OIC Summit: Better Late than Never

Palestine has been under siege since October 2023, with innocent people facing animosity from heinous Israeli forces; Kashmir has almost lost its identity; and the rifts among Islamic States are at all-time high, despite rising Islamophobia in the West; however, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the sole representative organization of the Islamic Ummah, has not bothered to look into these matters for many years. Better late than never, the OIC has summoned its 15th Summit Conference in Banjul, Gambia’s capital, on May 5 to address all the outstanding issues.                                   

The current Hamas-Israel conflict has remained the focal point of the session. Representatives have expressed their unwavering solidarity with the unarmed but resilient Palestinians, urging the matter to be settled through the “two state” model, which would liberate Palestine as an independent state. The Summit also recognized recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions on human rights breaches in Gaza and requested that they have to be implemented in letter and spirit. Furthermore, the subject of Kashmir, rising Islamophobia, the Afghan government’s worries, and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for societal progress have all been discussed.

Though the Islamic World’s message and gestures are overwhelming, the ground realities and historical experiences reveal that the pledges are far cry. The major Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, cherish friendly relations with Israel, India, and the Western world, and they never want to lose their material and strategic interests by delving into many issues that affect their closest allies. Therefore, it is better, one must not be so optimistic about the outcomes of the OIC Summit, as ‘nothing comes out of nothing’.