Arab League's resolution on Palestine torpedoed by Algeria-Moroccan dispute
Arab League's resolution on Palestine torpedoed by Algeria-Moroccan dispute
The draft was reportedly not to the liking of the Algerian envoy, whose country questioned the legitimacy of Morocco’s presidency over the Jerusalem committee after normalising ties with Israel in 2020.
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"Al-Quds Committee has only met twice during the past twenty years, the last of which was in 2014." said Algeria's envoy to the Arab League. [Getty]
Algeria opposed an Arab League's resolution condemning Israel's offence on Jerusalem because it praised the Moroccan king's role in preserving the holy city, said the Moroccan state-owned news agency Maghreb Arab Press on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Palestinian delegation to the Arab League in New York suggested a resolution that condemns the Israeli aggression in the holy city and included praises for the role of the Al-Quds Committee, which is chaired by the Moroccan King Mohammed VI, in defending the Holy City and preserving its identity.
But the Palestinian draft resolution was heavily criticised by the Algerian envoy, whose country questioned the legitimacy of Morocco's presidency in the Jerusalem committee after normalising ties with Israel in 2020.
"Al-Quds Committee only met twice during the past twenty years, the last of which was in 2014. (...) Al-Quds Committee needs to meet as soon as possible to assume the responsibility entrusted to it in defending Al-Quds Al-Sharif," said Nazir Al-Arbawi, Algeria's envoy to the Arab League in New York.
Since 1979, the Moroccan king has chaired the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which is tasked by the pan-Islamic bloc with the protection of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the cultural heritage sites in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem.
For its part, the Egyptian delegation has also suggested editing the draft to include the long-standing role of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Cairo in supporting Palestine.
Algeria also requested credit to its president Abdelmadjid Tebboune for standing up for the Palestinian cause, a proposition Rabat severely opposed.
"The draft related to the particular situation at Quds Al Sharif, for which Algeria has no contribution," Omar Hilal, Morocco's envoy to the Arab League in New York, reportedly responded to the suggestion.
Amidst the Arab representatives' disagreement on which leader has done the most to support Palestine, the resolution to condemn Israel was ultimately postponed.
In 2020, Rabat normalised ties with Israel in a brokered deal that granted Morocco the US recognise the kingdom's sovereignty over the disputed territory Western Sahara. Since 1975, Rabat and the Polisario front both has continued to claim "historical right" over the territory. The UN recognises neither.
Algeria, which backs the separatist movement Polisario, protested the Moroccan normalisation and halted diplomatic ties with Rabat.
Despite the new-established Moroccan-Israeli ties, Rabat has expressed its "firm condemnation of the incursion by Israeli occupation forces into the Al-Aqsa mosque," the Moroccan foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed intense violence since Friday, when Israeli forces stormed the religious site in a pre-dawn raid, injuring at least 150 Palestinians, and arrested almost 400 Palestinians.
Israel invaded the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967 and continues to illegally occupy the territories. Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank often are subjected to harassment and violence by the Israeli army and settlers.
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