At OIC, Turkey urges Muslim nations to support Palestinians
ISTANBUL — Turkey urged Muslim nations at an OIC summit on Friday to stand with the Palestinians against Israel, warning that the American decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would only be the first among many moves against the Islamic world.
The call came on the heels of a week that has seen Turkey take a leading role in condemning Israeli actions in Gaza — Monday’s killing of 59 Palestinians and wounding of hundreds of others was the deadliest day of cross-border violence in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. As part of its efforts, the Turkish government organized a massive “Curse Oppression, Support Jerusalem” rally and an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in a show of solidarity Friday.
Speaking to leaders and high-level officials from Muslim nations, Erdogan called for unity, saying Jerusalem — the third holiest site in Islam — was their common cause. He said the United States had heightened regional tensions and argued its “Jerusalem decision is the harbinger of new operations against the Islamic world.”
Erdogan, the rotating term president of the OIC, called Israel’s actions in Gaza “state terror,” and compared them to the Holocaust.
“The children of those who were subjected to all sorts of torture in concentration camps during World War II are now attacking Palestinians with methods that would put Nazis to shame,” he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah criticized the U.S. for becoming “part of the problem and not the solution” and thereby disqualified itself as a peace process mediator by infringing on the Palestinians’ “historic, legal, natural and national rights” with Monday’s embassy move.
Jordanian King Abdullah II weighed in to say immediate resolutions were needed to economically support “the resistance of Palestinians” and confront Israel’s attempts at “changing Jerusalem’s Arab, Islamic and Christian identity.”
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani spoke as participants broke their fast for Ramadan, calling the Trump administration a “dangerous threat” to global peace and security. Rouhani said Muslim nations should consider “revising” political and economic ties with the U.S., and called on the international community to “cut ties” with Israel and boycott it through trade.
“If Israel faces a united front of Islamic nations, it will never be able to continue its crimes,” the Iranian president said. He cited the example of the “new and young generation of Palestine who is aware of their rights and has no intention to withdraw or compromise.”
Before the summit, the Palestinian prime minister and Erdogan spoke to hundreds of thousands waving Palestinian and Turkish flags. Erdogan told the rally that the responsibility to defend Jerusalem lay with them as crowds chanted “Chief, take us to Jerusalem.”
He also slammed Islamic countries that failed what he termed “the Jerusalem test,” saying “all we Muslims do is condemn” and not unite. Erdogan said Muslim countries were “severe, intolerant and unconscientious” to each other and “toothless and cowardly” to unspecified enemies. Erdogan struck a more conciliatory tone at the summit.