Malaysian police officers stand guard behind a banner of the 10th OIC at the entrance to the Convention Center in Putrajaya, Malaysia

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, October 12 (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysian authorities are on full alert with tight security measures across the capital Kuala Lumpur and within the new administrative city of Putra Jaya as the summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) that started on Saturday, October 11, is heating up with Palestine urging concrete actions against Israel.

Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Ahmad Al-Farra said Saturday that it was high time OIC member countries adopts and implement "practical measures", including political and economic sanctions against Israel.

Al-Farra said such practical measures were necessary to be implemented to pressure Israel to stop its daily atrocities against the Palestinian people and also to free them from the Israeli occupation.

He lamented that despite adopting good resolutions at every summit and meeting, the OIC and its members had failed to take steps to implement these resolutions.

"The OIC has always adopted very good resolutions... now we want something practical... some kind of pressure, not only communiqués or resolutions.

"Economic sanctions, political sanctions... some kind of declaration to the world that these people are under occupation... People are killed daily and people have to show solidarity... Muslims and non-Muslims," he said.

Al-Farra said practical measures such as severing diplomatic ties with Israel should be taken not only by OIC member countries but also other countries of the world to exert effective pressure on Israel, reported Bernama on Saturday.

In line with the hopes of the Muslim world that there will be a different OIC this time around, Mohamad Hamdan, an associate professor working at the International Islamic University (IIU) told IslamOnline.net that one of the strong measures that will please the Muslims around the world will be to see the OIC adopt a resolution that will allow it (OIC) to build its own military force.

"We are at war, we are being considered to be terrorists, and the western capitalist world is attacking Muslim countries. What are we doing talking and seeing and doing nothing else?

"It is time that the Muslim leaders at the OIC takes such steps to ensure the defense of the Muslim world, this in response to the new world order prepared by the U.S." he said.

In shopping complexes where the OIC logo is well seen and at times hanged in prominent places, the workers and business people says the OIC to them is another way of boosting their profits.

The entire Malaysian shopping landscape is offering sales from 10 percent to 75 percent depending on the location of the shops and the goods offered, OIC delegates and visitors during this month can enjoy an excellent shopping experience in Malaysia.

While hoping that this summit would be somewhat different from past summits with regards to the Palestinian issue, he suggested that the OIC members coordinate efforts with European countries and the international community and that Malaysia will initiate efforts to adopt and implement any practical measures against Israel, said Al-Farra.

The conference, an important calendar in the Muslim world, is seen as a major event in Malaysia with hopes of a breakthrough solution to the problems that has affected Muslims since the deadly attacks of September 11, 2001.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad altogether said, during an interview on BBC’s Talking Point program hosted by Lyse Doucet, that it was hard to get Muslims to unite and that his country was not too ambitious in leading the OIC.

"Malaysia is not too ambitious about the OIC because it knows how difficult it is to get the over 50 countries and for the 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide to unite," the retiring premier told BBC this week.

When asked about the current role of the OIC in the world and the importance of the tenth summit in Malaysia, the majority of people interviewed said they did not believe anything would come out of this meeting, certainly not Muslim unity or an end to the ills that has plagues the Muslim world for years.

'Egg Ready To Crack'

People in Muslim countries believe that the Muslim world will not be united under the OIC simply because the leaders of the Muslim countries had their own private agendas.

"The Leaders will come, they will talk and it will be serious talk but nothing will come out of it as usual, and the Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia is right, this is the time to come out with action," Hamdan told IslamOnline.net.

"I have been involved with the Secretariat General of the OIC for 5 years before I take the lecture job, and I can assure you that the Malaysian Premier is fully aware how tough it will be to run the show," he said.

"The OIC is not the United Nations, it is an egg that is ready to crack if one does not know how to handle the crises that affects the Islamic world," said Hamdan.

Malaysia is currently chairing the OIC summit and its Premier is full of hope that his country will make a difference and that the Muslim world will benefit from Malaysia’s role as Chairman.

"We are not too ambitious. We think we should have a different strategy which can give us better results. That is what we hope for in the OIC," Mahathir said.

Mahathir said violence and killing achieved nothing in the 50 years in Palestine and only escalated more attacks against Muslims. 

"There is no victory in this, no light at the end of the tunnel. That is not the right way. There must be other ways," he said, apparently calling for action.

Full Alert

Meanwhile, Malaysian security forces are on full alert for the summit. Police patrols, armed police personnel at major train stations in the city and road blocks have multiplied across Kuala Lumpur and the Selangor state while hotels where foreign guests are hosted have become hives of police cars and pillion riders to the amusement of the folks on the streets.

At Putra Jaya, tight security is in place with even Marine police patrolling the Putrajaya Lake, a huge area of 640 square kilometer-lake that is normally accessible to the public during holidays.

The lake surrounds the Putrajaya Convention Center, where the OIC summit is held. The entire lake area is being guarded round the clock as it is one of the four ways to gain access to the center.