Islamic world in firm solidarity over Jerusalem
ISTANBUL — Islamic countries have showed solidarity to the world by declaring a series of steps to counter a US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, including discrediting Washington’s role as a peace mediator, though some doubt the moves can be implemented.
The one-day extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul was called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country holds the rotating chair of the 57-member group, with a view to drawing up a road map for Muslim nations to follow as they oppose the unilateral US decision on Jerusalem.
In his break with long-held US practice on Dec 6, President Donald Trump also decided to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose status remains at the core of the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For days, the US move has sparked violent clashes in the West Bank, in addition to an unending outbreak of protests in other countries.
The OIC leaders hit back by declaring East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, rejecting as “null and void” the US decision and warning Washington of “all the consequences” of not retracting it and the risk of losing its role as a sponsor of the peace process, according to the draft final communique adopted at the conclusion of the summit.
Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, president of the Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy Studies, said OIC countries are showing “one hundred percent unity” as well as a “very strong stance” against the US by sending out a “strong message” in the final communique.
“Furthermore, declaring the US as impartial and refusing its involvement in the future peace process as a mediator will also jeopardize the US involvement as a superpower in other crises in the Middle East . ... The Islamic world has demonstrated strong unity with high-level participation,” he said.
Noticeably, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized some Arab countries for showing a “very weak” response to Trump’s move ahead of the summit, declaring that “it seems some countries are very timid of the United States”.
‘Symbolic’
While attaching importance to the final communique highlighting the leaders’ series of moves, Ilter Turan, a professor of international relations from Istanbul Bilgi University, sees them as ones “that cannot be implemented”.
“Probably they will be remaining symbolic,” he said. “There may be a number of states who proceed to recognize the decision to have East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestine State, but it will not necessarily change many things unless some countries that are not part of the OIC also proceed in the same direction.”
He is not expecting such a scenario to emerge, saying: “I think what we shall have is another sort of highly polarizing situation generated by the US and the decision that only helps the consolidation of the polarization.”