Muslim countries meeting in Gambia condemn Israel ‘genocide’

Iran tried to use a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in Banjul, The Gambia, on May 4 and 5, in order to advance its agenda. In general, the meeting did include a declaration supporting the Palestinians. However, that was to be expected.

According to a report at the Saudi state media SPA, “the summit culminated in the Banjul Declaration, in which OIC leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the organization's core principles and objectives, which encompass respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, non-interference in internal affairs, and peaceful resolution of disputes, as well as to the noble values of Islam: unity, brotherhood, peace, solidarity, compassion, tolerance, equality, justice, moderation, balance, and human dignity.”

 This was general language. However, the meeting did include a statement in which the countries “expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza Strip, condemning the over-six-month-old Israeli aggression and its devastating humanitarian impact. OIC leaders urged the international community to take immediate steps to stop the Israeli occupation's crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

 Reports in the Gulf highlighted this declaration. The leaders at the meeting also said they would work with the International Court of Justice “and make every effort to accelerate the arrival of all humanitarian aid and reject any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land." The meeting did not produce a lot of outbursts against Israel, as some similar types of summits have in the past.

For instance, in 2003, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed, used a summit to bash Israel and claim that Jews “rule the world by proxy.”  At the time, he said, "We are actually very strong, 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today, the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”

 Today, the OIC wants a ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting in Gambia came on the eve of Israel’s decision to call for residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate. Iran’s foreign minister attended the meetings in Gambia and sought to gain influence with meetings with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia. 

Only Egypt has ties to Israel

Egypt has ties to Israel, but Saudi Arabia and Indonesia do not. Iran wanted to use the meeting to influence several countries against Israel, likely believing that Saudi Arabia or Indonesia might be considering normalization with Israel.

 The rest of the declaration from the meeting included boilerplate language that was to be expected. For instance the countries condemned anti-Muslim incidents in Europe.

They called for countries to “address the disturbing growth of the phenomenon of Islamophobia and all forms of fanaticism, terrorism, violence and extremism leading to violence, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and discrimination of all kinds on the basis of ethnicity, tribe, color and religion.” The countries also called for “alleviating the burden of poverty, climate change, food security, health and education.”