April 22, 2024 (EIRNS)—The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s 15th heads of state conference is set for May 4-5 in Banjul, Gambia. Called the Islamic Summit, the OIC meeting is held once every three or so years, and next week’s deliberations can be expected to take up many aspects of the world crisis, resulting from the belligerence of the “collective West” and NATO. The OIC, with 57 member nations from four continents, is the world’s second largest inter-governmental organization. Several nations and organizations, such as the League of Arab States, attend OIC functions as observers and guests. In January 2024, the OIC gave official observer status to Russia, which had already attended summits for years.
On April 19, the OIC issued a statement slamming the United States for its April 18 veto in the UN Security Council against the resolution to grant the State of Palestine full membership in the UN. The OIC statement declares that the U.S. action “violates the provision of the United Nations Charter which allows membership for all countries that accept the obligations contained in it.” The U.S. move “contributes to prolonging the historical oppression” imposed on the Palestinian people for 75 years.
The official theme of the upcoming OIC summit is, “Enhancing Unity and Solidarity Through Dialogue for Sustainable Development.” After the event, The Gambia will assume the three-year chairmanship of the OIC, whose headquarters is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The previous Islamic Summit took place on May 31, 2019 in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
