King Mohammed VI: Palestine a priority

Morocco\'s ruling monarch King Mohammed VI said on Thursday that the Palestinian cause would remain at the core of his interests.  The chairman of the Jerusalem Committee, an offshoot of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said: \"I condemn the Israeli authorities’ illegal actions towards Islamic and Christian affairs in Jerusalem and its aggressive practices to distort and obscure the cultural identity of this steadfast city. This include drilling and excavating near al-Aqsa Mosque and the escalation of settlement construction on Palestinian land with the demolition of Jerusalem houses and deporting their owners.\" The king of Morocco said coordinated efforts were needed to deal with \"unacceptable behaviour incompatible with religious teachings and human values\" that \"violated international law and UN charters\". In the ceremony which was held in Rabat on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) , Mohammed VI  praised in the institute\'s role in defending Jerusalem and preserving  its spiritual and cultural identity alonf maintaining monuments of culture and archaeological sites. \"[This includes] exposing blatant Israeli desecrations of religious sites and their constant destruction of educational and cultural Palestinian institutions in this city, or efforts to record archaeological and natural Palestinian sites in the World Heritage List,\" he said. The King said he would \"continue his efforts and contact influential global powers to pressure the Israeli government to stop its plans of changing the nature of population and construction of the Holy City in order to preserve its cultural and spiritual symbols of the coexistence of religions\".  He added: \"In a world  characterised by rapid transitions and tremendous crises and with the consequent increase of intolerance, extremism and narrow-mindedness , the motives behind the establishment of ISESCO is more relevant today, especially with regard to the vaccination of the Muslim personality.\"