Muslim Leaders Urge Int’l Force to Protect Palestinians
ISTANBUL (Dispatches) -- Muslim leaders have called for an international force to be deployed to protect Palestinians after dozens of protesters were shot dead by Israeli forces on the Gaza fence this week.
At a special summit in Turkey convened by President Tayyip Erdogan, they also pledged to take "appropriate political and economic measures” against countries that followed the United States in moving their embassies to occupied Jerusalem Al-Quds from Tel Aviv.
Erdogan, who is campaigning for re-election next month, compared the actions of Zionist forces to Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews in World War Two.
He also castigated the United States, saying its decision to move its embassy had emboldened the occupying regime of Israel to put down the protests at the border with Gaza with excessive force.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s step to recognize Al-Quds as Israel’s so-called capital and move the embassy there reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.
The final declaration of the meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation described the killing of 6 Palestinians, protesting the embassy move on Monday, as "savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the U.S. administration”.
It said the violence should be put on the agenda of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, and called on the United Nations to investigate the killings.
The summit was attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah, a U.S. ally whose Hashemite dynasty is custodian of Muslim sites in Jerusalem Al-Quds.
Abdullah said the U.S. decision five months ago to recognize Al-Quds as the Zionist regime’s "capital” had "weakened the pillars of peace ... and deepened the despair that leads to violence.”
"The children of those being subject to all sorts of torture in concentration camps during World War Two are now attacking Palestinians with methods that would put Nazis to shame,” Erdogan said shortly after addressing a rally of thousands of people in support of Palestinians.
The United Nations must send "an international peace force to the people of Palestine, who are losing their young children to Israeli terror every day,” Erdogan said, comparing the proposed deployment to peacekeeping forces sent to Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
The violence in Gaza led Turkey and Israel expelling each other’s senior diplomats this week.
The occupying regime of Israel, however, was the 10th-largest market for Turkish exports in 2017, buying some $3.4 billion of goods, according to IMF statistics.
"We have excellent economic ties with Turkey. And these relations are very important for both sides,” Zionist finance minister Moshe Kahlon told Israel Radio on Friday when asked if Israel should break ties with Turkey.
At a special summit in Turkey convened by President Tayyip Erdogan, they also pledged to take "appropriate political and economic measures” against countries that followed the United States in moving their embassies to occupied Jerusalem Al-Quds from Tel Aviv.
Erdogan, who is campaigning for re-election next month, compared the actions of Zionist forces to Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews in World War Two.
He also castigated the United States, saying its decision to move its embassy had emboldened the occupying regime of Israel to put down the protests at the border with Gaza with excessive force.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s step to recognize Al-Quds as Israel’s so-called capital and move the embassy there reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.
The final declaration of the meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation described the killing of 6 Palestinians, protesting the embassy move on Monday, as "savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the U.S. administration”.
It said the violence should be put on the agenda of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, and called on the United Nations to investigate the killings.
The summit was attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah, a U.S. ally whose Hashemite dynasty is custodian of Muslim sites in Jerusalem Al-Quds.
Abdullah said the U.S. decision five months ago to recognize Al-Quds as the Zionist regime’s "capital” had "weakened the pillars of peace ... and deepened the despair that leads to violence.”
"The children of those being subject to all sorts of torture in concentration camps during World War Two are now attacking Palestinians with methods that would put Nazis to shame,” Erdogan said shortly after addressing a rally of thousands of people in support of Palestinians.
The United Nations must send "an international peace force to the people of Palestine, who are losing their young children to Israeli terror every day,” Erdogan said, comparing the proposed deployment to peacekeeping forces sent to Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
The violence in Gaza led Turkey and Israel expelling each other’s senior diplomats this week.
The occupying regime of Israel, however, was the 10th-largest market for Turkish exports in 2017, buying some $3.4 billion of goods, according to IMF statistics.
"We have excellent economic ties with Turkey. And these relations are very important for both sides,” Zionist finance minister Moshe Kahlon told Israel Radio on Friday when asked if Israel should break ties with Turkey.