The international community, including Indonesia, should do more to, at least, minimize the suffering of the Palestinians from prolonged oppression by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. At the same time Israeli people also have the right to have their own state and to be free from any terrorist acts by their enemies.

But outside Israel, especially among developing countries and predominantly Muslim nations, there is a strong perception that Israel is a genius at portraying itself as the victim of terrorism, as if it has never committed any terrorism acts itself.

On Jan. 23, Hamas security forces blew up two-thirds of the 12-kilometer wall on the border of impoverished Gaza and Egypt to let 1.5 millions Palestinians have the chance to buy food and other commodities after being totally "imprisoned" by Israel in the last several months.

People could escape through the break in the wall to go to the Egyptian city of Rafah, but the freedom lasted only several days. The border was closed again Sunday.

It was just a temporary opening and perhaps will never happen again, unless all warring parties there -- Israel against Palestine and Hamas against Fatah -- are able to reach peace agreements. Unfortunately, so far there is very little hope, if any at all, that peace will eventually come to the troubled region.

The Palestinians have been imprisoned in their own land for several months in Gaza after Israel totally isolated the territory in retaliation against Hamas militias, while Hamas and Fatah continue killing each other at the expense of the Palestinians. The world will eventually see very costly results -- including rising terrorism -- should the tragedy continue.

Western countries that preach about the basic principles of human rights, including freedom from starvation, poverty, and oppression, did little to help just because they do not trust Hamas. Along with Israel, the West wants to alienate Hamas because it also wants to alienate Israel from the world map.

U.S. President George W. Bush hosted the Annapolis meeting last November to bring Palestine and Israel closer to peace. However, as long as Hamas is not involved in the process, it is impossible to reach a meaningful solution between the two nations.

It seems that neighboring countries in the Middle East also did not, or could not, do much for the poverty-stricken Palestinians for their own reasons. They often issue statements condemning Israeli brutality against Palestinians, who want to be independent in their own land. Perhaps we are wrong, but we have the impression Arab countries could do much more to help the Palestinians.

Indonesia needs to launch more diplomatic measures to persuade major nations, including Arab countries and the West, to do more on the issue of Palestine. As Indonesia is highly trusted by Hamas and Fatah leaders, to a certain extent, it can do more to bridge the gap between the two Palestinian rivals.

Indonesia, of course, cannot work alone, as the Palestinian issue as a very complex one. We cannot just remain passive and do nothing to help the oppressed people.

However, as long as Indonesia does not have any diplomatic channel -- no matter how minimal it is -- with Israel, it will also be very difficult to win the trust of the Jewish state.

The Palestinian issue, again, is a very complicated one. But should we let the Palestinians continue to suffer while we know we can do something to help them?

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