Cairo, Sept. 7 (Petra) -- The Arab Ministerial Committee tasked with international action against illegal Israeli policies in occupied Jerusalem on Monday called for stronger political, diplomatic, and economic action to halt Israeli violations in the city and protect its Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs Ayman Safadi chaired the committee meeting as part of the 166th regular session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level.
Safadi briefed the committee on ongoing Israeli violations and measures in Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites, as well as efforts to counter attempts to alter the city’s historical and legal status quo and its Arab Islamic and Christian identity.
He also outlined Jordan’s efforts to confront illegal Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem, protect Islamic and Christian holy sites, and preserve the historical and legal status quo under the Hashemite Custodianship.
The committee is chaired by Jordan and groups Iraq, as current chair of the 34th Arab Summit, as well as Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain as the Arab non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Somalia as a Security Council member, and the Arab League secretary-general.
Today's meeting was the committee’s 11th since its establishment under a 2021 Arab League resolution on Israeli actions in occupied Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Varsen Aghabekian Shahin briefed the committee on Israeli policies that seek to undermine Palestinian presence in Jerusalem through annexation, settlement expansion, land confiscation, home demolitions, forced displacement, withdrawal of identity cards, changes to school curricula, closure of Palestinian institutions, and measures against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
She also warned against the E1 settlement project, which would isolate Jerusalem and separate the northern West Bank from the south, urging coordinated Arab diplomatic action as well as political, economic, and legal measures to support Jerusalem and its residents.
Committee members condemned an unprecedented escalation of Israeli violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and measures aimed at altering the historical and legal status quo, including attempts to impose temporal and spatial division of the compound.
They strongly denounced recurrent incursions by settlers, Israeli ministers, and officials into Al-Aqsa under Israeli police protection, as well as Jewish prayers and rituals, the raising of Israeli flags, inflammatory statements, and calls by extremist groups for further incursions and the slaughter of sacrifices inside the compound.
The committee also decried restrictions imposed on Muslim worshippers trying to access Al-Aqsa, including closures, checkpoints, physical assaults, age and geographic restrictions, and impediments to restoration and maintenance work by employees of the Jerusalem Awqaf Department.
Members further condemned measures targeting the historic Christian presence in Jerusalem, including the seizure of land belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Silwan, attacks on churches, monasteries, clergy, nuns, worshippers, and Christian property, and restrictions on worshippers entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during religious holidays.
They warned that such measures threaten the Christian presence in the Holy Land and violate international humanitarian law and freedom of religion and worship.
The committee called for political, diplomatic, and economic measures against any state that recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moves its embassy to the city, or takes steps that affect Jerusalem’s legal status.
It also welcomed the outcomes of an Aug. 5 ministerial meeting convened by Jordan to launch coordinated Arab and Islamic action in support of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.
The committee condemned Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition and historical and religious character of Jerusalem and the status of Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
They also strongly condemned Israeli tenders for 1,234 settlement units under the E1 plan east of occupied Jerusalem, arguing that the project would sever geographic contiguity between the northern and southern West Bank, isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and undermine the prospects for an independent and viable Palestinian state.
The committee additionally condemned escalating settler violence against Palestinians and their property, land, and holy sites.
It also denounced the Israeli authorities’ raid on and evacuation of UNRWA’s Qalandia Training Centre in occupied Jerusalem, describing the action as a serious escalation and a violation of international law and the privileges and immunities of United Nations organizations.
They reaffirmed their rejection of Israeli measures targeting UNRWA, stressing the agency’s role in providing services to Palestinian refugees across its five fields of operation under its UN mandate.
The committee reiterated that Israel has no sovereignty over Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites and reaffirmed its position that East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine.
It called for an independent, sovereign, geographically contiguous, and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital along the June 4, 1967 lines, based on the two-state solution, international law, the Arab Peace Initiative, and relevant international references.
It also stressed the importance of implementing UN resolutions on the Palestinian issue, including relevant Security Council resolutions, as well as UNESCO Executive Board and World Heritage Committee decisions recognizing the entire 144-dunum Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound as a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.
The committee reaffirmed the importance of the historical Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and stated that the Jordanian-run Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department has exclusive authority to administer all affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and regulate entry to the compound.
The committee welcomed a Qatari initiative to establish a permanent institutional mechanism, including a media platform, to monitor, document, and publicize Israeli violations against holy sites and worshippers.
It tasked the Arab League General Secretariat, in coordination with member states, with developing the mechanism, identifying financing options, and preparing a coordinated Arab and international diplomatic and media campaign on Israeli actions in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The committee also agreed to strengthen coordination with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, including through a planned joint OIC-Arab League ministerial meeting on Jerusalem during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
It called for intensified international pressure, particularly through the UN Security Council, to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to halt illegal measures against Islamic and Christian holy sites, respect freedom of worship, and preserve the historical and legal status quo.
They further urged stronger Arab diplomatic engagement with influential international parties to pursue restrictive and deterrent measures against attacks on holy sites and settler violence, ensure accountability for Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem, and support the resilience of Palestinians and Palestinian institutions in the city.
//Petra// AO
