The Final Communiqué of the Extraordinary Session of Islamic Conference of Information Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Under the theme: “The Israeli Occupying Authority’s Disinformation and Hostilities against Journalists and Media Outlets in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” has been held in Istanbul, Türkiye on 24 February 2024.
We, the Information Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States, bound by the OIC Charter, strong religious, human, and historical ties, participating in the Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers held in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye, on 24 February 2024,
Reaffirming all resolutions of the OIC regarding the Palestine Question in particular the joint Arab and Islamic Extraordinary Summit on the Israeli Aggression against the Palestinian people, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 11 November 2023,
Recalling all resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations regarding the Palestine Question, which affirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom, and national independence,
Welcoming the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. A/ES-10/L.27 titled “Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations” adopted by the 10th Emergency Special Session on 10 December 2023,
Reaffirming our determination to amplify our voices in every platform to support the inalienable rights of the brotherly Palestinian people in the face of Israel’s barbaric oppression and attacks, and to enhance our efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory, especially in Gaza Strip,
Welcoming the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ against Israel, the occupying power, to refrain from genocidal acts and other violations of the Genocide convention, issued on 26 January 2024.
Supporting the Palestinian people’s legitimate struggle to liberate their occupied territory and to fulfill all their inalienable rights, especially their right to self-determination and to live in their independent state, with full sovereignty, along the borders of June 4, 1967, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,
Emphasizing that resolving the Palestine Question on the basis of the two-state solution is the only way for durable, comprehensive and lasting peace and security in the region,
Condemning and warning against the disinformation campaigns run by the occupying Israeli authorities to legitimize the occupation and justify the barbaric mass atrocities and war crimes in the Gaza Strip,
Being concerned that Israel, the occupying power, is seeking to conceal and belie the truth about the unfolding atrocities in the Gaza Strip, including murdering babies, children, women, the elderly journalists, healthcare workers, academics, and humanitarian workers through including by systematic disinformation campaigns,
Holding Israel, the occupying power, responsible for the killings, arrest and censorship of journalists as well as the murder and targeting their family members,
Recalling that Israel’s intentional attacks on journalists have killed over 120, with numerous others sustaining injuries or disappeared,
Emphasizing the utmost significance of our efforts to build resilience against disinformation campaigns run by Israel, the occupying power, or its enablers, and noting that the information environment is filled with false narratives that obfuscate the truth and deflect from the systematic and pervasive breaches of international law,
Stressing that protecting the rights of members of the press working in Palestine, particularly under the dire circumstances in Gaza Strip, is a responsibility borne by all:
- Condemn the ongoing military aggression launched by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people as well as its systematic oppression, massacre, and genocide of Palestinians civilians in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and in the occupied West Bank including Al-Quds Al-Sharif, and call for an unconditional cease-fire to prevent further loss of life,
- Condemn the Israeli occupation’s systematic misinformation campaigns and spreading of false and misleading information and fake news to cover its brutality and genocidal massacres committed in the Gaza Strip,
- Condemn the Israeli occupation’s deliberate and systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists, and stress that this is part of a campaign to silence the voices of truthtellers.
- Reiterate that the only path for peace and security is through the realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, including in particular, national independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,
- Call upon all countries to recognize the sovereign independent State of Palestine based on the borders of 1967 with East Al-Quds as its capital, being a prerequisite for the peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and buttress peace and security in the region,
- Determine to work collectively and closely at the international level to combat disinformation, and demonstrate our common will to act in solidarity and unison to expose indiscriminate attacks targeting Palestinian civilians, including settler terrorism in the West Bank, which aim to cause forced displacement of the Palestinian people,
- Emphasize our collective determination to counter and expose attempts by the Israeli colonial occupation to cover up the destruction in the field by intimidating journalists to minimize the international reaction, and to ensure that their efforts to cover up the war crimes and genocide committed in the Gaza Strip fails,
- Condemn that Israeli occupation forces are unwilling to take even the most basic steps to ensure the safety of journalists according to the IHL and other international instruments that guarantee and protects journalists’ rights,
- Emphasize that the international community has the right to know what is happening in the Palestinian territory in particular in Gaza Strip and underline the need for the international community to act immediately to hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for violating international law for targeting journalists and to take immediate steps to protect all journalists assigned in the region,
- Condemn Israel, the occupying power, for targeting the telecommunication system and maintenance staff in the Gaza Strip,
- Call on all international news organizations and media outlets to expose the Israeli occupation’s human rights violations and campaigns against journalists
- Support the efforts of the OIC General Secretariat in implementing operative paragraph No. 10 of the resolution issued by the Extraordinary Joint Arab and Islamic Summit to consider the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, held in Riyadh on November 11, 2023, which mandates the two General Secretariats to establish two media monitoring units to document all the crimes of the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, and digital media platforms to lay bare the Israeli illegal and inhuman practices.
- Mandate the OIC General Secretariat’s Media Monitoring Unit to devise a media action plan, in cooperation with OIC media institutions and interested national news agencies of member states, with a view to lay bare and counter the Israeli occupation’s disinformation, misinformation, false news and war crimes, at international fora.
- Provide support for the OIC media Monitoring Unit to organize a media workshop to accomplish its mission as stipulated by the joint Arab and Islamic Summit held in Riyadh on 11 November 2023.
- Support the efforts of the OIC media Monitoring Unit to combat the Israeli occupation’s disinformation, misinformation, false news and war crimes, through digital communications platforms such as social media and artificial intelligence tools.
- Affirm our categorical rejection of the false allegations made by the Israeli occupation authorities towards the international media that publishes Israel’s violations and crimes against Palestinian civilians and its attempts to distort and convey false facts about the ongoing Israeli brutal aggression since October 07, 2023.
- Affirm our condemnation and denunciation of the deliberate and systematic targeting by the Israeli occupation authorities of media professionals, including killing and injuring them, which is a grave violation of international law and International Humanitarian law.
- Call on the international community to open an immediate investigation leading to holding the Israeli occupation authorities accountable for the crimes they commit against media professionals in the occupied Palestinian territory.
- Express gratitude and appreciation to the Republic of Türkiye for its generous hospitality and warm welcome, and for the excellent arrangements made for the Extraordinary Session.
- Mandate the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to follow-up on the implementation of this Communique and submit a report thereon to the next Council of Foreign Ministers.