Arab League hosts conference to support Jerusalem

Ahram Online , Sunday 5 Feb 2023

The League of Arab states will host a conference in support of Jerusalem next week at the headquarters of the Arab League in the Egyptian capital, and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will take part in it, Palestine’s Ambassador in Cairo and its permanent representative to the Arab League, Diab al-Louh, said on Sunday.

Mahmoud Abbas
File photo:President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. AP

 

The conference is scheduled to be held on the 12th of this month, the WAFA news agency said.

Al-Louh said in a statement that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and the League of Arab States have invited the leaders of member states as well as a number of world figures and representatives of international organisations, Arab funds, Arab development agencies, civil society organisations, and a number of foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo to participate in the conference.

The Palestinian news agency reported that the high-level international conference on Jerusalem had already been approved by the Arab League at the level of foreign ministers in its 158th session, as well as the Arab Summit in Algeria in its 31st session.

“It was decided to hold the conference at this critical time, specifically in an attempt to internationalise the issue of Jerusalem and support the steadfastness of its Palestinian residents and to place it on the agenda of joint Arab action,” he said.

The conference aims to unify the Arab position to confront the Israeli occupation practices in light of the targeting of the city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian sanctities and its residents, as well as the increase in the pace of Judaisation, foremost of which is Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially after the formation of the far-right government that wants to destroy the two-state solution, singling out the city of Jerusalem, and trying to isolate it and obliterate its identity, he explained.

Al-Louh said that the purpose of this international conference is to discuss ways to support the steadfastness of the Palestinians in the Holy City in terms of development and investment by presenting a study for financing development and investment projects proposed by the State of Palestine. They are estimated at between 25-30 projects in the health, education, housing and empowerment of women sectors, and to submit a proposal to establish an Arab voluntary fund in which member states, Arab funds, the private sector and Arab development agencies contribute to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the city of Jerusalem.

He expressed hope that the conference would culminate in forming a committee of Arab experts specialised in international law to provide legal advice on cases violated by the Israeli occupation forces and that this committee would meet periodically to discuss legal issues and violations in Jerusalem.

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