The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, expressed support regarding the statement made by Turkey on the report of the UN Panel of Inquiry regarding the flotilla attack and called upon the international community to exert as much pressure as possible on Israel to lift the illegal blockade it imposes on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. Meanwhile, the OIC Secretary General expressed his dismay at the Report of the United Nations Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla attack and reminded that the UN Human Rights Council Resolution adopted in June 2010 by the majority of votes with the initiative of the OIC Group in Geneva which “calls upon the occupying Power Israel to ensure the unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment to the occupied Gaza strip and calls for the full accountability and credible independent inquiries into these attacks.”
The Secretary General believes that the UN Panel of Inquiry’s Report failed to reflect an objective and unbiased position as it considered the Israeli blockade of Gaza legal and appropriate.
The OIC cannot accept any report that would whitewash Israel’s attack on the humanitarian Flotilla and condone Israel’s illegal blockade against the Palestinian civilians in besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade on Gaza is unjustified collective punishment conducted illegally by an occupying power.
Israel should rather be compelled to lift this embargo and be held accountable for all its illegal actions. Therefore, the Secretary General once again called for an objective and even-handed probe into the Flotilla incident.
Furthermore, the Secretary General reminded the Final Communiqué of the OIC Executive Committee Meeting dated 6 June 2010 which “calls upon the OIC Member States to take all necessary measures, within international law, individually and collectively, to deter Israel from engaging in any assault and use of force against civilian ships”.
