Jeddah (UNA) – Ambassador Samir Bakr, Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), delivered the speech of the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Taha, during the event commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, held today at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah. The event also featured an exhibition organized in cooperation with the Permanent Delegation of the State of Palestine and the Union of OIC News Agencies.
“The commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba embodies its deep-rooted presence in the collective memory of the Islamic nation, and affirms our spirit of solidarity and absolute support for the rights of the steadfast Palestinian people,” the statement read. “On this occasion, I extend my respect and appreciation to the struggling Palestinian people, who have managed for decades to remain steadfast on their land, defending their legitimate rights and sanctities, adhering to their national identity, and affirming that the will to live is stronger than all the crimes of displacement, destruction, and attempts to liquidate their just cause.”
“The Palestinian Nakba is a dark mark on the human conscience and a testament to the absence of international justice and the inability to provide justice to the oppressed Palestinian people, who continue to groan under the yoke of the brutal occupation and endure the most severe human suffering, displacement, and denial of their existence and legitimate rights. While more than six million Palestinian refugees have lived in camps for 77 years, hoping to return to their homeland, the chapters of the Nakba and its repercussions continue through the crimes of destruction, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and genocide committed by the Israeli occupation, which have led since October 7, 2023, to the martyrdom and injury of more than 200 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, without any political, legal, or humanitarian deterrent,” he added.
He stressed, "In this regard, we reiterate the international community's responsibility to immediately end Israeli aggression, settlements, and colonial occupation, and to activate international justice mechanisms to hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its crimes against humanity, end impunity, and rectify the historical injustice that continues to be inflicted on the Palestinian people."
The speech included a rejection and condemnation of the Israeli occupation policies based on colonial settlement and forced displacement from the Gaza Strip, and attempts at annexation and imposing alleged sovereignty over the West Bank, including Jerusalem. “We warn of the danger of the Israeli occupation targeting Palestinian camps in the West Bank and destroying their infrastructure as part of attempts to uproot them from the geography of the memory of the Nakba and displacement in 1948, and to erase their role in preserving the Palestinian national identity, and to uproot them as a symbol that embodies the Palestinian people’s determination to persevere and survive.”
He continued, "We express our appreciation for UNRWA, which faces systematic targeting by the Israeli occupation, as it represents a ray of hope shining in the darkness of the ongoing Nakba, and as an international witness to the Palestinian Nakba. We also affirm that the role of this UN agency cannot be replaced or dispensed with, as it embodies the responsibility and commitment of the international community to protect the rights of Palestinian refugees, including the right of return, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, especially Resolution 194."
He said that the Nakba commemoration brings to mind other forms of Palestinian suffering, including the plight of more than 10 Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli prisons under harsh, inhumane conditions, a systematic violation of the most basic principles of human rights. On this occasion, he called for their release and the empowerment of them to live in freedom and dignity.
In his speech, the Secretary-General reiterated his unwavering support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them their right to return and the establishment of their independent state on the borders of June 1967, XNUMX, with Jerusalem as its capital.
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