The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) celebrated International day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in Jeddah on Thursday, December 7, which is observed on November 29 annually.
The event was attended by the secretary-general of the organization, Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen; Ambassador Mahmoud Al-Asadi, consul general of the State of Palestine in Jeddah; Dr. Maher Karaki, permanent representative of Palestine to the organization; and a number of members of the diplomatic corps and local journalists.
Each participant expressed that this day comes as a firm and constant commitment to support the struggle of the Palestinian people and their efforts to restore their full legitimate national rights. Global solidarity with the just Palestinian cause is based on the principles of justice, freedom, equal rights and dignity.
For the event, the General Secretariat organized a photo gallery about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and a folklore exhibition on the sidelines of its presentation.
The event also included viewing an award-winning documentary called “Roadmap To Apartheid,” as the first-time directors took a detailed look at the apartheid analogy commonly used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Narrated by Alice Walker, “Roadmap to Apartheid” is as much a historical document of the rise and fall of apartheid in South Africa, as it is a film about why many Palestinians feel they are living in an apartheid system today, and why an increasing number of people around the world agree with them.
The secretary-general welcomed the positive developments concerning Palestinian national reconciliation, including the assumption by the Palestinian Reconciliation Government of its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on or around November 29 each year, in accordance with General Assembly mandates contained in the resolutions of December 2, 1977, and December 12, 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted under agenda item titled the “Question of Palestine.”
November 29 was chosen because of its significance to the Palestinian people. On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted a resolution, which came to be known as the Partition Resolution. That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State,” with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime.
Of the two states to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
The International Day of Solidarity traditionally provides an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference; the right to national independence and sovereignty; and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced.