The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) expressed on Saturday its “astonishment” at US silence on Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians and urged Washington to exert pressure on the Jewish state to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East, reported the Gulf Times newspaper.
“The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) is astonished that the international community, notably the United States, main sponsor of the (Middle East) peace process, continues to overlook Israel’s aggressive practices,” GCC foreign ministers said in a statement issued at the close of a two-day meeting in Jeddah.
“The GCC calls for pressure (to be exerted) on the Jewish state so that it assumes its responsibilities in the peace process,” said the foreign ministers in their joint statement, cited by the paper.
The GCC comprises of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE.
Decrying Israel’s racist policy toward the Palestinians, the GCC ministers warned that the deterioration of the situation in the Palestinian territories will inevitably lead to the collapse of security and stability in the entire region.
They urged the UN Security Council, the United States, Russia and the European Union to “intervene immediately... to put an end to Israel’s brutal attacks against the Palestinian people and ensure international protection for the Palestinians.”
The ministers also said that the year-long violence between Palestinians and Israelis was a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation and the Jewish states reneging on agreements reached in the framework of the peace process.
They implicitly criticized the US for holding the Palestinian Authority (PA) responsible for the continuing violence by demanding an end to the Palestinian Intifada, which erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last September.
Imposing obligations on the Palestinians but not on Israel amounts to reversing standards and is unfair, they said, reiterating a demand for the deployment of an effective monitoring (force) in trouble spots in the Middle East.
More than 765 people have been killed since the Intifada started on September 28 last year. Most of the dead have been Palestinians.
The Gulf Arab ministers also denounced Israel’s provocative policy toward its neighbors, expressing support for Syria in its quest to recover its occupied Golan Heights up to the June 4, 1967 line.
They similarly backed Lebanon’s demand for Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Shabaa Farms enclave and the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The GCC also urged the United Nations to strive to turn the Middle East, including the Gulf region, into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, and said Israel must join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and open its nuclear installations to international inspection.
It also branded as illegal the Jewish settlements, and stressed that the only way to bring peace in the region was for Israel to return Arab land.
At Fridays first session, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Khalifah condemned Israel’s brutal attacks on unarmed Palestinians, its assassination of Palestinian leaders, the destruction of houses and the violation of Islamic holy sites.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Mubarak, who chaired the meeting, told the delegates: Israel’s aggressive actions are a flagrant violation of the international law and resolutions and human rights – Albawaba.com
