The OIC was established in Rabat, Morocco, on September 25, 1969. Its founding charter envisioned the fostering of Muslim solidarity by instilling a sense of common purpose. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was the architect of the OIC. And it was he who imposed the oil embargo on the West in the wake of the 1973 Ramadan War – the most intensely contested Arab- Israeli War.

It was also Faisal who deployed his considerable leverage to have the landmark Islamic Summit of February 1974 convene in Lahore, hosted by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Lahore was selected as the venue because it is the epicenter of Pan- Islamism. And it was there where the PLO was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. I was pursuing then an LL.M. degree in Washington, and I recall my law professor specially cite this during class.

At Lahore, the bulk of resolutions dealt with committing Muslim nations to support the Palestinian cause. In March 1975, Faisal – who was declared Man of the Year by Time magazine – was gunned down for reasons that are yet to be satisfactorily explained.

Now, 40 years later, the Muslim world is embroiled in internecine conflict, which has already ripped apart Syria, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain and, lately, Yemen.

With a 26 million populace, Yemen is the poorest of the Arab League member states. It is over 1200 nautical miles away from Iran. Objectively speaking, it represents little or no threat to its much richer and more powerful neighbors. Also, US defense doctrine perceives oil security as pivotal to US vital interests. President Obama cut short his visit to India to personally commiserate with the Kingdom when King Abdullah passed away.

Yemen, in effect, is a manufactured crisis. But it serves a useful purpose as a distraction in diverting focus away from the harrowing conditions existing in the open-air prison which is Gaza, and the Bantustan- type configuration which has emerged in the West Bank. Ditto, too, on Held-Kashmir and India’s PM Modi, whose complicity in the Gujarat massacre excluded him from the US for 10 years.

Palestine was the core issue that sparked the founding of the OIC. Now, vested interests take pains to depict Palestine as one of many other issues that bedevil the Mideast and the larger Muslim World. Faisal must be rolling in his grave.

OIC was also meant to be a forum for conflict resolution where intra-Muslim disputes could be reconciled in an impartial and nonpartisan manner.
But the insecurities of the super rich cannot be under-estimated. And they are often threatened by someone who is not for sale.
Foes of Islam have often managed to seize opportunities offered by Muslim infighting. Also, the culture in the Muslim world is not a fact-finding culture. The addiction to viewing rants on the idiot box (TV) has made nitwits of many of our politicians and policy makers. It is information without “Adab.” And lost in this confusing fog is plenty of clarity. Actions envisaged today may be flouting the founding charter of the OIC.
Who then stands to benefit? One can imagine the laughter in Tel Aviv.