NEW YORK : The Sultanate of Oman welcomed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s resolution to proclaim 15 March every year as “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”.

This was stated in Oman’s speech delivered before the UN General Assembly by Dr. Mohammed Awadh Al Hassan, the Sultanate of Oman’s Permanent Representative to the UN, which elaborated on the topic titled “Combating Hate for Islam and Muslims (the phenomenon of Islamophobia)”.

Oman pointed out that “respect for the Other is one of the noble guiding principles of the UN” and that “addressing extremism, fanaticism and hate now take centre stage among urgent issues calling for joint global action”.

Oman rejected any attempts targeting religious symbols, cautioning that it is unreasonable to exploit freedom of expression as a podium to offend religious symbols and ridicule the beliefs of others.

The Sultanate of Oman urged all countries to take necessary steps to combat such negative phenomena and hold promoters of fanaticism and hatred accountable.

“Respect is a must, and so are rapprochement of thoughts and cooperation,” said Oman, noting that the phenomenon of antagonizing Islam and Muslims has been escalating and impacting the lives of people and violating their rights around the world. “It is time this phenomenon is addressed rather than camouflaged under the pretext of freedom of expression. Such unfitting behaviour is ill-advised. It clashes with the noble objectives of the UN’s fundamental message,” Oman reiterated.