MEND HISTORICAL INJUSTICE ON PALESTINIANS, SAYS OIC

BY MUIN ABDUL MAJID

DUBAI, May 18 (Bernama) -- The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
said the international community ought to mend the historical injustice
suffered by the Palestinian people, and work out a just solution for the
Palestinian cause.

The body said the world community should do so by ensuring that
Palestinians regained their inalienable national rights, acquired emancipation
from occupation and established an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds
(Jerusalem) as its capital as well as secured the return of refugees to their
homeland.

"It's about time the international community, which has turned a blind eye
to the Palestinian tragedy for over 61 years, to push for the application of
the resolutions of international legitimacy, which endorse the right of the
Palestinians to return to their homeland and compensate them for the woes and
tribulations they have been through for decades," the grouping of Muslim
countries said in a statement.

The continued failure to find a just solution to the Palestinian question
in all its aspects, including the Palestinian refugees' right of return, meant
that the conflict would go unabated with its attendant blood shedding,
instability and disruption of peace in the region and the world, according to
the statement issued on the 61st anniversary of Al Nakba.

Al Nakba refers to the time when Palestinians were uprooted from their
homes, lands and villages before and after the creation of the Jewish state in
1948.

"On the painful anniversary of this tragedy, the OIC reiterates its
incessant support for the Palestinian people until they retrieve their full
rights to freedom, return to their homeland, and independence," the statement
added.
-- BERNAMA