All politics may be local, but the 2006 US elections are having worldwide repercussions—and emboldening genocidal terrorists and their supporters: Islamic states see sympathy turning against Israel.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - International opinion has started to turn against Israel after its army killed Palestinian civilians this month, Arab and Muslim officials said in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

“There is growing international resentment over Israel’s actions and policies … we must take advantage of this change to stop Israel acting like a country above the law,” said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). …

Ihsanoglu said the OIC had been instrumental in mobilizing Islamic and non-Western states against a U.S.-Israeli alliance at the United Nations. …

Palestinian [Hamas] Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar told Reuters the defeat of President George W. Bush’s Republican Party in mid-term elections this month was another sign that the wind was blowing the Arabs’ way.

Voter anger over Iraq help oust Bush’s Republicans from power in Congress in the November 7 elections.

“Things have turned around … There are major new factors involved, including the American retreat in military terms and in Congress, and new Arab-Islamic action,” Zahar said.

More: OIC vows to ‘break blockade’ on Palestinians.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference have vowed to “break the blockade” gripping the Palestinian economy since Islamists Hamas swept to power earlier this year.

The OIC meeting, called for by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to discuss Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, “decided to break the blockade imposed on the Palestinian people”, a statement said, without elaborating.

The decision, by 26 of the pan-Islamic body’s 57 members, gathered in the Saudi city of Jeddah, came after the Arab League on Sunday said it would “break” the blockade and start stepping up payments.