CAIRO, August 15, 2011 (WAFA) - Secretary General of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, Akmal Oglo, strongly condemned Sunday the Israeli government’s decision to ratify the building of thousands of new housing units in East Jerusalem, according to a press release by the organization.

Oglo warned of continuing the construction of settlements and imposing De Facto policy in defiance of international administration, which will lead to instability in the region.

He asserted that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian occupied land in 1967 and that the Israeli measures aiming to change its geographic and demographic nature as well to isolate it from the West Bank is considered illegal, violating the international law and Fourth Geneva Conventions and harming Palestinian people’s unalienable rights.

He called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop all these violations, which aim to judaize the holy city and change its Arabic and Islamic identity.

M.G./F.R.