• Leaders of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths join political and civil society representatives in Istanbul, urging coordinated action against ongoing genocide in Gaza and protection of Jerusalem’s holy sites
• Speakers at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace call on governments and faith communities worldwide to provide humanitarian relief, prevent forced displacement, and uphold international law

ISTANBUL

Religious leaders, political figures, and civil society representatives from around the world gathered on Thursday at Istanbul's historic Ciragan Palace for an international roundtable to discuss the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the growing threats to sacred sites in the Holy Land.

The European Muslim Forum organized the two-day conference under the slogan "Stop genocide, stop occupation, start true Abrahamic cooperation," with contributions from the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), Türkiye Research Foundation, and the al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Institution.

The gathering will continue on Friday in Sanliurfa, Türkiye's southeastern province and the birthplace of Prophet Abraham, highlighting the event's call for unity among Abrahamic faiths. 

Global voices

The opening session was moderated by Abdul-Vakhed Niyazov, president of the European Muslim Forum, who condemned the ongoing genocide in Gaza and warned of escalating Israeli aggression across the Middle East, citing strikes in Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, and Lebanon.

He accused Israel of threatening Islamic holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, while the Muslim world “remains silent.”

Niyazov called for unity among Muslim nations and stressed Türkiye’s pivotal role in defending Jerusalem and preventing a wider regional catastrophe.

He urged “true Abrahamic cooperation” among Muslims, Christians, and Jews, while denouncing the so-called Abraham Accords as a “capitulation.”

Other speakers in the session included Mahmoud al-Habbash, supreme judge of Palestine and advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas on religious affairs; Jeremy Corbyn, former UK Labour Party leader and MP; Hasan Turan, chairman of the Türkiye-Palestine Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group from the Turkish Justice and Development (AK) Party; Ali Muhyiddin al-Qaradaghi, secretary-general of the IUMS; and Fatih Erbakan, leader of Türkiye’s New Welfare Party.  

Strong denunciations of Zionism and calls for justice

Among the most striking interventions were delivered by Jewish religious leaders associated with Neturei Karta International.

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, an anti-Zionist activist from the US, drew a sharp distinction between Judaism as a 3,000-year-old faith and the political project of Zionism, which he described as “base nationalism” little more than a century old.

He likened the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands to “evil beyond words,” insisting it has “no justification or legitimacy in the religion called Judaism.”

Rabbi Yosef Rosenberg also emphasized that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality, and therefore cannot justify sovereignty or occupation.

He recounted how members of his family were imprisoned under Israeli rule for peacefully protesting against state policies, stressing that “We are not allowed to kill, we are not allowed to steal, and we are not allowed to occupy.”

Israel Shamir, a Sweden-based Israeli writer, criticized Zionism in broader religious terms, saying Israel’s hostility toward Christianity underpins its actions in Palestine.

“If there is somebody truly hated by Jews, it is Jesus Christ,” Shamir said, adding that Palestine was chosen as a site to confront Christianity.

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein and Archbishop Theodosios (Atallah) Hanna of Sebastia, from the West Bank, also warned that Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem face mounting threats from Israeli policies.  

Political and academic perspectives

Mahmoud al-Habbash condemned Israel’s “open campaign of extermination” in Gaza and accused the US of complicity through arms supplies and diplomatic shielding.

He called for an end to Israeli aggression, prevention of forced displacement, humanitarian relief, and recognition of an independent Palestinian state, thanking Türkiye for its support.

Jeremy Corbyn condemned Israel’s strikes and the deaths of more than 60,000 Gazans, denouncing plans to depopulate Gaza for redevelopment projects as “cynical and horrible.”

He called for a global movement to isolate Israel, halt arms sales, and hold leaders accountable for violations of international law.

Ali Muhiddin al-Qaradaghi described the war in Gaza as “mass extermination,” urging people of all faiths to unite against injustice.

Quoting scripture, he reminded participants that killing one person is “as if killing all of humanity,” calling for legal, financial, and moral mobilization worldwide.

The panels included political, religious, and cultural figures from around the world, including Russian writers, journalists, and activists Alexander Prokhanov and Maxim Shevchenko, who also leads the Russian Party of Freedom and Justice; religious leaders Nafigulla Ashirov and Abdulmalik Asainov; Turkish journalist Abdulhamid Kayihan Osmanoglu; and Ayman Zeydan, head of the International Jerusalem Institution's Türkiye branch in Lebanon.

Even sporting figures like UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev lent symbolic support to the call for global solidarity.

Moderators Lord Nazir Ahmed, Ruslan Kurbanov, and Anna Stamou guided discussions on coordinated international responses to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the protection of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holy sites.

Rabbi Weiss declared: “This is not the voice of a few people in a room. It is the voice of the heart of the world.”