Morocco’s King Mohammed VI announced he will soon call for holding the 21st session of the Al-Quds Committee in Rabat, six years after it last convened in Marrakech, without specifying a date.
In a message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he said the meeting aims at considering means of consolidating the preservation of the special status of Jerusalem and contributing to safeguarding the inviolability of its historical landmarks, spiritual symbolism and religious identity.
The King sent the message a day after receiving a US-Israeli delegation headed by White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner and Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.
King Mohammed said that the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency will soon be restructured to “breathe new life into it”. This will allow it, under his personal supervision, to continue to implement tangible plans and programs in the health, education, social and housing sectors for the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.
King Mohammed expressed his satisfaction with the telephone call he held with Abbas on December 10 during which he underlined Morocco’s firm stance on the Palestinian cause and commitment to defending the rights of the Palestinian people.
He reiterated his country’s stance in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution, adding that negotiations were the only way to reach a final, lasting and comprehensive settlement.
In his letter, the King stressed that Morocco has always placed the Palestinian cause at the same level as the Moroccan Sahara issue.
The Al-Quds Committee was first established pursuant to a resolution issued during the sixth Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation that was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July 1975.
Its presidency was assigned to the late King Hassan II of Morocco in 1979.
In 1998, the committee-affiliated Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency was founded and focused its efforts in the fields of health, education, housing and the preservation of religious heritage.
Members of the committee include Morocco, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Guinea, Niger and Senegal.
Over the past 22 years, the committee has implemented about programs and plans worth around $65 million focused on education, housing, health, culture, sports, women empowerment and the youth.
