Istanbul - King Mohammed VI on Thursday called on Islamic countries to design and implement appropriate strategies and reform programs to face a situation that has worsened with the spread within western communities of Islamophobia, along with fear, suspicion and hatred towards Muslim minorities, during the last decades.
"The identification and critical analysis of the causes behind the current situation, as well as an objective assessment of historical responsibilities, at the local, regional and international levels, should help overcome this challenging phase," King Mohammed VI said in a message addressed to the 13th OIC's Summit, which takes place in Istanbul.
In this message, which was read out by Foreign Affairs Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, the King underlined that anti-Islam rhetoric, which is gaining ground in the West, is stirring up feelings of hatred and rallying public opinions against Islam, as part of "the alarmingly spreading phenomenon of Islamophobia."
He called on Islamic countries to design and implement "appropriate strategies and reform programs, which take into consideration national specificities, while drawing on both regional and international solidarity and cooperation."
The 13th Islamic Summit "is convening at a time when member states of our organization, such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya, are grappling with a series of simultaneous crises," the King noted.
These crises heightened internal repercussions and escalating regional consequences, he emphasized, adding that sectarian division, fanaticism and terrorism are gaining more ground, hence "the need to identify the causes of this abnormal, high-risk situation and to determine the reasons why the Islamic world is affected by it, both as a source and a target."
"The answers to these questions are particularly important as some parties, here and there, are trying to take advantage of a fragile situation such as this in order to fuel separatist trends and redraw the map of the Islamic world, on a basis which ignores historical and identity-related facts, denies specificities and inherent characteristics and unveils premeditated designs to meddle in the future of nations, jeopardizing world security and stability," the monarch stressed.
The Moroccan monarch called on OIC member countries, as an almost global bloc boasting more than a billion Muslims, to seize every available opportunity to achieve complementarity and to benefit from the lessons of "our history and from experiences lived by other blocs that have reached advanced levels of integration and joint construction."
He underlined the importance of boosting and expanding South-South cooperation - based on trust, realism and shared interests - among member states, mainly through extensive exchange of experience "in order to develop our relations and promote solidarity between our societies, at all levels, with a view to enhancing our productivity and strengthening our economies, in order to ensure decent living conditions and prosperity for our peoples."
The King, Chairman of the OIC al-Quds Committee, pointed out that there is yet another source of power for Islamic countries us to draw on; that is the faith in the justness of the al-Quds and Palestinian cause, and reaffirmed "that Morocco, its King, Government and people, are mobilized, with all the political, legal and practical means available, for the defence of al-Quds and Palestine."
He called on Islamic countries to continue the mobilization, "with the same determination, to protect al-Quds from the systematic Judaization policy imposed on the city on a daily basis and on the ground, and to respond to the renewed needs and priorities of its Palestinian inhabitants."
"Supporting the Bayt Mal al-Quds al-Sharif Agency is henceforth a necessity, dictated by our joint action within the organization, to translate our faith in solidarity and cooperation with al-Quds inhabitants into constructive programs, particularly when it comes to helping deprived families and building public facilities, namely in the fields of health and education," he concluded.
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