Last Friday, Istanbul hosted the International Conference on Palestinian Solidarity. Amongst those present were the International Union for Muslim Scholars run by Yusuf Al-Kardavi, many members of Parliament and the Turkish Assembly, and the Palestine Friendship Group.

Journalists who focused on the separate seating of men and women at the meeting missed these important developments:

One of the MPs of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Zeyid Arslan, who is also the Chairman of the TBMM-Palestine Friendship Group, said, ‘As long as Hamas, which came to power through its people, is not seen as the representative of its people but as a terrorist group, solution of the Palestinian question is impossible.’ Indeed, he went further and accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians: “Everyone who is silent over Israel’s committing genocide is going to pay the price before history.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Christians, Davos Summit, Emanuel Musellem, Hamas, International Conference on Palestinian Solidarity, International Union for Muslim Scholars, Islamic Movement, Israel, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Jewish, Justice and Development Party, Khalied Meshaal, Muslims, Palestine, Palestine Friendship Group, Palestinian question, Raid Salah, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Shimon Peres, Turkish Assembly, Yusuf Al-Kardavi, Zeyid Arslan