At an emergency meeting held in Putrajaya last week, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) demanded that the United Nations enforce an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in the then 24-day old Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The OIC also asked that existing UN Peacekeeping Forces along the Lebanon- Israel border be strengthened. It condemned the relentless Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the massive Israeli air strikes, in particular the attack on the village of Qana on July 30 which killed more than 60 civilians and the targeting of UN peacekeepers on July 25.

The OIC leaders were also unanimous in their concern over Israeli occupation of Palestine and aggression in the occupied territories. They strongly urged the UN to convene an international conference on the Middle East to deliberate on a comprehensive, just and durable plan for the region based on the relevant UN resolutions.

By adding its voice to the growing international chorus demanding for an immediate ceasefire, the OIC is increasing the pressure upon Israel and its two backers, the US and Britain, who are determined to see Israel destroy the Hezbollah, however disastrous the impact of the continuation of the war may be upon human lives and the flow of humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people.

The OIC's stand further isolates the three states from the international community. Israel, the US and Britain are exposed as governments which merely seek to advance their Machiavellian goals through blood and bombs without an iota of compassion for human suffering.

But exposing the diabolical designs of the three states alone is not enough. Unanimous condemnation of Israeli aggression alone will not suffice. The OIC should have done more.

Five steps

Though the Muslim community (ummah) as a whole has a very low opinion of the OIC and its ability to act, it was hoping against hope that this time, given the magnitude of the Israeli aggression and its arrogant display of firepower, there would be some form of tangible response from the OIC.

The ummah would have wanted the OIC to harness the community s vast resources and utilise its inherent strengths to confront Israel and its protectors. Ideally, the OIC could have warned the US, Britain and Israel that if there was no immediate ceasefire it would ask its member states to do the following:

First, switch from the US dollar and the British pound to other currencies for all their oil transactions. When the dollar and the pound are no longer important exchange currencies, the financial and economic clout of the US and Britain will diminish considerably.

Such a decline will impact adversely upon their ability to mollycoddle Israel and to perpetuate their own hegemony in West Asia and elsewhere.

Secondly, withdraw a portion of the vast reserves deposited by oil-rich Muslim states in the US and British banks with immediate effect. This again would have adverse consequences for the two countries and indeed for other economies but could compel the US and Britain to re-think their blind support for Israel.

Thirdly, reduce oil exports to the US and Britain through a well thought-out plan designed to produce an immediate impact upon their economies. Reductions of this sort will send a chill down the spine of the US in particular which imports a substantial percentage of its oil from West Asia.

Fourthly, organise consumer boycotts of a small, selected number of goods produced by US and British companies with the most intensive and extensive business ties with Israel. As previous boycotts that were well-managed have shown, the affected companies often attempt to persuade the targeted government to modify its policies.

Finally, give notice to the US government to close down their military bases in Muslim majority states. A timetable should be put in place for this purpose.

False allies

Since there are US military bases in a number of Muslim states, it is quite conceivable that their termination will jolt the US government into adopting policies on West Asia that are even handed rather than persisting with the present Israel biased approach.

If the OIC meeting in Putrajaya could not even discuss any of the above measures, it is because a significant number of its members would have been totally opposed to them.

Indeed, some of them would even regard any mention of such ideas directed at the US in particular as sacrilegious. These are governments which are not only close allies of the US but are also dependent upon the US to protect and perpetuate their power.

Some of the most important members of the OIC are in such a servile and subservient relationship with the US. A notable example will be Saudi Arabia. This is the nation whose monarch is revered by the Muslim world as the Custodian of the Holy Shrines (meaning by which Mecca and Medina) and is expected to provide leadership to the ummah.

But then as the African-American political scientist, Professor Ali Mazrui, once put it, there is a custodian of the custodian.

DR CHANDRA MUZAFFAR is president of the International Movement for a Just World (Just).