RIYADH, 3 September— Saudi Arabia yesterday called upon the international community to end Israel’s brutalities and racist practices against the Palestinians.

“The world community should give its utmost attention to this issue and deal with it justly,” a senior Saudi official told the world anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa.

Prince Turki ibn Muhammad ibn Saud Al-Kabir, assistant undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry for political affairs, also urged the Durban conference to focus on Israel in terms of its racism.

“Israel’s racist discrimination against the Palestinians is known to everybody through its practices and laws,” the prince said, turning the world’s attention to the Jewish state’s assassination and torture of Palestinians.

“This conference cannot ignore the daily racist practices of Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians,” added Prince Turki, who is leading the Kingdom’s delegation to the Durban event.

He reminded delegates that a law enacted by Israel in 1950 prevents the Palestinians from having the right to citizenship. Israel also practices racist discrimination against Palestin-ians at work, education and social services, said Prince Turki.

“Israel violates the human rights of the Palestinians in contravention of all international charters,” he said.

In the same speech, Prince Turki expressed the Kingdom’s concern over discrimination based on faith, especially Islam, and condemned the ignorance that casually links Islam with terrorism and intolerance.

“Islam is against terrorism and calls for tolerance, cooperation and co-existence with other communities,” he explained.

The Saudi official also lambasted attempts by certain quarters to tarnish the image of Islam and its followers in order to make political gains.

“Such anti-Islamic smear campaigns are against the spirit of tolerance and cultural dialogue, the hallmark of international cooperation,” he declared.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has delivered $45 million to the Palestinian Authority, the first installment of $165 million earmarked for supporting the uprising against Israel, a bank official said yesterday.

The Jeddah-based bank runs two Arab funds totaling $1 billion set up by an Arab summit in Cairo last October to support the intifada.

The IDB said in late August it had transferred $251 million to the PA from the two funds, after receiving a total of $538.2 million from 12 Arab states out of the $1 billion pledged by the Cairo summit.

An unnamed Saudi philanthropist has donated $6 million to support the intifada, the IDB announced on Saturday. It added that $l million from the amount will be used to expand and equip the medical facilities in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The remaining $5 million will be paid into the two Arab funds set up to support the intifada.

The Jerusalem Intifada Fund was set up to assist the families of Palestinians killed or wounded, and the Al-Aqsa Fund to “preserve the Islamic character of East Jerusalem” and sustain the Palestinian economy.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Jeddah yesterday for talks with Saudi leaders on the ongoing tension in the Middle East, the SPA news agency reported.

Arafat arrived in Jeddah from Sanaa where he held talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on ways of facing up to the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian leader, returning from the UN racism conference in Durban, told reporters he “examined with Saleh ways of facing up to Israel’s escalation (of violence) against the Palestinian people and their National Authority.”

Yemen has committed itself to donating $10 million to the two Arab funds set up to support the Palestinian uprising that started nearly a year ago.

The IDB also disclosed that Jordan has deposited $2 million in the two funds. It represents the full amount pledged by Amman at the Cairo summit.