JEDDAH:  The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday said Palestine’s painful Nabka Day has not been forgotten by the Muslim nation for it is a “dark mark” in the human conscience.

 Nakba Day is a “setback for the values of freedom and justice for it has caused humanitarian tragedies and mass displacement and denial of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” the OIC said in a statement commemorating the 76th Al-Nakba Day.

 The OIC said it boasts of the Palestinian people who have pursued the struggle to defend their territories and protect their national identity despite recurring tremendous hardships. It underscored on the occasion the Israeli occupation’s genocides, racial cleansing, organized terrorism, and coercive displacement of the Palestinians, in addition to intentional destruction and confiscation of their properties and territories.

Repercussions of Al-Nakba have been continuing in an unprecedented manner, namely the continuous Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people that has resulted in the martyrdom of 35,000 Palestinians and injury of 79,000 others, mostly women, children and the elderly.

The OIC has affirmed that the international community is responsible for ending the Israeli occupation, activating mechanisms of international justice to bring the occupiers to account for their crimes against humanity and adjust the historic injustice exacted on the Palestinian people.

It expressed admiration of the humanitarian role undertaken by the UN refugee agency, the UNRWA, aiding some 5.5 million Palestinian refugees.

In conclusion, the OIC reaffirmed its unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s rights, namely their right to return to their homeland and establish their aspired state to the June 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. — KUNA