Media Center

Cairo / Media & Communication Dept./ February 12  

The State of Qatar participated in the high-level conference in support of Jerusalem, which took place at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States in Cairo. HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi represented the State of Qatar at the conference.
In his speech, His Excellency said the conference comes within the framework of the official and popular Arab efforts toward finding a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue and addressing the tragic reality that ensued in the city of Al Quds Al Sharif, which is now groaning under the weight of racist practices and gross violations against Jerusalemites.

This necessitated that the Arab nation assumes its responsibilities towards the political and legal rights violations, the misappropriation of economic and development resources in favor of the Zionist project, and the subsequent violations of the rights of the Palestinian people to shelter education and health, His Excellency said.
It is not surprising that the issue captured the interest of the Arab countries at the highest levels, with Arab leaders deciding at their 31st Arab League summit in the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria in early November, to call for this conference to convene, His Excellency told the conference.
His Excellency voiced hopes that the conference would be crowned with success by finding political, economic, developmental and legal means and mechanisms that support the protection of the city of Jerusalem and its people's steadfastness against Israeli practices, and that this conference would come out with insightful political visions, solid economic and development plans, and effective legal frameworks regarding the grave violations and blatant attacks on Jerusalem and its people.
The outcomes of this conference will definitely culminate in Arab leaders issuing effective decisions, strict directives, and successful plans, His Excellency added.
His Excellency reaffirmed the State of Qatar's firm position on the Palestinian issue, which stipulates ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, within the framework of international legitimacy and relevant Security Council resolutions, and based on the complete rejection of any measures that impose an illegal reality on the ground in Jerusalem as they undermine international efforts aimed at implementing the two-state solution.
The State of Qatar has always affirmed its rejection of the plans to Judaize Jerusalem and change the situation there, or to move any embassy there, as well as its rejection of Israeli settlements in all its forms and manifestations, His Excellency added.
His Excellency the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs hailed supporting the Jerusalem people's steadfastness as a priority in order to preserve the identity of the city and its Islamic and Christian landmarks and sanctities, pointing out that this requires extensive investments from the Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and international private sectors in the city in a bid to create job opportunities and bolster the economy there, especially in the sectors of housing, tourism, education, health, culture, women and youth.
His Excellency highlighted that Jerusalemites face many racist laws and measures on the part of the occupation government, which seeks to force them to leave the city with the aim of emptying it of its Palestinian component, pointing out that this requires urgent Arab action, at all governmental and popular levels, to support the Jerusalemites's legal, political and economic steadfastness in the face of projects of displacement, expulsion, settlement, land confiscation, home demolitions and restrictions on their livelihood.
His Excellency stressed the need not to neglect the issue of prisoners in Palestine in general, and in the city of Jerusalem in particular, lambasting in this regard Israel's violations against prisoners, as well as other illegal policies such as house arrests, especially for children and the deportation from Al Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, slamming them as illegal and provocative policies.
HE Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi paid special tribute to the steadfastness of the struggling Palestinian people across occupied Palestine in general, and the people of Jerusalem in particular, in confronting the Israeli occupation forces, in defense of their just cause, and their legitimate quest to establish their independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.
The State of Qatar will spare no effort in providing all support to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian brothers until the Palestinian people regain all their legitimate and inalienable rights, His Excellency said, hoping that this conference's outputs will rise to the level of the struggle and sacrifices of the brotherly Palestinian people.