Address of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at the Inauguration of the 52nd Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, Peace and Prayer be Upon the Messenger of Allah and His Kith and Kin

Ladies and gentlemen the honorable members of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States,

Esteemed Secretary-General,

Ladies and gentlemen, 

       I am pleased to take part, alongside you, in the inauguration of the proceedings of the 52nd Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States, which reflects the attention the Kingdom of Morocco grants, as one of the founding members of the Organization, to the causes of Muslim peoples and the Islamic Ummah. 

        I would first like to welcome you to the Kingdom of Morocco, the land that witnessed the birth of the Organization of the Islamic Conference by virtue of a resolution of the Islamic Summit held in Rabat on September 22-25, 1969, following the arson act committed by Zionist gangs in Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first Kiblah and third holy site, on the 21st of August of the same year. 

        It is an unfortunate and distressing coincidence that 55 years have passed, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Quds, as well as the remaining Palestinian territories and the brotherly Palestinian population, still undergo the same occupation and the same forms of killing, siege, and attacks against people and properties, which are acts that we, once again, condemn strongly. 

        I do not want to seize this opportunity of my country hosting such organizational meetings to shed light on the forms of constant and historical support granted by the Kingdom of Morocco to the cause of the Palestinian people to gain their independence and establish their State with Al-Quds as capital, Al-Quds where Moroccans have quarters, walls, neighborhoods, and a historical gate. However, I still must recall the achievements of the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency of the Al-Quds Committee chaired by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him, and its concrete projects to support the inhabitants of the city in the face of settlement and occupation. I also see it as my duty to recall the latest initiatives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah glorify him, to send aid to the people of Gaza by land, as the Kingdom of Morocco was the first to take such an initiative. All these gestures reflect concretely the steadfast commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to supporting the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of Palestinians to acquire independence and establish their independent State.

       Ladies and gentlemen, 

We all agree on condemning the crimes of the Israeli occupation against the defenseless Palestinian people and its flagrant violations of human rights and the most basic principles and rules of international law and the international humanitarian law. We also share the same view of the position of the influential powers in international decision-making that find themselves challenged in what they consider sacred human rights, including the right to life, freedom, food, hospitalization, education, and housing, of which our Palestinian brothers in Gaza are today deprived. However, in return, we should turn to the Islamic Ummah and address its conditions, divisions, conflicts, internal wars, and the apprehension of its members towards one another, which undoubtedly impacts the degree of the support its countries grant to Palestinians and weakens their position within the international community in defending the causes of their peoples and the interests of the Islamic Ummah, primarily the Palestinian cause.

The brotherly Palestinian people, led by the Palestinian National Authority, deserve all the support and backing for their legitimate rights that can only be achieved by opening a clear political horizon of negotiations aimed at the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with East Al-Quds as its capital, a solution that the international community must ensure it is implemented within the framework of clear, firm, and sincere international commitment.

The Palestinian people do not make all these sacrifices just to wake up to a new illusion or a fragmented entity.

Ladies and gentlemen, 

You will adopt the draft order of business of the Standing and Ad hoc Committees and the General Conference of the Union during your meetings. While they are organizational, said meetings will still undoubtedly include political debate and orientation of the discussions and proceedings.

In this regard, it would be more valuable and beneficial to the Muslim peoples if our Union's discussions, proposals, and positions were in a practical, rational, and realistic direction that would enable our countries to address the challenges they face and the crises that beset them.

Islamic countries face several crises, as the oldest, most complex, and most intense conflicts are the ones in the Islamic world. While some of these conflicts are related to foreign interventions, others are due in part to abhorrent sectarianism, lack of independence of national decision-making in some cases, the encroachment on the territorial integrity of States, and the nurturing of separatist tendencies.

The importance of the proposals and recommendations that our Union, its competent bodies, and Standing Committees can make lies in their realism, applicability, clarity, and endorsement by the member parliaments on the basis of consensus that shall not inhibit the adoption of the decisions and orientations of the majority.

On the other hand, the decisions of our Union, however practical and credible they are, will not be effective and productive unless they are intelligent, consistent with, and accommodating of international changes and accepted and assimilated by the other bodies of joint Islamic action, because they are the ones capable of implementing and harmonizing them.

This coordination and openness required from the organizations of the Islamic world, both governmental and thematic, should also be directed towards multilateral parliamentary organizations to introduce our issues and correct the fallacies and confusions that make a significant part of the international public opinion stand against us, only because a handful of extremists commit shameful and condemnable acts in the name of Islam and Muslims, which everyone realizes that Islam is not guilty of.

In this regard, I would like to recall the central document, the "Marrakesh Declaration" that crowned the proceedings of the Global Parliamentary Conference on "Interfaith Dialogue: Working Together for our Common Future," held in Marrakesh in the Kingdom of Morocco on June 13-15, 2023, under the High Patronage of the Commander of the Faithful, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him, and organized by the Moroccan Parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and other international organizations. This declaration is an international parliamentary reference document in the field of dialogue between religions, civilizations, and beliefs that we should work to implement in order to serve our causes and correct the image of Islam and the Islamic world, at least among the members of the international parliamentary community.  

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The centrality of the Palestinian cause and our political and civilizational responsibilities towards it should not make us forget our determination to redress relations among Islamic countries, strengthen our economic ties and trade exchanges, which are the weakest among regional and continental blocs, and address the new crises and phenomena we confront, such as climate imbalances, migration, refugees, the suffering of Muslim communities and minorities in non-Muslim countries, education, and the participation of women in representative and executive decision-making positions.

To tackle all these issues, our Union has established standing committees, and we have been repeating the same diagnoses and recommendations in our conferences.

        Therefore, is it not time for us to be practical and influential in the emerging world order, knowing that we will only be influential if we are strong, and we will only be strong if we are rational and united?

Dear sisters and brothers, 

I do not intend to use this address to paint a depressing picture of the state of the Islamic world, which has many bright signs and is where some countries today have success stories to be proud of. However, the severity of the crises in a number of our Islamic countries, the targeting to which they are exposed, and the weakness of the Islamic world's position in their face amidst an increasingly complex international context raises a burning question.

I wish you success in your proceedings and welcome you again to the Kingdom of Morocco.

Thank you for your keen listening.