Jeddah, Rabi'I 16, 1439 H., December 04, 2017, SPA -- The extraordinary meeting at the level of permanent representatives of OIC Member States, held at the request of the State of Palestine at the headquarters of OIC in Jeddah on Monday to consider the US Administration’s leaning towards changing the legal and historical status of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, expressed concern at attempts to change the historical and legal status of the occupied City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif and to transfer diplomatic missions thereto, and condemned the statements, positions and resolutions aimed at changing the status of the occupied city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the Charter of OIC, pursuant to the Islamic resolutions and decisions affirming that the issue of Al-Quds Al-Sharif is at the core of the Palestinian cause, which, itself, is the essence of the Arab-Israeli conflict; and that there can be no comprehensive and just peace without the return of the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif to Palestinian sovereignty, as the capital of the State of Palestine, the statement condemned the illegal measures against the city of Al-Quds aimed at imposing Israeli control over it, which will contribute to changing the historical and legal status of the Holy City, its demographic structure and its Arab-Islamic character. Affirming all resolutions of the relevant Islamic conferences and extraordinary meetings, including those of Al-Quds Committee at its previous sessions; and recalling the relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly resolutions No. 242 (1967); 252 (1968); 338 (1973); 465; 476; 478 (1980); and 1073 (1996), and the resolutions of the Tenth Emergency Extraordinary Session of the UN General Assembly in 2002, namely Resolution No. ES 10/2 dated 24/4/1997 and No. ES 10/3 dated 15/7/1997, on illegal Israeli practices in occupied East Al-Quds and the other occupied Palestinian territories; and welcoming the adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution No. 2334 (2016), the statement condemned all statements and positions issued by US officials that blatantly challenge the Islamic feelings, given the grave consequences and threats this presents to international peace and security. Reaffirming the relevant international resolutions and the resolutions of the UN Security Council, the Legal Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 and the conferences of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of War of 1949, and reiterating that the Convention’s provisions apply to the territory of the State of Palestine, including the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and also cover protection for civilians in times of war, the statement affirmed that the Muslim Ummah and the OIC Member States will not stand idly by and will not accept any hostile action that detracts from the status of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and that the OIC will immediately activate all its relevant resolutions, stressed that the centrality of the Palestinian cause and Al-Quds Al-Sharif requires Member States to adopt a unified position in all international forums, and requests the OIC General Secretariat and its affiliated, subsidiary and specialized institutions to take the necessary measures to ensure the support of the OIC-backed resolutions on the Palestinian cause whose essence is the issue of Al-Quds, reaffirmed the sovereignty of the State of Palestine on all Palestinian land occupied in 1967, including East Al-Quds, and its borders with neighboring countries as well as its right to confront any steps that might prejudice this, reaffirmed that all legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, to impose its laws and administrative procedures on the City of Al-Quds are illegal and therefore void in accordance with the UN resolutions, and calls upon all States, institutions, organizations and companies to avoid liability by not recognizing or engaging in any form with these measures, called upon all States and their executive and legislative bodies, in particular the United States of America, and all international institutions and bodies, to abide by the resolutions of international legality on the City of Al-Quds, which is an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and to refrain from taking any step that would include any form of explicit or implicit recognition of the illegal annexation of Al-Quds by Israel, the occupying power, including through the transfer of their diplomatic missions to the City, reaffirmed the centrality of the Palestinian cause, in particular the Holy City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, to the entire Muslim Ummah, as the eventual and permanent headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)and affirms the Arab and Islamic identity of the occupied East Al-Quds as the capital of the State of Palestine. --More 20:11 LOCAL TIME 17:11 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w554578