Marty, Joko United in Condemnation of Gaza Attacks

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra & Ezra Sihite,  Jul 11, 2014

A Palestinian woman carrying a child makes her way through debris as people
 inspect the remains of a house belonging to a member of the Islamist Hamas
 movement following an Israeli air strike on July 8, 2014 in the Gaza strip town
of Khan Yunis. (AFP Photo/Said Khatib)

Jakarta. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa condemned on Thursday the ongoing Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip that has killed scores of Palestinian civilians. He denounced what he called heinous acts against humanity and said the rocket fire on ostensible Hamas targets was an obstacle to the path to peace in the Middle East.

“Israel’s action should be strongly condemned as its military action has worsened the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank through the years,” Marty said in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. He called the collective punishment against the Palestinians by Israeli authorities inappropriate.

“It should be understood that the core of the problem, the occupation of [Palestine] by Israel, must be terminated by a peaceful negotiation in order to achieve the vision of two states living side by side,” Marty said

He demanded the United Nations Security Council and the international community pressure Israel to stop the rocket attacks on Gaza, saying the cycle of violence in the region need to end.

Marty also said that Indonesia would continue to work closely with the Palestinians, as peers in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), to raise international awareness about the violence being waged in Gaza.

Indonesia’s Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) has also demanded an immediate end to the strikes that it says threatens to spread into a wider conflict in a region that is already bristling with tension.

“The brutal actions conducted by Israel against Palestine are very regrettable,” HRWG executive director Rafendi Djamin said on Thursday in Jakarta. “This overtly violates human rights covenants that have been agreed on by the international community. I call on all civilian organizations that are concerned with human rights issues, not only in this country but also in other countries, to urge the Indonesian government to take further action and see the issue as a threat to human rights.”

Presidential candidate Joko Widodo, the apparent winner of Wednesday’s election according to most quick counts, on Thursday called on the Indonesian people to pray for Palestine.

“I ask all Indonesian people to pray for the Palestinian people so they are given strength, physically and mentally, to maintain their sovereignty from Israeli colonialism,” he said at a press conference, as quoted by state-run news agency Antara. “Hopefully God almighty will always be with the Palestine people.”

He said he would meet with Palestine’s ambassador to Indonesia. “I’m close with Palestine’s ambassador and I will meet him to express direct support for Palestine and condemn Israel’s attack on Gaza,” Joko said. He also called on Indonesians to donate funds to Palestine through the embassy in Jakarta.

Reuters reported that Israeli air strikes against militants in Palestine have killed 74 people since Tuesday, including women and children.

The strikes were part of Israel’s response to an uptick in rocket attacks over the past several says. Joko said he saw Indonesia as an advocate for Palestine on the international stage.

“Palestine is really meaningful for the Indonesian people, because Palestine is an Arab country, which belongs to the Arab League, which supported and acknowledged Indonesian independence,” Joko said as quoted by news portal Republika.co.id.

He said that Israel was guilty of human rights violations. “The situation in the Gaza Strip is really concerning, because there’s a mass killing,” he said. He also called on the United Nations to condemn the airstrikes.

In his foreign policy debate with rival Prabowo Subianto last month, Joko stated that one of his aims if elected would be to push for Palestinian statehood. His running mate, Jusuf Kalla, said separately that they planned to also open an Indonesian Embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said Indonesia’s condemnation of the air strikes carried little weight because of Jakarta’s steadfast refusal to recognize the Israeli state.

“Despite the effusive support that Joko has expressed for Palestine, it will not be an easy task to deliver that support, because we’re not a nation with plans and great power,” Ikrar said on Thursday. “But the thing we can do is to campaign for solidarity from other Muslim[-majority] countries.”

Ikrar said the plan to set up an embassy in Ramallah was the right move. “That will put both states, Indonesia and Palestine, on an equal footing, as Palestine already has an embassy in Jakarta,” he said. He recommended that the Indonesian government use diplomacy to push for full international recognition of a Palestinian state, arguing that objections by Israel and the United States to such a move were baseless.

“If Palestine becomes a sovereign country, how could it possibly pose a threat to the US or Israel?” Ikrar asked.

Makmur Keliat, an international relations expert at the University of Indonesia, suggested three points to the government of Indonesia to take peace initiatives, either through a bilateral or regional approach, such as through the United Nations or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“First, urge both parties in the conflict to stop their fighting. Second, ask all international institutions to immediately deliver support and aid as well as provide humanitarian protection for women and children. And third, conduct a mediation and further negotiations between the two disputing parties,” Makmur told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was set to brief the Security Council on the crisis on Thursday, condemned the rocket attacks and urged Israel to show restraint. “Gaza is on a knife edge,” he told reporters.

Medical officials in Hamas-dominated Gaza said at least 60 civilians, including a 4-year-old girl and boy, aged 5, who were killed on Thursday, were among the 74 Palestinians who have died in Israeli attacks since Tuesday.

Israel says it has struck more than 750 targets in an offensive intended to halt persistent rocket fire at its own civilian population, which escalated after Israeli forces arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank following the abduction of the Jewish teenagers.