Organization of Islamic Cooperation Removes USA as a Mediator

Middle East Is Out of American Hands

Banner depicting USA as friends of Zion Museum

57 Muslim states of OIC gathered in an extra-ordinary OIC summit to fire arrows on the latest American-Israeli policies. In a rebuke at Donald Trump, the 57 members of the OIC agreed to move in an emergency summit in Istanbul. There Turkish President, Recip Tayyip Erdogan spoke against the policies of USA and Israel.

As a result of the summit, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation members concluded that the role of USA as a mediator between Israel-Palestine conflicts was now over. All of the OIC conference members agreed, in the final communiqué that movement of the US embassy to Jerusalem was infact "US administration’s withdrawal from its role as sponsor of peace”.

In addition to the defaming of Israel and America, the OIC members recognized the East-Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.  

Organization of Islamic Cooperation Also Saw Tensions

As the streets are tensed with protests, the similar was the case of the summit.

Trump is facing a major backlash from the Muslim nations owing to its pro-Israel policies.

Amongst the nations united in the name of Islam, there were cracks visible between the Middle Eastern Nations. Some of the allies of the US were presumably adopting a muted approach in this matter. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt did not send their prime ranks to the conference, signifying the lack of interest in this matter.

This, however, was not taken lightly by the Turkish foreign minister. Mr. Mevlut Cavusoglu was seen criticizing the Arab states for not paying enough heed to the remarks of Donald Trump’s decision. He said,

“Some Arab countries have shown very weak responses. It seems some countries are very timid of the United States.”

Tayyip Erdogan: The Global Islamic Leader

In this event of mixed emotions, Recip Tayyip Erdogan established himself as the greatest leader of the Muslim states. He did his best to put the issue of the Jerusalem ahead of the Islamic Rulers. Moreover, he defamed Trump’s pro-Israeli policies to a huge extent.

Erdogan delivering a speech in front of the summit.

Erdogan claimed Trump to have a “Zionist Mentality” and exclaimed that US has “no question” of continuing its role as a mediator of piece in the Middle East. He called Israel a “Terrorist state” which was responsible to “Kill [Palestinian] Children”.

Erdogan has distinguished himself as the best Islamic prime in this time

In accordance with the comments of Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President said,

"The United States has chosen to lose its qualification as a mediator… We will no longer accept that it has a role in the political process from now."

Analysis

This extra-ordinary summit of OIC was filled with high emotions. There was a strong backlash against Trump for moving the embassy to Jerusalem. However, this is an established fact that the mediator’s role is to strive for the upbringing of peace, and unfortunately, Donald Trump has not been able to provide that role in the region.

The establishment of East-Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine is another big step of this conference. The city of Jerusalem is important to Muslims, Jews and even Christians. So, proclaiming Jerusalem as a state of Israel enables the access of Jewish and Christian states completely, yet becomes a hurdle for the Muslims that do not accept Israel’s sovereignty. This kind of issue can yield a potential catastrophe if US and its allies try to take any potential step against this move.

There is a massive thought that this hype and rage of the Middle Eastern nations will die down eventually, and Muslims will have to rely on USA mediation once more for the peace in the region. On the other hand, despite Tayyip Erdogan presented strong remarks, he did not talk about closing the diplomacy with Israel. Erdogan is a leader with a good insight. Hence, the diplomacy of Turkey is still in place to rule USA out as a potential mediator.

We have seen in the past that Turkey has been an active part in highlighting the issues of Palestine. Therefore, there are high expectations from Erdogan to take a good step in bringing back peace in the region, which according to some has become impossible. However, owing to the policies of the Islamic summit as a whole, every country seems to follow its own course of action.