E

xperts and civil society groups have lauded President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s strong opening remarks at the 60th Asia-Africa Conference Commemoration (AACC) to rally support for an independent and sovereign Palestine.

Senior Indonesian diplomat Makarim Wibisono welcomed Jokowi'€™s opening speech at the conference, citing the President'€™s address as visionary and relevant to seeking the answer to the world'€™s conundrums.

'€œHe has opened the eyes of the leaders of Asia and Africa to the need to band together and improve the global condition,'€ Makarim told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

On Wednesday, President Jokowi delivered a straightforward speech in front of representatives of 106 Asian and African nations, 21 of whom were heads of state and government. The former Jakarta governor addressed several pertinent issues such as persisting global inequality, while also making good on his campaign promise to support Palestine by rallying the participating countries in supporting the birth of an independent Palestinian state.

'€œWe cannot turn away from the suffering of the people of Palestine. We must keep struggling alongside them. We must support the birth of an independent Palestine,'€ the President said in his speech.

The President later also announced his decision to open an honorary consul office in Ramallah when he received Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Wednesday.

Makarim, who currently serves as the UN'€™s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said he was glad that the Palestine issue had been given fair treatment in the AACC.

Even so, he said it was important that the declaration of support for Palestine be followed up with measured steps to ensure that Palestine gained its independence and a full membership to the UN.

'€œBesides support in the form of medicine, [the government] can help with diplomatic initiatives to bring the nations of Asia and Africa into consensus over the Palestinian agenda,'€ Makarim said.

Ahmad Fuad Fanani, the research director at the Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity, concurred with Makarim'€™s statement that the government should follow up the endorsement for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with the implementation of concrete policies.

'€œIndonesia must form a working group or strategic alliance [with members of the Asian-African community] to justify the President'€™s powerful speech as icing on the cake that is the AACC,'€ the UIN Jakarta lecturer told the Post in on Thursday.

'€œIf there'€™s nothing to back up Jokowi'€™s word, it will be easy for people to brand it as a sorry attempt to boost his ratings internationally.'€

Meanwhile, international political expert Adriana Elisabeth said it was important that the government not only focused on the issue of Palestine, but that it also took a firm stance on the ongoing violence happening in North Korea.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher also said that the onus was on the Indonesian government to share its experiences in sustaining democracy, arguing that some African countries had yet to adopt human rights protection mechanisms.

The Human Rights Working Group'€™s (HRWG) ASEAN program manager, Daniel Awigra, said that solidarity in the Palestinian cause was not enough to resolve the issue, as it needed to be backed up by ample economic support, which he claims only China has at the moment.

'€œThis becomes problematic when you see that China'€™s concept of development is not all that compatible with human rights [protection],'€ Daniel said.
________________

'€œHe has opened the eyes of the leaders of Asia and Africa to the need to band together and improve the global condition.'€