Monday, 1 April, 2002:Israel 'dragging Mid-East into war' Israel has stepped up actions in the West Bank The delegates of more than 50 Islamic countries meeting in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, have accused Israel of dragging the Middle East towards all-out war. The Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) urged the United Nations to impose "deterrent sanctions" on Israel and to protect the Palestinians. Malaysia had intended to focus on 11 September The BBC's correspondent at the summit, Jonathan Head, says Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had viewed the summit - the first Muslim meeting to discuss terrorism - as an opportunity for the Muslim world to regain some of the moral ground following the 11 September attacks, by issuing a condemnation of terrorism in all its forms. But the meeting has been overshadowed by Israeli actions against Palestinians in the West Bank, following two suicide bombings. "Israel's terrorist actions and aggressive practices, posing a threat to international peace and security, and dragging the region towards an all-out war necessitate immediate action by the United Nations Security Council," the OIC's statement read. Defining terrorism Dr Mahathir earlier stressed that the Israeli Government and Palestinians alike should be condemned as terrorists. The world must deal with these misguided people not just by hunting them down but also by removing the causes of their anger and frustration He said their targeting of civilians defined their action as terrorism. "I would like to suggest here that armed attacks or other forms of attacks against civilians must be regarded as acts of terror and the perpetrators regarded as terrorists." But he argued that Israeli "state terrorism" was a bigger danger than terrorist acts by groups or individuals, and called on the world to "forcibly stop them". Dealing with the causes Dr Mahathir said that the root causes of individual terrorist acts could not be ignored. "We cannot just dismiss them as senseless perverts who enjoy terrorising people," he said. Dr Mahathir said he objected to linking Muslims with terrorism, saying it was not perpetrated by only one race or religion. But he added that Muslims had grievances which were "real and truly unbearable", and the bitterness over perceived injustices and their impotence to do anything about them, led them to "commit terrible acts of terror". "The world must deal with these misguided people not just by hunting them down but also by removing the causes of their anger and frustration," the Malaysian leader said. But our correspondent says the unrest in the Middle East is making it hard for Dr Mahathir to get the backing of other Muslim states for his sweeping condemnation of terrorist acts. Instead of bringing the Muslim world closer to the West, he says, it could simply underscore the huge gulf that still exists between the US perception of the terrorist threat and that of the Islamic world. Quick guide: Organisation of the Islamic Conference Formally established in September 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is made up of countries whose peoples are mainly followers of the Islamic religion. Its aims are, among other things, to promote all-round cooperation among its member states, to safeguard Islamic holy places and to work towards eradicating racial discrimination and colonialism. OVERVIEW : | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES The OIC comprises 57 states dispersed over four continents, spanning from Albania (Europe) in the north to Mozambique (Africa) in the south, and from Guyana (Latin America) in the west to Indonesia (Asia) in the east. But, despite its size, which includes nearly one-third of the members of the United Nations, its numerous committees and the scope of its stated activities, the OIC is run on a shoe-string budget, which in 2000-01 totalled 11.4 million US dollars. The supreme body of the OIC is the Conference of Heads of State, which convenes every three years. The first summit conference, held in Rabat in 1969, decided that member states would" consult together with a view to promoting close cooperation and mutual assistance in the economic, scientific, cultural and spiritual fields, inspired by the immortal teachings of Islam". In the interval between summits, OIC foreign ministers meet to oversee the implementation of decisions taken by the heads of state. The first foreign ministers' meeting took place in 1972, when the OIC Charter was adopted. However, the day-to-day running of the OIC is left to the Secretariat, which consists of a secretary-general and four assistant secretaries-general. FACTS OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES KEY FACTS Founded: 1969 Membership: 57 states Population: 650 million (21% of world population) Members' resources: 70% of world crude oil reserves, 50% of world natural gas reserves LEADERS OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES LEADER: Secretary-General Abdelouahed Belkeziz The secretary-general is elected by the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs for a four-year term, renewable once. The present secretary-general, Abdelouahed Belkeziz, was elected in 2001. A Moroccan, he was born in 1939 and trained in law in Morocco and France. His career has alternated between academia, where he has held a number of positions as rector or vice-chancellor, and government, where he served as ambassador to Iraq, information minister and foreign minister. OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES Although a useful forum for discussion, the OIC lacks the means to implement its resolutions, which often remain as unheeded declarations. Thus, despite a 1981 call to redouble efforts "for the liberation of Jerusalem and the occupied territories" and to institute an economic boycott of Israel, several members, including Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan and Arab Gulf states, maintain economic ties with Israel. Furthermore, pledges for financial aid to member states or to Muslim communities suffering from civil war or natural disasters are often at best met only in part. As a broad organisation whose member states are widely dispersed geographically, the effectiveness of the OIC has also been constrained by the fact that many of its members have a wide variety of political orientations, from revolutionary Iran to conservative Saudi Arabia, and are sometimes in bitter dispute with one another, such as Iraq and Iran and Iraq and Kuwait. While the net effect of these differences is often weak resolutions or ones that are honoured only in breach, sometimes they result in the boycott of summit conferences altogether, such as happened in 1991, when 12 Arab heads of state failed to turn up in Senegal in protest against the presence of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which had taken Baghdad's side in the war which followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. OIC Press Release 4 March 2002 Statement Issued by H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, on the Escalation of Israeli Aggressions in the Palestinian Territories The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ, received a message from the President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat. The message was delivered to His Excellency by Mr. Nabil Shaath, PNA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation during a meeting on Sunday evening 3 March 2002 in Jeddah. President Yasser Arafat’s message contained recent developments of the grave situation prevailing in the Palestinian territories in the light of the brutal aggression carried out by the Israeli forces of occupation against the Palestinian people. Mr. Nabil Shaath put forward exhaustive statements on the tragic situation experienced by the Palestinian people and their heavy losses in lives and properties resulting from continuous shelling of Palestinian houses and institutions by military aircraft and tanks. In this respect, the two sides stressed the need to take the necessary procedures at competent international fora aimed at demanding Israel to pay compensations for the material and moral losses sustained by the Palestinian people as a result of the continuous Israeli aggression. Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ and Mr. Nabil Shaath discussed the means to be taken at OIC level in order to activate Islamic solidarity for halting the Israeli aggression and resorting to negotiations that will ensure the establishment of the Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. In this respect, the OIC Secretary General addressed a message to President Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority concerning the current situation in the region. He also issued the following statement: The OIC Secretary General Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ is following with deep concern the escalation of Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people as well as the war waged by the Israeli forces of occupation against Palestinian Camps, villages and towns, resulting in the fall of scores of martyrs and hundreds of injured people, including women, the old and children, and the destruction of several homes and dispersal of their occupants. The escalation of these aggressions comes at a time when ceaseless regional and international efforts are being deployed in order to bring tranquility to the region and resume the peace process, particularly in the wake of the initiative put forward by His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has received the support and backing of several States of the region and around the world. The Israeli escalation also proves the insistence of the Israeli government on adopting an aggressive approach and carry out criminal designs against the Palestinian people and their National Authority, in a desperate attempt to sabotage the peace process and undermine the opportunities and initiatives seeking to restore peace to the region. In the face of these Israeli aggressions and practices, the OIC requests the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to assume its obligations by halting the Israeli aggression, providing protection for the Palestinian people and compelling Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories and implement the resolutions of the international legitimacy. It is not possible to maintain silence vis-a-vis these inhuman Israeli practices in Palestine and deal with Israel as a state above the law. While strongly condemning the practices of the Israeli occupation, the OIC reiterates its stand by the Palestinian people, in support of their just struggle to recover their legitimate inalienable rights, foremost of which is their right to freedom, return and establishment of their independent State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The OIC calls on its Member States to extend all forms of support and backing to the Palestinian people, their leadership and National Authority. ----------------- OIC Press Release 4 March 2002 Statement Issued by H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, on the Escalation of Israeli Aggressions in the Palestinian Territories The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ, received a message from the President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat. The message was delivered to His Excellency by Mr. Nabil Shaath, PNA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation during a meeting on Sunday evening 3 March 2002 in Jeddah. President Yasser Arafat’s message contained recent developments of the grave situation prevailing in the Palestinian territories in the light of the brutal aggression carried out by the Israeli forces of occupation against the Palestinian people. Mr. Nabil Shaath put forward exhaustive statements on the tragic situation experienced by the Palestinian people and their heavy losses in lives and properties resulting from continuous shelling of Palestinian houses and institutions by military aircraft and tanks. In this respect, the two sides stressed the need to take the necessary procedures at competent international fora aimed at demanding Israel to pay compensations for the material and moral losses sustained by the Palestinian people as a result of the continuous Israeli aggression. Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ and Mr. Nabil Shaath discussed the means to be taken at OIC level in order to activate Islamic solidarity for halting the Israeli aggression and resorting to negotiations that will ensure the establishment of the Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. In this respect, the OIC Secretary General addressed a message to President Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority concerning the current situation in the region. He also issued the following statement: The OIC Secretary General Dr. Abdelouahed BELKEZIZ is following with deep concern the escalation of Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people as well as the war waged by the Israeli forces of occupation against Palestinian Camps, villages and towns, resulting in the fall of scores of martyrs and hundreds of injured people, including women, the old and children, and the destruction of several homes and dispersal of their occupants. The escalation of these aggressions comes at a time when ceaseless regional and international efforts are being deployed in order to bring tranquility to the region and resume the peace process, particularly in the wake of the initiative put forward by His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has received the support and backing of several States of the region and around the world. The Israeli escalation also proves the insistence of the Israeli government on adopting an aggressive approach and carry out criminal designs against the Palestinian people and their National Authority, in a desperate attempt to sabotage the peace process and undermine the opportunities and initiatives seeking to restore peace to the region. In the face of these Israeli aggressions and practices, the OIC requests the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to assume its obligations by halting the Israeli aggression, providing protection for the Palestinian people and compelling Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories and implement the resolutions of the international legitimacy. It is not possible to maintain silence vis-a-vis these inhuman Israeli practices in Palestine and deal with Israel as a state above the law. While strongly condemning the practices of the Israeli occupation, the OIC reiterates its stand by the Palestinian people, in support of their just struggle to recover their legitimate inalienable rights, foremost of which is their right to freedom, return and establishment of their independent State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The OIC calls on its Member States to extend all forms of support and backing to the Palestinian people, their leadership and National Authority. ----------------- Text: Beirut Declaration Excerpts from text of "Beirut Declaration" issued on the closing day of the Arab League summit. We, the kings, presidents, and emirs of the Arab states meeting in the Council of the Arab League Summit in Beirut, capital of Lebanon... have conducted a thorough assessment of the developments and challenges... relating to the Arab region and, more specifically, to the occupied Palestinian territory. With great pride, we followed the Palestinian people's intifada and valiant resistance. We discussed the Arab initiatives that aim to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region... We greet with honour and pride the valiant martyrs of the intifada Arab Leaders Based on the pan-Arab responsibility, and ...the objectives of the Arab League Charter, the UN Charter, we announce the following: We will continue to ...protect the pan-Arab security and fend off the foreign schemes that aim to encroach on Arab territorial integrity. We address a greeting of pride and honour to the Palestinian people's steadfastness and valiant intifada against the Israeli occupation and its destructive war machine. We greet with honour and pride the valiant martyrs of the intifada.... We affirm solidarity with Lebanon to complete the liberation of its territory and pledge to extend aid to help its development and the reconstruction process. We take pride in the Lebanese resistance and the outstanding Lebanese steadfastness that led to the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the major part of South Lebanon and western Al-Biqa. We demand the release of the Lebanese prisoners, who are held in Israeli jails.... We emphasize our solidarity with Syria and Lebanon in the face of the Israeli aggressive threats that will undermine security and stability in the region. We reaffirm that peace in the Middle East cannot succeed unless it is just and comprehensive... and based on the land for peace principle. Expectations from Israel A. Complete withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the 4 June 1967 line and the territories still occupied in southern Lebanon. B. Attain a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees to be agreed upon in accordance with the UN General Assembly Resolution No 194. C. Accept the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since 4 June 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. In return the Arab states will do the following: Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over, sign a peace agreement with Israel, and achieve peace for all states in the region Establish normal relations with Israel within the framework of this comprehensive peace Iraq The Council welcomes the assurances by the Republic of Iraq that it will respect the independence, sovereignty, and security of the state of Kuwait and safeguard its territorial integrity. We call on Iraq to seek a solution to the issue of the Kuwaiti prisoners Within the same framework, the leaders emphasize the importance of suspending media campaigns and negative statements to create a positive atmosphere.... The Council calls for respecting Iraq's independence, sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and regional safety. The Council calls on Iraq to cooperate in seeking a... definitive solution to the issue of the Kuwaiti prisoners and detainees and returning [Kuwaiti] properties. The Council also calls on Kuwait to cooperate with what Iraq offers with respect to its nationals who are reported as missing through the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Council welcomes the resumption of the dialogue between Iraq and the United Nations.... The Council calls for lifting the sanctions on Iraq and ending the tribulation of the fraternal Iraqi people.... The Council rejects threats of aggression against some Arab states, particularly Iraq, and reiterates categorical rejection of attacking Iraq. The Council denounces international terrorism, including the terrorist attack on the United States on 11 September 2001, as well as the Israeli Government's exploitation of this attack. The Council emphasizes the distinction between international terrorism and the peoples' legitimate right to resist foreign occupation, and stresses the need to reach an international agreement within the framework of the United Nations. Wishing you the very best of good wishes, Musa Amadu Pembo Glasgow, Scotland UK. [log in to unmask] Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about Islam and we should do our best to give the right message. May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise . We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions..Amen. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~