TEHRAN— In his speech in the emergency virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized the Palestinians’ right to defend themselves, describing Israel’s atrocities as “barbaric.”

Zarif began his speech by thanking the organization for arranging the timely meeting.

He said that innocent men, women and children are being massacred by the deadliest and most sophisticated weapons. 

“Homes are being demolished while their residents are trapped inside. Whatever remains of the infrastructure in Gaza—including power and water supply—is effectively destroyed,” Zarif regretted. 

“The massacre of Palestinian children today follows the purported ‘normalization.’ This criminal and genocidal regime has once again proven that friendly gestures only aggravate its atrocities,” Zarif notes. The chief diplomat stated that the world is facing blatant and systematic violations of human rights, humanitarian law and international law.

“The massacre of Palestinian children today follows the purported ‘normalization.’ This criminal and genocidal regime has once again proven that friendly gestures only aggravate its atrocities. The sole aim of Israel’s hypocritical gestures is to divide Muslims and isolate the people of Palestine. Make no mistake: Israel only understands the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to the right to defend themselves and to defy the bullying of this racist regime,” he reiterated. 

He described Israel’s atrocities as “barbaric acts” that have proven once again that the only peaceful path to peace in Palestine is “the holding of a referendum among all residents of Palestine, including displaced Palestinians and refugees.”

He also called Palestine not only an Arab or Islamic issue, but also an international dilemma. 

Zarif called on the international community to condemn the Israeli regime in the strongest terms and compel it to “end the destruction and siege of Gaza.”

“We should continue to work actively in the United Nations to urgently convene an emergency session of the General Assembly to address this issue,” he suggested. 

Criticizing the Western governments, he described their approach “abhorrent” in equating victims and culprits.

Zarif suggest that the criminal acts of Israel should be recognized as “genocide and crimes against humanity by both domestic legislation and OIC resolutions.” “We should devise an ‘institutionalized’ legal and political campaign against this apartheid Zionist regime at regional and international levels. 

“A professional international watchdog should be established to monitor and report on the crimes perpetrated against Palestinian people. These crimes must be documented and reported with the aim of bringing culprits to justice,” he suggested. 

He also suggested that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation should pass a domestic legislation and a resolution recognizing Israel as an apartheid regime.

The chief diplomat said that furthermore, the criminal acts of Israel should be recognized as “genocide and crimes against humanity by both domestic legislation and OIC resolutions and member-states should extend the jurisdiction of their national tribunals to include the prosecution of criminals perpetrating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian occupied territories.”

He once again reiterated the Islamic Republic’s position, saying that Iran, as always, “extends its hand of friendship to all of you. We are prepared to set aside all differences and unite in defending the rights of the people of Palestine by resorting to every legitimate political and legal tool.”