We are writing to urge you in your capacity as the head of an OIC member state to step up and discharge your responsibility to prevent the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

By any measure, a mass pogrom of a predominantly Muslim population is taking place at the hands of an occupation regime described by the International Court of Justice as apartheid and illegal.

At the time of writing at least 40,000 people have been butchered, the majority of them women and children, all under the eyes of a watchful but largely acquiescent or directly complicit international community.

Aside from a few notable examples the response of the Muslim world has been characterised by inaction and ineffectiveness.

You will not need reminding that the OIC was founded in 1969 in response to the crisis in Palestine, warranted at that time by the arson attack by Zionists on Masjid al-Aqsa.

However, in the intervening years it is fair to say that the organisation has failed to fulfil its mandate to protect the Palestinians and the Muslim holy places with the result that today they find themselves the object of a state-led genocide.

If the industrial scale slaughter of Muslims is not sufficient cause for the OIC to act, then it should declare itself unfit for purpose and disband.

Your inaction is not only endangering Muslims in Palestine but also the lives and wellbeing of Muslims all over the globe. The failure to act against the rampant Islamophobia that produces violence against Muslims encourages the perpetrators because it sends them the message that Muslim lives are cheap and that no one is prepared to defend them.

Between the member states, you have immense collective clout that, if harnessed effectively, can be a powerful deterrent against anti-Muslim discrimination and violence.

We implore you to rise to the challenge and fulfil your foundational duty to protect the beleaguered Muslims of Gaza and Palestine.

Mohideen Abdul Kader                                                         Massoud Shadjareh

P E N A N G  S E C R E T A R I A T                                               L O N D O N  S E C R E T A R I A T

Citizens International                                                                      Islamic Human Rights Commission

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