Hassan Khater, the secretary general of the commission, said in a press statement that “by hosting the conference in Jerusalem on March 29-31, Israel seeks de facto recognition of its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem.”
Israel has invited some 30 foreign tourism ministers to take part in the conference which was organized by the Israeli Tourism Ministry and the Jewish-dominated Jerusalem Municipality. The conference is scheduled to discuss various aspects of Israeli tourism, the future of global tourism and economic trends.
The head of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, and other senior officials are to speak during the event. Israeli officials fear embarrassment for holding the conference in the disputed city.
Khater added that the “Israeli control over Jerusalem is illegal and the United Nations Security Council has been clear on calling all member states not to recognize Israeli claims over the Holy City."
The official stressed “the holding of the conference in Jerusalem shows that Israel seeks to consolidate the city as a capital of Jews in the world.”
He called on the invited states "to cancel their participation and to publicly repudiate illegal Israeli actions, including the unilateral annexation of occupied East Jerusalem".
Palestinian Minister of Tourism Kholoud Daibes sent a letter last week to all countries invited to take part in the conference. “The dispatch of official representatives constitutes recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel's capital,” Daibes said in her letter.
According to the letter, “The participation of official international elements in this conference is problematic, especially during this critical time of an international effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish Jerusalem's permanent status.”
The minister said that the boycott will create the necessary momentum “to end the occupation and achieve peace.”
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the June 1967 War, annexed it and has since built settlements there that are home to more than 200,000 Israelis.
Control over the city has been seen as the most sensitive and thorniest issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state but the Israel says the city is its eternal capital.
