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Members of a delegation from the United Arab Emirates watching the closing ceremony of the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in Dakar, Senegal on Friday. (AP)
Last update - 09:22 15/03/2008
Islamic summit draft communique accuses Israel of 'war crimes'
By News Agencies
Tags: Islam, Islamophobia 

The world's largest Muslim body will accuse Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinian civilians, according to a draft of the final communique of an Islamic summit in Senegal seen by Reuters on Friday.

"The conference denounces the current and increasing Israeli military campaign against the Palestinian people and the serious violation of human rights and war crimes including the killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians," the draft said.

It called Israel's "collective punishment of civilians" in Gaza a violation of international human rights law and said "the occupying forces must be held responsible for these war crimes".
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The communique is due to be approved at the end of a two-day meeting in Dakar, Senegal, of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the second largest inter-governmental bloc after the United Nations.

At the conference, Muslim nations also mulled taking legal measures for slights against Islam.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, Muslim leaders at the summit are considering legal action against those who slight their religion or its sacred symbols.

The plan represents an attempt to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, an incident that infuriated the Muslim world.

Though the type of legal action it could take is not fully spelled out, the threat pits the Muslim world against the principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous western governments.

"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy," said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference on Friday. "There can be no freedom without limits."

At the summit, delegates were given a voluminous report recording anti-Islamic speech and action around the world. It cites the publication of the Danish cartoons, as well as the op-ed articles of a Somali-born Muslim woman who said women do not have rights under Islam. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted.

"Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination," said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

To protect the faith, Muslim nations have already created an 'observatory' that meets regularly to monitor "Islamophobia." It examines lectures and workshops taking place around the world and prints a monthly record of offensive content.

The report presented Friday urges the creation of a legal instrument to crack down on defamation of Islam, but it is unclear what kind of legal action could be taken. Some delegates point to laws in Europe criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic rhetoric. They also point to articles within various UN charters that condemn discrimination based on religion and argue that these should be made stronger.

"In our relation with the western world, we are going through a difficult time," Ihsanoglu told the summit's general assembly. "Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but [through] a robust political engagement," he said.

In reaction, the International Humanist and Ethical Union in Geneva issued a statement accusing the Islamic states of attempting to limit freedom of expression and of attempting to misuse the UN.

Related articles:
  • Abbas accuses Israel of committing 'ethnic cleansing' in Jerusalem
  • Saudi Arabia compares IDF Gaza operation to Nazi war crimes
  • EU braces for outrage over Dutch lawmaker's anti-Koran film
  • For Dutch educators, Islamophobia can be a teaching aid for Holocaust studies

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      1.   War crimes, read all about `em. Here`s the proof: 10:09  |  Joe Sittizen 15/03/08
      2.   The fall of islam 10:12  |  Johnny 15/03/08
      3.   A religion fearing cartoons like the mouse is fearing the cat 10:16  |  Johnny 15/03/08
      4.   did they mention.... 10:16  |  jack 15/03/08
      5.   Oh gee what a surprise 10:26  |  Adrian de Klerk 15/03/08
      6.   Islamophobia cannot be dealt with through cultural activities!!!! 10:48  |  Lasting peace 15/03/08
      7.   The birth of an Islamic ADL....... 11:44  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/03/08
      8.   Well, what a surprise 12:00  |  x-ray 15/03/08
      9.   Typical Muslim Hypocrisy 12:00  |  Joseph 15/03/08
      10.   Its a deaty thing. 12:01  |  Bob 15/03/08
      11.   What a Bunch Of HYPOCRITES 12:05  |  B`Galil 15/03/08
      12.   counter sue 12:08  |  Jeff 15/03/08
      13.   They Defame Themselves 12:11  |  B`Galil 15/03/08
      14.   symbols of islam 12:11  |  real vision 15/03/08
      15.   to: Johnny or Johnnito 12:29  |  Imad 15/03/08
      16.   Great - this will help stem the scourge of Islamist violence 12:32  |  Jeroen de Jager 15/03/08
      17.   TO BE HONEST 12:59  |  indrajaya 15/03/08
      18.   Size matters 13:01  |  American Christian 15/03/08
      19.   if jews can do it, so can muslims 13:05  |  VIPER 15/03/08
      20.   Islamic summit until they support terror 13:22  |  Daniel 15/03/08
      21.   wow 13:32  |  steve 15/03/08
      22.   It is 57 Islamic States crime against humanity 13:58  |  db 15/03/08
      23.   Israel fights war, but crazy Islam fights peace! 14:10  |  Pope 15/03/08
      24.   As a Muslim I`m ashamed of our corrupt & insane leadersw 14:17  |  A. 15/03/08
      25.   Imad on fearing stupid mice 14:33  |  Johnny 15/03/08
      26.   Comic. Disregar... 14:37  |  17 15/03/08
      27.   # 12 Jeff, Atlanta 14:38  |  Raoul 15/03/08
      28.   Viper # 19 14:39  |  Walter 15/03/08
      29.   real vision 14:44  |  corrected vision 15/03/08
      30.   Islam?s capacity to deflect accountability is amazing. 14:44  |  Eli 15/03/08
      31.   How can our civilization listen to this nonsense? 15:07  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 15/03/08
      32.   #17 INDY.....to be honest 15:19  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      33.   About different faiths, this is God`s message to us... 15:43  |  Virginia 15/03/08
      34.   Not by might,nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty 15:53  |  Hear Him 15/03/08
      35.   Look, we don`t like Islam and we have to be free to say it 16:02  |  McQueen 15/03/08
      36.   Where is the so-called "ballance"? 16:17  |  Bob 15/03/08
      37.   you don`t expect people to defend ourselves? 16:26  |  Jake 15/03/08
      38.   @30 Eli 16:39  |  Mark B. 15/03/08
      39.   My 1st cry to God,to know Him bette I didn`t try to tell Him who 17:19  |  He is. 15/03/08
      40.   Its Time For The West To Eliminate This Muslim BS Once & For Al 17:38  |  the crusades 15/03/08
      41.   # 36 Jake of Canada......I don`t care if you 17:47  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      42.   who is afraid? 18:05  |  Vladimir 15/03/08
      43.   Muslim behaviour "defames" Islam, not westerners. 18:06  |  bernard ross 15/03/08
      44.   first photograph to emerge 18:15  |  H 15/03/08
      45.   and they said a camel can fly but it isn;t so...... 18:28  |  r 15/03/08
      46.   It would have been funny but we have Darfur 18:43  |  Dan 15/03/08
      47.   The vicious struggle for dominance of the islamic community 18:45  |  Voice of Reason 15/03/08
      48.   Didn`t the US give these SAME Arabs $30 billion? 18:48  |  Sadiq M 15/03/08
      49.   40 crusades,like most zionists you suffer from islamophobia! 18:49  |  lakshmi 15/03/08
      50.   The real caricatures of Islam teaching the world 18:49  |  Karl 15/03/08
      51.   Prof. Dr. Ihsanoglu declaring critics of Islam suffering 19:16  |  Karl 15/03/08
      52.   Is the word of Islam the Word of God? If so,it will stand, if not 19:31  |  it will fall 15/03/08
      53.   Muslim Imperialism has been benevolent and humane 19:33  |  Janet 15/03/08
      54.   # 48 lakshmi....No bravado 19:34  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      55.   they are the chief defamers of themselves 19:49  |  frenz 15/03/08
      56.   What interesting comments 19:58  |  PlanoStu 15/03/08
      57.   Suicide bombers defame Islam 20:42  |  Gina 15/03/08
      58.   Can somebody tell me please 20:51  |  danite 15/03/08
      59.   Super yawn !!! 20:51  |  trumpeldor 15/03/08
      60.   Jewish Attorneys 20:56  |  Bob Courney 15/03/08
      61.   Lakshmi, anyone with half a brain is islamophobic and proud of it 21:08  |  A Jew 15/03/08
      62.   Maybe China should join in on the "Condemnation" 21:09  |  Joe 15/03/08
      63.   Same Old Song, Different Day... 21:20  |  SuperJew 15/03/08
      64.   Such a onenes Virginia (33) would turn reigning Islam upside 21:28  |  Karl 15/03/08
      65.   #49 - Lakshmi - if the Koran fits...wear it 23:15  |  William 15/03/08
      66.   Abass suggesting ethnic cleansing by Israel 23:18  |  I. Barr 15/03/08
      67.   Amazing 23:20  |  matt 15/03/08
      68.   #58 Danite.....dictatorships and theocracies 23:35  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      69.   Crime against humanity 00:04  |  Brod 16/03/08
      70.   About time the Arabs took israel to court 00:50  |  lakshmi