A final communique, agreed by delegates from all 57 members from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday, called on "all countries to recognize the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital."

Wednesday's emergency summit in Istanbul, called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came in response to US President Donald Trump's recognition last week of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

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Muslim leaders "rejected and condemned" Trump's Jerusalem announcement, saying in the declaration that they considered it to be "null and void legally." They also invited the US president to rescind the "unlawful decision that might trigger chaos in the region."

Trump's announcement was "a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts" that would give impetus to "extremism and terrorism," the declaration said.

The White House said it is still committed to reaching peace in the Middle East, and will remain "hard at work putting together our plan, which will benefit the Israeli and Palestinian peoples."

But Erdogan told delegates that Trump's actions meant the US could no longer be an unbiased broker.

Watch video 03:23 Erdogan calls for recognition of East Jerusalem as capital of Palestine – DW's Dorian Jones

Netanyahu: 'Not impressed'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded later Wednesday, criticizing the Muslim leaders' plea for countries to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

"We are not impressed by all these statements," he said in a speech. "It is better for the Palestinians to recognize reality and act for peace, not for radicalization, and to recognize another fact about Jerusalem: not only is it the capital of Israel, we also maintain respect in Jerusalem for the freedom of worship for all religions."

Erdogan's decries Israeli 'occupation'

Jerusalem's status remains one of the core issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured the predominantly Arab eastern part of the holy city during the 1967 Middle East war. Its claim to the entire city, which it sees as the ancient capital of the Jewish people, was never internationally recognized. Trump reversed that policy last week.

Erdogan called the meeting of OIC members

The US president's decision on Jerusalem provoked worldwide condemnation from leaders, Arab and otherwise, and sparked violent protests across the Middle East, particularly in the Israeli-occupied territories Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians also lay claim to Jerusalem and have repeatedly insisted during peace negotiations that the eastern part of the city be the capital of their future state.

Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, Erdogan told delegates: "With this decision [by the US to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital], Israel, which is responsible for occupation, blockade, unlawful settlements, home demolitions, evictions, land asset appropriations, disproportionate violence and murders, was rewarded for all its terrorist actions."

The Turkish president, who has presented himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, warned last week that US recognition of Jerusalem would plunge the world "into a fire with no end" and labeled Israel a "terrorist state."

Last week's clashes between Palestinian youths and with Israeli security forces led to two deaths among the protestors.

However, no state has yet announced any concrete measures against the US or Israel.

Watch video 06:27 Share Israeli ambassador speaks to DW Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2pCqG Israeli ambassador speaks to DW about Jerusalem

Abbas: UN should broker peace talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told OIC delegates he would ask the United Nations General Assembly to cancel Israel's UN status and seek full membership for Palestine. He added that he would appeal to the Security Council to annul the US move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and that his people would refuse any role for the US in future peace talks.

"We do not accept any role of the United States in the political process from now on because it is completely biased towards Israel," Abbas said.

Abbas described Washington's decision as "the greatest crime" that showed it was no longer "fit" to broker talks. Instead, the Palestinian president said he wanted to see the UN taking charge of the peace process and the creation of a new mechanism.

Read more: US embassy move to Jerusalem could spark 'third intifada' Germany's former ambassador says

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, accused the US of lacking any respect for the Palestinians and their rights to a nation. Arriving at the summit, Rouhani posted on Twitter that Trump's move showed that the US was not "an honest mediator and will never be," adding that Washington wanted only to "secure the interests of the Zionists."

Jordan's King Abdullah II also warned that recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was "dangerous and destabilizing decision."

Jordan, which along with Egypt is one of only two Arab nations with diplomatic ties to Israel, stressed that "our region cannot enjoy peace without the two-state solution," referring to the peace mechanism that would see Israelis and Palestinians granted their own separate state.

Uniting Arab opinion - an impossible task?

Turkey, however, faces the monumental task of bridging the Muslim political community, which includes regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Many close allies of the United States — including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — are unlikely to risk souring their relationship with Washington by endorsing an OIC statement condemning Israel.

Read more: Israel and Saudi Arabia: New best friends in the Middle East?

However, despite not attending the OIC summit, Saudi King Salman echoed calls from Istanbul that eastern Jerusalem be handed back to the Palestinians. Salman reportedly told the kingdom's Consultative Council: "The kingdom has called for a political solution to resolve regional crises, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue and the restoration of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, including the right to establish their independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital."

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Jerusalem, the city of David According to the Old Testament, David, king of the two partial kingdoms of Judah and Israel, won Jerusalem from the Jebusites around 1000 BC. He moved his seat of government to Jerusalem, making it the capital and religious center of his kingdom. The Bible says David's son Solomon built the first temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel. Jerusalem became the center of Judaism.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Under Persian rule The Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II (3rd from the left) conquered Jerusalem in 597 and again in 586 BC, as the Bible says. He took King Jehoiakim (5th from the right) and the Jewish upper class into captivity, sent them to Babylon and destroyed the temple. After Persian king Cyrus the Great seized Babylon, he allowed the exiled Jews to return home to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Under Roman and Byzantine rule The Roman Empire ruled Jerusalem from the year 63 AD. Resistance movements rapidly formed among the population, so that in 66 AD, the First Jewish–Roman War broke out. The war ended 4 years later, with a Roman victory and another destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The Romans and Byzantines ruled Palestine for approximately 600 years.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Conquest by the Arabs Over the course of the Islamic conquest of Greater Syria, Muslim armies also reached Palestine. By order of the Caliph Umar (in the picture), Jerusalem was besieged and captured in the year 637 AD. In the following era of Muslim rule, various, mutually hostile and religiously divided rulers presided over the city. Jerusalem was often besieged and changed hands several times.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history The Crusades From 1070 AD onward, the Muslim Seljuk rulers increasingly threatened the Christian world. Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, which took Jerusalem in 1099 AD. Over a period of 200 years a total of nine crusades set out to conquer the city as it changed hands between Muslim and Christian rule. In 1244 AD the crusaders finally lost control of the city and it once again became Muslim.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history The Ottomans and the British After the conquest of Egypt and Arabia by the Ottomans, Jerusalem became the seat of an Ottoman administrative district in 1535 AD. In its first decades of Ottoman rule, the city saw a clear revival. With a British victory over Ottoman troops in 1917 AD, Palestine fell under British rule. Jerusalem went to the British without a fight.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history The divided city After World War II, the British gave up their Palestinian Mandate. The UN voted for a division of the country in order to create a home for the survivors of the Holocaust. Some Arab states then went to war against Israel and conquered part of Jerusalem. Until 1967, the city was divided into an Israeli west and a Jordanian east.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history East Jerusalem goes back to Israel In 1967, Israel waged the Six-Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel took control of the Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Israeli paratroopers gained access to the Old City and stood at the Wailing Wall for the first time since 1949. East Jerusalem is not officially annexed, but rather integrated into the administration.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Muslim pilgrimage to Israel Israel has not denied Muslims access to its holy places. The Temple Mount is under an autonomous Muslim administration; Muslims can enter, visit the Dome of the Rock and the adjacent Al-Aqsa mosque and pray there.

City of strife: Jerusalem's complex history Unresolved status Jerusalem remains to this day an obstacle to peace between Israel and Palestine. In 1980, Israel declared the whole city its "eternal and indivisible capital." After Jordan gave up its claim to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1988, the state of Palestine was proclaimed. Palestine also declares, in theory, Jerusalem as its capital. Author: Ines Eisele



dm/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)