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pakistan is a nuclear power.

The irony of the OIC is that it declares its raison d'etre to be the cause of Palestine. It was formed in 1969 with the lofty objective of preventing the aggression of Israel, preventing the illegal settlements of Jews in West Bank and work towards the freedom of Palestine. Let's see what the organisation declares as its objectives on its website:

"The cause of Palestine and Al-Quds was the raison d’etre for the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 1969. The Department of Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs (DPQ) was established as a major department at the General Secretariat. It is headed by an Assistant Secretary-General in accordance with Article 18 of the OIC Charter “One post of Assistant Secretary General shall be devoted to the cause of Al-Quds Al-Sharif and Palestine with the understanding that the State of Palestine shall designate its candidate”.

The OIC Declares Its Mission as Follows:

"Enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights, including their right to return, self-determination, and establish the independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, preserving its Arab identity and preserving its holy places, and working to end the occupation of the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967, including the city of Al-Quds and the other occupied Arab territories."

The OIC claims that it has taken up the following tasks:

1. Following up the implementation of Resolutions, recommendations and plans related to the affairs of Palestine and Al-Quds, issued by Islamic summit, Council of Foreign Ministers and sectoral meetings.

2. Preparing political, economic, social, cultural and media reports to support the struggle of the Palestinian people, helping them to regain their legitimate rights, and circulating such reports to Member States and the relevant OIC organs.

3. Coordinating efforts, positions and policies towards Al-Quds as a central issue, following up on the implementation of OIC resolutions on monitoring and confronting Israeli violations and Judaization policies, implementing the strategic plan for the development of Al-Quds, activating twinning agreements with it, and contributing to preserving its Arab identity and preserving its holy places.

4. Preparing the appropriate media line to introduce the Palestinian cause and expose the Israeli violations of the sanctity of the holy places, and coordinating media activity with the specialized organs.

5. Monitoring all forms of activities of the Israeli occupation, especially the policies of colonial settlement, Judaization, and forced displacement, and proposing the necessary measures to confront this.

6. Following -up all activities at the UN and other international fora pertaining to the issue of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif in all aspects and coordinate the role of the Islamic group through the OIC offices.

7. Representing the OIC General Secretariat in conferences, seminars, meetings and other events related to Palestine and Al-Quds affairs.

8. Following-up the implementation of the OIC resolutions regarding the Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel, and monitoring the Israeli occupation policies related to colonial settlement, the apartheid wall, and the daily attacks and violations in the occupied Palestinian territory."

To achieve its self-designated tasks, the OIC has formed its administrative units with specific goals. These are:

Administrative Units:

• The Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel: It was established under Resolution No. 15/12-P, issued by the 12th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1981. It seeks to achieve the efforts of the General Secretariat in implementing the resolutions on boycotting Israel, and monitor the Israeli occupation policies related to colonial settlement, the apartheid wall, and the daily attacks and violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

• The OIC Representative Office in Palestine: This office was established by Resolution No. 42/40-P issued by the 42nd CFM session in 2015. It works to promote the cooperation, coordination and consultation with the State of Palestine, based on OIC objectives, principles and resolutions, contribute to strengthening its role towards supporting the rights of the Palestinian people, building their national institutions, meeting their needs, strengthening their steadfastness, and preserving their sanctities.

* Division for Palestine and the occupied Arab territories: This division follows up four sub-dossiers, namely ministerial meetings, the peace process, relations with international organizations, as well as the issue of refugees and UNRWA.

* Division for Al-Quds Affairs: This division follows up four sub-dossiers, namely the strategic plan for the development of Al-Quds, the Israeli violations in the city, and twinning with Al-Quds, as well as following up on the work of the Al-Quds Committee.

Despite the above-mentioned objectives and goals and having committees, division and offices with specific objectives and tasks, the OIC, the virtual paper tiger, has disappointed the Palestinians and the Muslim world with its inaction, insensitivity and cowardice. In fact, it has violated its own objectives and principles. Inspite of boycotting Israel and imposing sanctions, some powerful OIC member countries have established diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. While Israel is blocking the supply of fuel, food and medicine to the Palestinians, some prominent OIC members have beefed up trade with Israel during this ongoing war. They have facilitated the supply of food stuff to Israel through alternate sea and land routes. Saudi Arabia was going ahead to establish diplomatic relations with Israel before 7 October.

Instead of taking collective economic and diplomatic measures against Israel to save Palestinians from daily bombardment and genocide, the OIC was making statements on Kashmir and Ram Temple which was out of its declared lofty 'Raison D'etre' to distract the attention of the world from its failure to live up to its 'Raison D'etre'.

On November the OIC and the Arab League had held a joint meeting in Riyadh to chalk out its policy and plan of action over Israel-Hamas war but it ended up only making statements of condemnation against Israel's attacks on civilian population and making requests to Netanyahu to kindly not kill more Palestinians. It did not pass any resolution to boycott Israel or to make collective action to prevent Israel's aggression against the Palestinians.

Palestine is also the member of Arab League but it also disappointed Palestine.

In this situation, the OIC has lost its legitimacy to exist as its fundamental objective was to fight for the cause of Palestine and not to fight for Kashmir or Ram Temple. Therefore, the already defunct OIC should be dissolved as some European and African countries are doing much more than these member countries of the OIC.

 

URL:    https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/organisation-islamic-cooperation-raison-detre/d/131615

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