Obama's peace commitment and RI's role

Noor Huda Ismail ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 06/11/2008 10:37 AM  |  Opinion

Only hours after securing the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama said during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC), a pro-Israeli U.S. lobby group, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided".

A politically adept strategy to woo Jewish voters in the United States may end up squandering Obama's unique potential as a peace broker between Israel and the Muslim world.

One must remember that Israel has occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem since the 1967 war, a move considered illegal under international law. Moreover, Jerusalem's status as part of Israel is also not internationally recognized and remains a central issue in peace negotiations.

Therefore, Obama's peremptory comment closes the door on possible options for a peace process in the prolonged conflict that has become the heart of the rhetoric and ideology of regimes such as Iran and Islamic hard-liners such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Hizbut Tahrir and even Indonesia's Jamaah Islamiyah.

In many occasions, Abu Bakar Ba'ashir calls Israel the "enemy of Allah" and says that is why Indonesia "should send holy warriors there".

In the above case, one can infer that the Jerusalem issue has become important ideology and plays an instrumental role in the recruitment of activists and can offer a comprehensive raison-d'etre and it serves as the glue that binds Islamic movements together.

Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometers (0.35 square miles), the Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Christians and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.

With these potent attributes, Jerusalem has the potential to be the Ayodha of the Middle East where the fundamentalist Hindust tore down the ancient Babri mosque, inflaming violent sectarian conflict. Without a Jerusalem solution, there will be no lasting solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Indeed, although Indonesia and Israel don't have diplomatic relations, there are links between the two countries.

For example, in 2006, two Israeli diplomats, Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Ministry Amos Nadai and Israeli Ambassador in Bangkok Yael Rubinstein arrived in Jakarta to attend a convention organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Among top Indonesian political figures, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said he was in favor of opening relations with Israel, and was very much criticized for the suggestion. Nevertheless, Gus Dur remains influential in the vast archipelago, even if he is no longer leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization with 40 million followers.

Why is Indonesia important in this issue?

First, Indonesia, where Barack Obama spent his childhood, is a member of the Muslim world's Islamic Summit and the non-aligned movement, and is also an important non-Arab member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Second, Indonesia's negative actions regarding Israel and Jews reflect its sympathy as a Muslim nation with its co-religionists in the Middle East rather than any deep-seated antisemitism. Antisemitic attitudes in the media and in government decisions, and immoderate language from some Muslim leaders, do persist at a modest level.

Over the long term, however, Indonesia faces significant challenges from conservative Muslim forces seeking to radicalize the state. Such forces, while not necessarily antisemitic or anti-Zionist, if influenced by Iranian forces could generate such feelings in significant sections of the Muslim community.

Third, Indonesia is both a secular democracy and the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, which will allows it to take a leading role in mediating the prolonged conflict by removing Jerusalem from the equation by proposing Vatican status to Jerusalem with the administration of the holy city shared by Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious communities. Vatican City, officially State of the Vatican City, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome.

The writer earned his master's degree in international security from St. Andrews University in Scotland. He can be contacted at noorhudaismail@yahoo.com

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