Rabat: 22/03/2019

ISESCO Director General hails UN Chief’s visit to NY Islamic Center and his solidarity with the victims of New Zealand terrorist attack

The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, hailed today’s visit of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, to the Islamic Center in New York and his address in which he condemned the terrorist attack that killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch, South of New Zealand, on 15 March 2019.

Besides, Dr Altwaijri welcomed Guterres’ solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attack, and his call for standing against Islamophobia and all forms of fanaticism and terrorism while confirming that Islam is a religion of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy; warning against the ever-rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism; and adding that “we need to act against extremism in all its forms – whether it targets mosques, synagogues, churches or anywhere else – and guarantee the sanctity of religious sites and worshippers’ safety” by drafting an action plan to make the UN fully involved in the protection of religious sites; contact, inter alia, governments, and religious organizations and leaders; and explore the possible actions to prevent such attacks and ensure the religious sites’ sanctity.

ISESCO Director General also called on the UN Secretary-General to positively react to ISESCO’s proposal, adopted today by the Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee at the level of the OIC Member States’ Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Istanbul, on proclaiming 15 March as anti-Islamophobia international day in line with the UN resolutions and declarations calling for the elimination of hatred, racial discrimination, and defamation of religions; and aiming at promoting coexistence, and preserving international peace and security.