Marty's embargo by Israel consequence of lack of diplomatic ties: House leader

Marzuki Alie: (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

While the Israeli authorities have been widely condemned for refusing to allow Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to enter Ramallah, the House of Representatives (DPR) speaker Marzuki Alie said such an incident was a consequence of Indonesia not having diplomatic ties with Israel.

According to Marzuki, Israel has every right to determine who is allowed to enter its territory or its occupied state, including Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestine Administration, where Marty and his fellow envoys from Non- Aligned Movement (NAM) were scheduled to attend a high-level meeting with Palestinian leaders on Sunday.

"We have been condemning and making negative statements about Israel. And we have obviously been taking sides on Palestine. Therefore, I think it's reasonable for the Israelis to block the representatives of any countries that it dislikes," the Democratic Party politician told reporters at his office on Monday.

Even though Ramallah belonged to Palestine, countries that had diplomatic ties with Palestine could do nothing but submit to the Israeli authority which occupied it, Marzuki added.

"It's like a house you know. You will not allow your enemies to enter your house. Anyway, I don't understand why the NAM meeting should take place in Ramallah when we don't have diplomatic ties with Israel," Marzuki said.