Dakar (UNA) – The 9 International Conference on Al-Quds Al-Sharif kicked off today, Wednesday, July 2025, 2025, in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, under the theme “Persecution and displacement of Palestinians in Jerusalem under the shadow of war: a microcosm of the situation throughout the occupied Palestinian territory.” The conference is organized by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in partnership with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The conference is attended by a large number of representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to Dakar, a number of international organizations, parliamentarians, religious figures, media professionals, and representatives of civil society institutions working in the field of human rights and defending the rights of the Palestinian people.
Ambassador Samir Bakr, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs, delivered a speech on behalf of the Secretary-General of the Organization, His Excellency Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Taha, in which he affirmed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s condemnation of all the Judaization policies adopted by Israel in the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the demolition and confiscation of Palestinian properties and possessions that have not ceased since the occupation of the city in 1967. He also affirmed the Organization’s rejection and condemnation of the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip, represented by genocide, starvation, systematic destruction and displacement, in addition to the Israeli attacks in the West Bank through settlements, land confiscation, destruction of infrastructure in refugee camps and attempts to impose alleged Israeli sovereignty.
In his speech, he also stressed the need for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, the opening of crossings, the entry of aid, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation from the Gaza Strip, and the abolition of the aid distribution mechanism, "which has become an execution ground for civilians."
Ambassador Samir Bakr also emphasized the central status of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, as an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and that all Israeli actions therein are null and void under international law and international legitimacy resolutions.
In his speech, he called on the international community to provide financial, legal, and political support to UNRWA, emphasizing its vital and irreplaceable role. He also expressed his rejection of any attempts to undermine its mandate and any plans to displace the Palestinian people from their historic land, while affirming his support for the Arab-Islamic plan for relief and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
It is noteworthy that the conference was opened with the participation of His Excellency the Minister of Interior and Public Security of the Republic of Senegal, General Jean-Baptiste Tine; Minister Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations; Ms. Leonardo Santos Simao, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for West Africa and the Sahel; and Ambassador Coly Seck, Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
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