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Indonesia slams US decision on Jerusalem

Escalation: Palestinians protest against United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday

Anton Hermansyah and Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Bogor/Tangerang
Fri, December 8, 2017

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Indonesia slams US decision on Jerusalem

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span class="inline inline-center">Escalation: Palestinians protest against United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.(Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Indonesia has condemned United States President Donald Trump’s decision on the capital of Israel and is calling for extraordinary meetings of both the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations.

“Indonesia strongly denounces the US’ unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and is asking the US to reconsider the decision,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump reversed decades of US policy to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and ordered planning to begin on moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv.

Earlier in the morning, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi condemned Trump’s decision, saying that as a democratic country “the US should know what democracy means.” Speaking while opening the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), Retno said democracy meant respecting international laws. while the recognition of Jerusalem and the plan to relocate the US embassy did not respect various UN Security Council resolutions.

Jokowi also said the unilateral recognition had violated Security Council resolutions concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some of which are about the occupation of East Jerusalem and the confiscation of Land. Resolution 252 of 1968 asks Israel to cancel all activities in Jerusalem and condemns the military occupation. Resolution 298 of 1971 confirms that all actions taken by Israel to change Jerusalem’s status are illegal. Resolution 478 of 1980 strongly condemns Israel’s enactment of a law to change the status of Jerusalem.

Jokowi added that Indonesia had called on the OIC and UN to organize extraordinary meetings and the OIC is to convene in Istanbul on Dec. 13.

“The OIC has decided to hold a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. I will attend the meeting,” he said.

Jokowi added that Indonesia remained committed to helping “the Palestinian people struggle for their independence as stipulated by the preamble of the 1945 Constitution.” Asked if Indonesia would withdraw its ambassador, Budi Bowoleksono, from Washington, Jokowi said: “It will be followed up by the Foreign Ministry.”

Jokowi also said he had ordered Retno to summon US Ambassador Joseph Donovan to relay Indonesia’s position on the situation.

A diplomatic hiccup occurred on Thursday when a statement issued in Indonesian by the US Embassy said that “the US Embassy had consulted with US allies and partners, including Indonesia,” implying that Retno was informed of the decision before Trump publicly recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, which was understood to mean Indonesia agreed with it.

This caught Retno off guard and she demanded clarification by summoning Donovan to Tangerang, where she was attending the BDF.

“I would also like to clarify a misunderstanding on the contradiction between the English statement and its translation into Indonesian on our website,” Donovan told reporters. “The English statement is the accurate one [...] and I regret the statement in Bahasa Indonesia is inaccurate. I clarify that Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was not aware of President Trump’s decision before it was decided.”

In Brussels, the European Union’s top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the US, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians can establish their own capital in Jerusalem. The EU, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the US, the UN and Russia, says it has to make its voice heard as the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor and Israel’s top trade partner.

“The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference as reported by Reuters.

She said she would meet Jordan’s foreign minister on Friday, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the US had primed a bomb in the Middle East with its recognition of Jerusalem.

“The United States has pulled the pin on a bomb ready to blow in the region,” Yildirim told a conference as quoted by Reuters.

Already, 17 people were wounded by Israeli army gunfire, medics said, when Palestinian protests erupted in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip after Trump’s announcement.

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