Saudi Arabia reiterates that the Palestinian issue is the first Arab issue and will remain so, until the Palestinian people obtain all their legitimate rights
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivers his speech at the opening of the summit (SPA)
Anyone who follows history is fully aware that the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Palestinian issue has been constant and has not changed since the time of the founder,
King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud until this day, which is to support the rights of the Palestinian people, who face arrogance from the Israeli occupation forces and unacceptable violations.
The Kingdom has always been one of the first countries to support the Palestinian cause and has repeatedly stressed that this issue - and no other - is the first Arab issue, which all Arabs and Muslims should support.
So that, the Palestinians can achieve everything they seek and aspire to, by establishing their independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Since its founding until today, the Kingdom has worked to support the Palestinian cause, within a moral framework dictated by its Islamic religion and Arab culture, endangering its national security many times for the sake of the Palestinian cause, which all its Kings believe in since the era of the founder until the era of King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
Passing through the road map and the Arab Peace Initiative, which was proposed by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (the Crown Prince at the time) and adopted by the Arab countries as a unified project at the Beirut summit in March 2002 to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, as the initiative called on the Israeli entity to commit to implementing relevant international legitimacy resolutions.
The connection, which stipulates complete withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 1967, including the city of Jerusalem, the removal of settlements, and guaranteeing freedom of worship and the practice of religious rituals for all religions in the holy places.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also affirms the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent, fully sovereign state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees.
The Kingdom has constantly called on the international community to intervene urgently to stop the aggressive and repeated Israeli attacks and atrocities against the Palestinian people.
In this context, the Kingdom condemned the Israeli occupation’s construction of the separation wall and the apartheid expansion, which annexed vast Palestinian lands, and submitted a memorandum of protest to the International Court of Justice in The Hague condemning Israel’s construction of the wall. The court ruled that this wall was illegal and demanded that Israel remove it.
Today, when we look at the reality of Saudi-Palestinian relations, we realize the magnitude of the qualitative shift made by the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in which the relationship with the Palestinian issue was transformed into a creative interaction.
In 2018, in response to the announcement of the so-called Deal of the Century under which the United States of America recognized the city of Jerusalem as the capital of the occupying state, the King Salman bin Abdulaziz, announced during the opening session of the 29th Arab Summit, which was held in the Saudi city of Dhahran, the naming the summit as the “Jerusalem Summit”.
The final statement of the Jerusalem Summit affirmed the rejection of the US administration’s decision regarding Jerusalem, and that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian land.
He reiterated that the Palestinian issue is the first Arab issue and will remain so, until the Palestinian people obtain all their legitimate rights.
Most notably the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The blatant violation that Palestine is witnessing today, specifically in Gaza, by the Israeli occupation forces, which killed children, women, and the elderly, and displaced thousands of Palestinians.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on the international community to carry out its duties, as the 32nd Arab Summit, which was hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the city of Jeddah, reaffirmed On the centrality of the Palestinian issue to Arab countries, as it is one of the main factors for stability in the region. In the Jeddah Declaration, issued on May 19, 2023, the leaders condemned the atrocities and violations that target the lives, property, and existence of Palestinians.
They stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to reach a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian issue and creating a real horizon for achieving peace based on the two-state solution, in accordance with international references. Most notably the Arab Peace Initiative, relevant international resolutions, and the principles of international law to ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with sovereignty over the territories. The Palestinian territories within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Jeddah Declaration also called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to end the Israeli occupation and stop the repeated attacks and violations that would obstruct the paths to political solutions and undermine international peace efforts.
In the final statement of the joint Arab-Islamic summit held in Riyadh on November 11, 2023, the leaders of the Arab and Islamic countries urged to stop the war on the Gaza Strip, and
they rejected describing the Israeli retaliatory war as self-defense or justifying it under any pretext.
The summit condemned the Israeli aggression against Gaza and “war crimes and barbaric, brutal and inhuman massacres committed by the colonial occupation government”. The leaders of the Arab and Islamic worlds called all the countries to “stop exporting weapons and ammunition to Israel.”
On October 18, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom held a series of meetings with several foreign ministers of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the sidelines of the urgent, open-ended extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization.
He stressed during these meetings that the Kingdom is making possible efforts to communicate with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, also participated in the high-level discussion session of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, on October 25, 2023, at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, where Brazil holds the presidency of Security Council of this month.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a speech in which he clearly affirmed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s clear condemnation of the targeting of civilians by any party.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not stop providing all possible assistance to the Palestinian brothers. The Saudi support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians are various and manifold, between political, diplomatic and humanitarian support, which is what the Kingdom provided in the past days.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also continued to provide relief to those affected inside the Gaza Strip by air and sea. As the Saudi relief planes began arriving at Al-Arish International Airport in Egypt, in addition to the Saudi ships, in preparation for transporting relief items to those affected inside the Gaza Strip.
It carries on board various relief aid amounting to thousands of tons, including food, medicine and shelter materials, as part of the popular campaign to relieve the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which was directed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
This comes within the framework of Saudi Arabia’s historical role, which is known to stand with the brotherly Palestinian people in the various crises and tribulations they are going through.
It is worth noting that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided material and moral support to Palestine since the beginning of the Palestinian issue.
The tables cover the lists of the aid along with the type of the aid sector.
