BAKU, Azerbaijan, 21 July — The International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem concluded this afternoon with the introduction of a communiqué on behalf of its organizers condemning the recent closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and restrictions on worshippers therein, as well as a discussion of legal issues related to the 50-year-old Israeli occupation.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, 21 July — Participants in the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem continued to explore the specific impacts of the Israeli occupation on the city’s economy, development and social life — as well as opportunities for support from both donors and investors — as the meeting entered its second and final day.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, 20 July — Warning that tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem had reached a breaking point, speakers outlined a range of challenges — from increasing discrimination against Palestinian women to a recent “weaponization of religion” at the Al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount — as the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem held its first plenary session this afternoon.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, 20 July — Against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the holy city of Jerusalem — sparked by the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the imposition of restrictions on worshippers following a recent violent incident — the fourth International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem opened in Baku this morning, with speakers voicing concern that such actions could drive the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious confrontation with dangerous repercussions.
Breaking decades of diplomatic paralysis would require greater involvement by civil society in pushing Governments to take action to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, the 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate said today, the second and final day of the June Forum.
Ending 50 years of occupation by Israel was not only a matter of international security, but also of defeating Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), a senior Palestinian official said today as Headquarters hosted a forum to commemorate that milestone.
As some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails marked 30 days of a “freedom and dignity” hunger strike, Israel continued to ignore their most basic demands and intensify its abuse and collective punishment, the Palestinian Rights Committee heard today.
With prospects for a two-State solution slipping away, a return to meaningful negotiations was more vital than ever, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Palestinian Rights Committee today, as it opened its session for 2017, a year marking 50 years of occupation.
MANAGUA, 4 February — The Palestinian diaspora was integral to reviving the vision of a State of Palestine living alongside a peaceful and secure neighbour in Israel, speakers said today, as the United Nations Round Table on the Question of Palestine opened in Managua, Nicaragua, amid calls to make 2017 a year of renewed hope for ending 50 years of occupation.
MANAGUA, 4 February — The United Nations Round Table on the Question of Palestine concluded in Managua today with diaspora members from around Central America supporting a declaration that called on them to step up cooperation in efforts to end the occupation and wield their collective power to influence Governments in defence of Palestinian rights.
