OIC HOLDS JANUARY 3 MINISTERIAL LEVEL MEETING ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000005

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARP; IO, IO/OIC, IO/PPC, IO/UNP;
RIYADH PASS TO DHAHRAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2014
TAGS: KISL KWBG OPDC PTER AORC GZIS SA
SUBJECT: OIC HOLDS JANUARY 3 MINISTERIAL LEVEL MEETING ON
GAZA AND ISSUES COMMUNIQUE CONDEMNING ISRAEL

REF: 08 JEDDAH 0540

Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference issued a
communiqu at the end of its January 3 ministerial level
meeting strongly condemning Israel for its role in the
conflict in Gaza and calling for a series of steps aimed at
stopping the violence. The OIC is emphasizing the need for
the UN Security Council to take a more active role. The OIC
assigns the lion's share of responsibility for the conflict
to Israel. End Summary.

2.. (SBU) On January 3 in Jeddah, the Organization of the
Islamic Conference's Executive Committee held an
extraordinary meeting at the level of foreign ministers to
address the hostilities in the Gaza strip. This meeting was
preceded by a meeting of OIC member state ambassadors to the
body. The international press as well as local media widely
reported the decision of the body to condemn Israel for its
ongoing military engagement in Gaza.


3. (SBU) The foreign ministers' meeting concluded with the
issuance of a final communiqu, now publicly available on the
OIC website: www.oic-oci.org/
oicnew/english/conf/exec/FC-exec-fm-Gaza-En.p df. The opening
operative clauses of the communiqu read that the OIC:


A. Strongly condemns the ongoing brutal Israeli assault on
the Palestinian people in Gaza, which has claimed the lives
of hundreds of civilians, injured thousands, and caused
colossal destruction of homes, civilian facilities,
infrastructure and places of worship as a blatant violation
of international law and war crimes and crimes against
humanity, and calls for bringing culprits to international
justice.


B. Requests the international community to act immediately to
end the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, to secure an
immediate ceasefire, return to calm, and cessation of all
hostilities to provide immediate protection for the
Palestinian people, and to compel Israel, the occupying
power, to lift its oppressive blockade on the Gaza Strip and
to open the crossings.


4. (C) The communiqu called on the UN Security Council to
adopt a resolution "compelling Israel to immediately stop its
aggression." It requested the convening of an emergency OIC
Human Rights Council meeting. There is no mention of any
Palestinian responsibility for the conflict. There is a call
for "Palestinian factions to end their differences and the
state of divisions, and immediately resume national dialogue
to ensure Palestinian national unity, serve the higher
interests of the Palestinian people and strengthen their
ability to continue their just struggle to regain their
fundamental national rights."


5. (SBU) In a press conference held after the meeting,
Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu reiterated the major
points of the communiqu and condemned Israel for its role in
the conflict. He emphasized the need for the UN to take
action.


6. (C) In a January 4 telcon with POLOFF, Ufuk Gokcen,
advisor to the OIC SYG, made note of an Iranian proposal to
organize a ministerial summit on the matter of Gaza. Gokcen
said that the measure requiring a 2/3 majority "so far has no
movement(we circulated the request from Iran, but so far
there is no response from anybody." Gokcen had no other
comment other than to note the importance of the communiqu.


7. Comment. The OIC's communiqu and public statements do
not recognize the role of Hamas or Palestinian militants in
triggering the latest round of violence in Gaza. The
omission is important less due to its potential to fuel anger
among member states than because it reflects the perception
among most OIC members that the conflict is due entirely due
to Israeli "aggression." End Comment.
QUINN