Decision on Palestine and the Middle East

DECISION ON PALESTINE AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Doc. EX.CL/235 (VIII)

The Executive Council:

1. RECALLS all relevant Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the OAU/AU on the situation in the Middle East and Palestine;

2. REITERATES its continued full support to and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just and legitimate struggle, under the leadership of PLO, their sole and legitimate representative in the exercise of their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination, return of their properties and the establishment of an independent state on their national soil, with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the principles of international law, the UN Resolutions 149 and other pertinent resolutions of the OAU/AU and all UN Resolutions;

3. REAFFIRMS its firm support for a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict based on the relevant International Resolutions, the Arab Peace initiative and the Road Map, and URGES the Palestinian and Israeli sides to implement their commitments in order to create the environment conducive to the resumption of the final status negotiations aimed at reaching a lasting, just, and comprehensive peace in the region, to bring an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories since 1967, with two states solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security;

4. WELCOMES the practical and courageous steps taken by the Palestinian leadership, especially the holding of municipal elections based on democracy and transparency, and EXPRESSES the hope that the forthcoming Palestinian Legislative Elections will take place without any outside interference and in a free and transparent manner, thereby paving the way for the establishment of Palestinian Democracy;

5. FURTHER WELCOMES the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip which it considers a first step towards a full withdrawal from all Palestinian Territories occupied in 1967 including East Jerusalem and CALLS UPON the Israeli Government not to use this withdrawal as a pretext to extend its control over the West Bank and Al- quds Al-Sharif, and CONDEMNS the Israeli continued attacks on Gaza Strip;

6. STRONGLY CONDEMNS the Israeli repressive measures and aggressions perpetrated against defenseless Palestinian civilians, including the policy of criminal and targeted assassinations that could lead to a new cycle of violence, and URGES the Israeli Government to cease all indiscriminate measures and retaliatory actions, arrests, widespread and arbitrary destruction of property and infrastructure, of official and public institutions, as well as the severe restrictions on the free movement of goods and persons;

7. CALLS UPON the Government of Israel to put an end to the construction of the Apartheid Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and around and inside the Jerusalem town, and Israeli breach of its legal obligations under International Law, International Humanitarian Law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and URGES Israel to comply with the 9 July 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and General Assembly Resolution ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004;

8. FURTHER CALLS UPON Israel to halt all its unilateral measures designed to create a new fact on the ground, which is at variance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions and could jeopardize the peace process and dash any hope towards achieving a just and comprehensive peaceful solution;

9. STRONGLY CONDEMNS all Israeli modifications and illegal measures aimed at altering the status of the Occupied Jerusalem, including Israeli destruction of Jerusalemite houses, the threats of Israeli extremists to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s continued construction of the Apartheid Wall and expansion of settlements in and around East Jerusalem and in the West Bank that will severely undermine the efforts towards the establishment of the State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital;

10. ALSO CALLS UPON Israel to stop the continuous cycle of violence, aggressions and assassinations against civilians, in accordance with the commitments agreed upon, and to put an end to its occupation of the Palestinian Territories;

11. URGES the International Community and the Quartet to provide the necessary political and financial support and to help the Palestinian Leadership to reinvigorate the negotiations in order to salvage the peace process;

12. REQUESTS the Government of Israel to put an end to its occupation of all Arab lands occupied since 1967, in accordance with the UN Security Council relevant resolutions including Resolutions 242 and 338, the Madrid Declaration, the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Road Map in order to reach a just and comprehensive peaceful solution of the Arab Israeli Conflict;

13. TAKES NOTE of the efforts deployed by the Committee of Ten (10) Member States on Palestine established by Decision AHG/Dec.182 (XXXVIII), in July 2002, and URGES continued efforts in the quest for a just and comprehensive peaceful solution to the conflict in the Middle East and Palestine.