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Palestine, Israel dispute not religious conflict: Govt
Israeli border police men order a Palestinian man to lift his shirt as they check him at a checkpoint before is allowed to exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, Oct
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Israeli border police men order a Palestinian man to lift his shirt as they check him at a checkpoint before is allowed to exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, Oct. 20. (AP/Ariel Schalit) (AP/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli border police men order a Palestinian man to lift his shirt as they check him at a checkpoint before is allowed to exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, Oct. 20. (AP/Ariel Schalit)
Indonesia asserted on Friday that the prolonged dispute between Palestine and Israel was not a result of religious tension, but simply about Israel's illegal establishment of human settlements.
Indonesian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Desra Percaya said the dispute resulted from the fact that Israel refused to accept the UN's recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and Israel therefore continued to expand its territory.
"We need to dispel the perspective that view this is a religious conflict. This is a matter of [Israel] building illegal settlements in violation of the law," Desra told thejakartapost.com.
Despite being condemned through various UN resolutions that recognize the right of Palestine to occupy its own land, Israel keeps disregarding international law by continuing to encroach on Palestine territory and passing regulations whereby Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should apply for permits from Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem.
The latest efforts in 2014 to settle the dispute through the UN did not succeed, simply because there was not enough support from UN Security Council (UNSC), claimed Desra. The peaceful negotiation process often resulted in deadlock without any real progress that could ensure the future of Palestinians.
According to Desra, the UNSC structure that accommodated veto rights for permanent members ' the US, the UK, France, Russia and China ' hampered the political process at the UN level to resolve the Palestine-Israel dispute.
"Every proposal regarding Palestine is vetoed by the US if it is potentially harmful to Israel," said Desra, adding that the US had vetoed 42 resolutions on the Middle East since 1972.
In addition to pushing for reform in the UNSC's structure, he said, the government should encourage civil society, particularly youths, to try to influence people from another countries by actively taking part in international meetings and networking to influence civil society in other countries.
Similarly, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN Riyad Mansour said there had been a youth movement to use social media to gain support and raise awareness of Palestine's plight, even though since October Israeli authorities had been keeping an eye on the information that youngsters shared on social media.
However, Riyad believed youths could pave the way for a better future for Palestinians as they had played an important role in fighting against Israel's annexation of their homeland, protesting the discrimination against and alienation of Muslim Palestinians by Israeli authorities.
"I believe all young Palestinian have the courage to fight because they believe they will succeed in ending the illegal occupation one day," Riyad said.
