OIC Urges Support for Palestinians’ Right of Return
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the international community to support the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their lands from which they were expelled in 1948.
This came in a statement by the organization, on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the Palestinian Day of Nakba which is annually marked on May 15.
The OIC stressed the Palestinian cause is a core issue, reiterating its “firm and absolute support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle to regain and exercise their inalienable national rights.”
It called on the international community to continue to provide full support to the Palestinian people in order to regain their rights, including the right of return, according to Anadolu News Agency.
Citing international legitimacy resolutions, the organization affirmed the necessity of “two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set July 1 for the start of cabinet discussions on extending Israeli appropriation to settlements in the West Bank and annexing the Jordan Valley.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem (al-Quds) during the Six-Day War in 1967. It later annexed East Jerusalem (al-Quds) in a move not recognized by the international community.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem (al-Quds) as its capital.
But Israel's aggressive settlement expansion and annexation plans have dealt a serious blow to any prospects of peace. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
