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Rabat – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced its rejection of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Israel and Palestine during an emergency meeting today in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia.
The 57-member body met at the request of Palestine to establish a common position on the controversial “deal of the century.”
Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nezha El Ouafi represented Morocco at the meeting and called for a constructive dynamic of peace in order to reach an equitable settlement for the Palestinian cause.
This dynamic is the only way to enable the peoples of the region to live in dignity, prosperity, and stability, and to guarantee the legitimate rights of Palestinians, the minister delegate maintained.
Morocco has followed Trump’s plan carefully and noted elements that overlap with principles and choices that the kingdom has always defended, El Ouafi continued.
The minister delegate affirmed that negotiations and dialogue between Israel and Palestine are essential to executing a peace plan and ensuring its sustainability.
The Director of the Orient, the Gulf, and Arab and Islamic organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fouad Akhrif, and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Morocco to the OIC, Abdallah Babah, also attended the meeting.
Aggression as a new rule of international policy
Palestine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki called on the OIC members to reject Trump’s peace plan.
“We say to those who believe that the ‘deal of the century’ is an opportunity, that it is just an attempt by a group of ideologists to give legal status to war crimes,” al-Maliki stated.
The Palestinian minister added that Trump’s plan serves the “Zionist colonization” of Palestine and present an opportunity “to escalate conflicts and sow the seeds of chaos in the world.”
Support for Trump’s “agreement” would normalize aggression as a new rule of international policy and undermine international institutions, al-Maliki warned.
After careful deliberation, the OIC “calls on all member states not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form.”
The OIC stressed in a press release that Trump’s plan does not meet the fundamental rights and aspirations of the Palestinian.
The plan is at odds with UN resolutions and international benchmarks for a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace approach, the statement added.
Notably, Iranian officials did not attend the OIC meeting, despite Iran being one of the countries to strongly condemn Trump’s peace plan.
Spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Abbas Mousavi accused Saudi Arabia of blocking Iranian inclusion.
Iran filed a complaint with the OIC, alleging that Saudi Arabia abused its position as the host of the organization’s headquarters.
Read also: King Mohammed VI Reiterates Morocco’s Principled Position on Palestine at OIC
Trump’s plan
Trump unveiled his “deal of the century” during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. on January 28.
The White House did not invite any Palestinians to the press conference. Palestine rejected the plan before Trump revealed its details, saying it was an attempt to “finish off” the Palestinian cause.
Trump’s plan proposes Israeli sovereignty west of the Jordan river, a capital in an undivided Jerusalem, and control over Jewish enclaves and settlements in the Palestinian territories.
Palestine would face a conditional path to statehood, but the future Palestinian “state” would be truncated by Jewish settlements, surrounded by Israeli territory, and lacking true sovereignty.
Trump added that Palestine would receive $50 billion in commercial investment should it achieve statehood, but the Palestinians rejected this proposal in June 2019.
“Jerusalem is not for sale,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared after Trump revealed the plan.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the country’s “appreciation” for the “peace efforts of Trump’s administration.”
However, at the emergency meeting of the Arab League in Cairo on February 1, Morocco’s government reiterated its firm support for the Palestinian cause.
Morocco maintains that the solution should guarantee the legitimate rights of Palestinians to achieve an independent and sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The solution should also allow the people of the region to “live in dignity, prosperity, and stability,” Delegate Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohcine Jazouli stressed.
The Council of the Arab League announced that Arab states will not cooperate with the American administration to implement the plan.
A press release after the emergency meeting in Egypt maintained that the Arab peace initiative endorsed in 2002 remains the only acceptable solution for the Arab world.
The Arab peace initiative calls for normalizing relations between Arab states and Israel, in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories, including East Al-Quds (Jerusalem), and a “just settlement” for the Palestinian refugee problem.
Read also: Morocco Rejects US Deal of the Century, Says Jerusalem is a Red Line
