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Letter: RI can treat Palestinians better
I am sure most Indonesians are not aware of the fact Indonesia is blocking Palestinians from visiting Indonesia as tourists
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I
am sure most Indonesians are not aware of the fact Indonesia isblocking Palestinians from visiting Indonesia as tourists. I am nottalking about the Palestinians who are living in the West Bank and theGaza Strip, but those who are living in the area where Jews establishedtheir own state in 1948.
These Palestinians are Israeli citizens. They have been punished twice by many sides. Israel suspects them as collaborators with their Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Occupied Territories, so they are discriminated against by most Israeli Jews as potential traitors. On the other hand, the Muslim world is preventing these miserable Palestinians from entering their countries, because they are “Israelis”. It could be a very funny situation, if it were not so sad.
Indonesia today prevents any Israeli from entering Indonesia as a tourist, no matter if he is a Jewish settler or discriminated-against Palestinian who lives in the land of his ancestors. This policy has been in place for the last five decades!
Indonesia can help this ignored Palestinian population. Currently, there are more than 1 million of them; they account for more than 20 percent of the Israeli population.
Indonesia can promote justice and peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians by giving tourist visas to any Israeli who – while
applying for a visa – denounces terrorism and the Israeli occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This way, Indonesians can meet
justice-and-peace-loving Israeli Jews and Palestinians, and can hear
about the situation over there directly from them.
Ronen Skaletzky
Medan
