(CNSNews.com) - A meeting of the world's Islamic nations has, once again, drawn a distinction between "terrorism" and "legitimate resistance against foreign occupation," a stance designed to accommodate ongoing support for the Palestinian fight against Israel.

Leaders of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said in a declaration they condemn "all forms of terrorism," asserting that terrorism and extremism are incompatible with Islam and contradict its teachings of "tolerance, mercy and non-violence."

Terrorism, said the leaders, "does not have any justification and should be condemned unreservedly."

Yet at the same time, they also said that a definition of terrorism must "distinguish it from the legitimate struggle of people under colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation."

The OIC wants its definition of terrorism to be internationally accepted, and it said a global conference should be called under the auspices of the United Nations to achieve that goal.

A comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism should also recognize "the main root causes," which the OIC says include "foreign occupation, state terrorism, political and economic injustice and denial of right of self-determination to people." All four factors are regularly cited by Islamic governments in reference to Israel.

The declaration was released at the end of an OIC summit in the west African nation of Senegal late last week.

Much of the gathering focused on "Islamophobia" and ways the Muslim world should combat a phenomenon which an OIC report said was a threat to world peace and security.

A key element of Islamophobia, in the view of the OIC, is the belief held by some non-Muslims that there is a link between terrorism whose perpetrators claim to be acting in the name of Islam, and Islam itself.

The conference in Dakar was the most recent in a series of initiatives organized by the OIC or individual Islamic governments since 9/11 that have attempted to distance the Islamic world from terrorism.

Every time, however, the summits, conferences or seminars have come up short of an unequivocal condemnation of all terrorism, because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Support for the Palestinian cause has been a defining component of the OIC since its inception, and the Palestinian issue is the only one mentioned by name in the preamble of the OIC Charter. (The bloc was formed in 1969 in reaction to an attempt by a deranged Australian to set fire to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.)

A final communique issued at the end of the Dakar summit included several dozen references to the Palestinian issue. The summit also passed resolutions accusing Israel of "war crimes" against Palestinians, voicing support for a Palestinian state, and declaring that there can be no peace without "the return of [Jerusalem] to Palestinian sovereignty." Other resolutions dealt with relations between Israel and surrounding Arab states.

'Armed struggle is not terrorism'

The OIC's stance on terrorism and the exception for cases like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems from the organization's 1999 Convention on Combating International Terrorism, which states: "Peoples' struggle including armed struggle against foreign occupation, aggression, colonialism and hegemony, aimed at liberation and self-determination in accordance of the principles of international law, shall not be considered a terrorist crime."

Ahead of the Dakar summit, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch urged the OIC to amend or remove that provision.

Because some perpetrators of attacks targeting civilians cite Islam in attempting to justify their actions, the organization said in a letter to OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Islamic bloc needs to make it clear "that its condemnation of terrorism makes no exemptions, even if in the name of causes that OIC member states endorse."

While the Palestinian issue is central to the OIC, another cause that many Islamic states endorse is the fight against Indian control over part of Kashmir. The predominantly Muslim territory is divided between Pakistan and India and claimed by both, and India has long accused Pakistan of supporting terrorism in the Indian-controlled portion.

Among the resolutions passed in Dakar, the OIC voiced support for self-determination in Kashmir. The Indian government immediately rejected the OIC's stance, calling it interference in its internal affairs.

The dispute over Kashmir has been one of the main reasons why India's attempts to join the OIC over the years have been unsuccessful.

Although India is a predominantly Hindu country, its 152 million-strong Islamic minority is the third largest Muslim community in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan.

Until now, the OIC Charter has allowed membership applications from any "Muslim country" while also making applications subject to the approval of two-thirds of OIC members.

This year, the organization has amended its charter. The new document restricts membership to countries with a "Muslim majority," effectively ending India's hopes of ever joining.

Security Council, Islamophobia, Iran

Other resolutions and decisions reached at the Dakar summit and incorporated into various documents released since included:

-- Calls for the Islamic bloc, "which brings together one-fifth of the world population," to be represented in a reformed and enlarged U.N. Security Council.

-- The rejection of what the OIC called "politically motivated attempts to unjustly associate ... any Islamic country with terrorism." Three of the five countries designated by the State Department as terror-sponsors are Islamic -- Iran, Sudan and Syria. The other two are communist North Korea and Cuba.

-- Condemnation of U.S. economic sanctions against Syria under the Syria Accountability Act, legislation which the OIC called a flagrant breach of international law and an act of "blatant prejudice in Israel's favor."

-- Expression of concern about pressure being mounted on Iran over its nuclear programs, and support for "the inalienable rights of member states to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."

-- Reaffirmation of member states' determination to fight Islamophobia and the stereotyping of Muslims; calls for more dialogue with the West after a series of incidents raising tensions in the Muslim world, including the publication of cartoons satirizing Mohammed.

-- Appeals for unity among different schools of Islamic thought and condemnation of sectarian violence. "The blood, property, honor, and reputation of Muslims are sacrosanct and the inviolability of all Muslim houses of worship have to be respected," the documents said.

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