Maldives reaffirms solidarity with Palestine

The Maldives reaffirmed support for an independent and sovereign Palestine on Wednesday at an extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The OIC Executive Committee’s emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia was called upon the request of Palestine following Israeli violations in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

In a statement delivered at the OIC general secretariat’s headquarters in Jeddah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel said the Maldives will continue to call for an independent and sovereign state of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Khaleel went on to say that the injustices, oppression and humiliation of the Palestinian people cast a dark shadow over the entire Islamic community, according to a statement by the foreign ministry. 

He condemned the confiscation of Palestinian land properties, threats to demolish hundreds of homes as a part of the policy for ‘Judaization’ of the holy city, displacing its inhabitants and changing its Arab identity. 

The OIC executive committee issued a final statement strongly condemning the escalation of  Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and its attempts to alter the city’s legal character and demographic composition.

The Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation is the second largest intergovernmental organisation after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states from over four continents. 

The Maldives has been a member since 1976.

State Minister Khaleel was accompanied at the meeting by Mohamed Khaleel, Maldivian ambassador-designate to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and officials from both the Maldivian embassy in Riyadh and the ministry of foreign affairs.