The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, condemned in the strongest terms the decision of the Israeli Government to endorse the construction of thousands of new settlement units in East Jerusalem, warning that the continuing settlement policy and the imposition of facts on the ground, in total defiance of the will of the international community, will lead to the destabilization of the region. The Secretary General emphasized again that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and that the Israeli measures intended to alter its geographic and demographic nature and to isolate it from the West Bank are illegal and represent a blatant violation of international law and of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These measures also infringe upon the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Secretary General reiterated his call to the international community to endeavor to compel Israel to stop all violations aimed at judaizing the holy city and altering its Arab-Islamic identity.
