With several Arab countries accepting stabilize relations with Israel under an agreement that the Trump administration helped broker, Israeli media has actually speculated that Indonesia could likely follow suit.
However, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has actually been quick to assert that Indonesia has no strategies to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel.
” Referring to several news reports stating that Indonesia will normalize ties with Israel, and as a follow-up of Mr. President’s regulations to the Foreign Minister, I would like to convey (the information) that Indonesia has no intention to open diplomatic relations with Israel,” the minister told journalism on December 16, 2020.
Indonesia’s support for the self-reliance of Palestine based upon a two-state solution and other agreed upon global criteria will consistently be preserved, she affirmed.
The federal government’s constant stance was applauded by Home Speaker Puan Maharani and deputy chairman of the Peoples’ Consultative Assembly (MPR), Hidayat Nur Wahid.
” As long as Palestine is not independent, Indonesia stands against the Israeli profession,” Maharani kept in mind in a declaration issued on December 18, 2020.
Indonesia’s strong assistance was strongly shown during its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019-2020 duration, especially during its UNSC chairmanship in May, 2019.
The Foreign Ministry had previously stressed out that the government stayed committed to guaranteeing that its membership of the UNSC would assist in conversations on the Palestinian problem and attract assistance for Palestine at the UNSC.
Indonesia’s diplomats at the UN regularly maintained that the Palestinian problem has had an influence on international peace.
As UNSC president, Indonesia started an informal discussion “Arria Solution” on Palestine at the UN Head Office in New York City on May 9, 2019.
Speaking at a UNSC instruction on the Middle East scenario on May 22, 2020, Minister Marsudi remembered that last January she had actually underlined that the Palestinian concern defined the reliability of the Council.
It has become de facto addition. This is why, Indonesia, together with Kuwait and South Africa, organized an Arria-Formula meeting on this problem 2 weeks ago,” she stated.
Requiring resumption of the peace process and an end to the cycle of violence, she said the Security Council need to make real progress on this issue, particularly on the Palestinian concern, the longest-running concern on the council’s agenda.
Another substantial diplomatic battle that Indonesia took on for Palestine was when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in May, 2020 a strategy to annex West Bank.
Indonesia proactively maintained the pressure versus Israel’s annexation strategy through different international online forums.
Marsudi corresponded to dozens of governments worldwide to amass support for the rejection of the plan on May 27, 2020.
” I have actually received favorable responses from numerous nations, consisting of South Africa, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, China, Japan, Russia, Tunisia, Vietnam, Egypt, Jordan, Ireland, and France, in addition to from the UN secretary general and the OIC secretary general,” the minister mentioned in Jakarta on July 2, 2020.
Those nations mostly voiced their support for Indonesia’s initiative to urge the global neighborhood to prevent and reject the annexation plan. They likewise stressed the need to pursue a two-state service to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
At the time, a common issue had actually been that the annexation would threaten local and worldwide stability, while also hindering mitigation efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indonesia, along with Tunisia and South Africa, had actually also started a ministerial-level conference of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to deliberate on Israel’s unilateral plan to annex Palestine.
” Oppression happens not since of the absence of justice itself. Injustice occurs since we permit it to take place. This is the time to stop oppression,” Marsudi worried while closing her speech before the UNSC conference on June 24, 2020.
The minister reiterated that the UN was obliged to restore Palestinian rights to its territory in accordance with the pre-1967 border.
Later, the minister also confessed to raising the Palestinian concern throughout a call she received from US Secretary of State, Michael Richard Pompeo, on May 27, 2020.
” I highlight again that Indonesia’s position on the Palestinian concern will not change. I hope that the US leadership will avoid Israel from carrying out its strategy to continue annexation of the West Bank,” Marsudi said throughout a phone conversation with Pompeo.
Not just the Federal government, the Indonesian Legislature (DPR RI) likewise started a joint declaration of parliamentarians around the world against Israel’s addition of Palestinian areas.
The joint declaration was signed by over 200 members of parliament from 34 nations. It was introduced on the occasion of International Day of Parliamentarism on June 30, 2020.
” In the Joint Declaration, parliamentarians around the world express their strong condemnation and rejection of Israel’s addition plan for the Palestinian territories that breaks international law and the global rule-based worldwide order,” Dr. Fadli Zon, chair of the Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of the DPR, stated.
In addition to political support, Indonesia has also supplied financial support and capacity building programs to show its solidarity with Palestine.
Last July, Indonesia contributed Rp365 billion in humanitarian help for Palestinian refugees. Of the total, US$ 1 million was funnelled through UNRWA, and US$500 thousand through ICRC.
Over more than a decade, Indonesia has spent US$ 8 million on about 170 training programs including more than 2 thousand Palestinians.
The Indonesian federal government has implemented a tax-free policy for Palestinian products, such as dates and olive oil, to support the Palestinian economy.
Palestine, which has actually been under Israeli profession for nearly 7 years, is the only country in the world to have stayed colonized.
It acquired de facto recognition as a sovereign state after being approved by the UN General Assembly in 2012, which updated its status to a UN non-member state.
” The battle of Palestine has been at the very heart of Indonesia’s foreign policy. In every aspect of Indonesian diplomacy, the Palestinian cause is present,” Marsudi affirmed.
Indonesia will continue to stand with the Palestinian people until the day they get self-reliance, President Joko Widodo stated in his very first speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2020.
” Indonesia consistently supports Palestine to declare its right,” the President mentioned.
The constant stance versus colonialism and occupation remain in line with the required of Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution in its Preamble, which specifies that manifest destiny should be abolished in this world.
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