W

hen Indonesia successfully campaigned for a seat on the 2019-2020 United Nations Security Council last year, it marketed itself as “a true partner for world peace” and “a bridge-builder”. In fact, the word “peace” appeared 13 times in its campaign brochure. However, after a month in this seat, Indonesia has not yet taken the lead in building the most difficult, and therefore most necessary, bridge of all: Jewish-Muslim relations.

For example, why hasn’t the world’s largest Muslim-majority country not yet officially recognized the world’s oldest Abrahamic and fifth-largest religion, Judaism? Jakarta often hails its constitution as protecting religious freedom for all, but unfortunately, Judaism is not yet officially recognized.

Internationally, Jews are an ethnoreligious group who have enriched human civilization for millennia, from agriculture to psychiatry to tech entrepreneurship to the fine arts. Jews have lived in Indonesia since the colonial Dutch East Indies era. Today, it is estimated that 200 Jews, mostly descendants of Middle Eastern and Dutch Jews, actively practice Judaism in Indonesia today.

Unfortunately, despite trying to live their lives quietly, Indonesian Jews have often experienced unprovoked anti-Semitic attacks. For example, last January in Tondano, near Manado, a Jewish house of worship was vandalized. Over the years, residents there have openly cursed and thrown stones at the Indonesian Jewish neighbors living there, as well.

Inge Inkiriwang, an Indonesian Jew from Jakarta, also recounted being sternly warned by another Indonesian in a meeting when seeing wearing her Star of David necklace pendant. “You shouldn’t wear that,” she was told. Instead, she walked out of the meeting.

In 2009, a group of Muslim activists demonstrated in front of the last Jewish synagogue in Surabaya, forced it to be sealed, burned the American and Israeli flags, then inexplicably, marched to Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s.

When I interviewed two Indonesian Jewish sisters, Elisheva and Abigail Wiriaatmadja, the co-founders of the Jewish Eits Chaim Foundation, they explained that instead of being able to practice their faith openly, Indonesian Jews have to do so in hiding, quietly huddled in darkened, secret makeshift synagogues in obscure locations, because of a legitimate fear of hate crimes and violence.

Jakarta’s primary diplomatic weakness is that it perpetually offers the world two conflicting aspirations: the first is an aspiration for global leadership toward peaceful bridge-building and a two-state solution. The second is a refusal to officially recognize both Israelis and Indonesian Jews, which doesn’t come close to solving either problem.

However, on the global stage, let alone inside the UN Security Council, these two conflicting aspirations look silly. A two-state solution cannot be negotiated with only one of the parties, because of the required boundary demarcations, land swaps and treaty-compliance evaluations to be discussed.

Second, most Israelis and all Indonesian Jews aren’t responsible for the fates of Palestinians. Furthermore, Israel is not a monolith: It is erroneous for some Indonesians to believe that similar people are politically or ideologically the same, just because they share one property (such as a culture or a religion).

Such a belief is also highly anti-Semitic. Instead, the key to effective bridge-building is for Indonesians to view both Palestinians and Israelis as their “brothers”, and then to sincerely aspire to see both parties succeed.

Despite these shortcomings, there have been recent signs of progress in Indonesia’s Jewish-Muslim relations: The Indonesian Embassy in Washington DC recently hosted an Eid interfaith iftar dinner that included Jews. Judaica like the Hebrew language, the Israeli martial art Krav Maga and Jewish history have all been taught across Indonesia for years. Last year, UNESCO’s inaugural Holocaust and Genocide Studies course debuted on Yogyakarta campuses, and representatives of both the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee were invited to attend Jakarta’s annual World Peace Forum.

This is indisputable progress, but the next administration in Jakarta should take the lead in Jewish-Muslim relations in a few bold, positive ways. First, at the domestic level, Indonesia should lead by example by first recognizing Judaism and all faiths as official, and no longer require any religion to be listed on citizens’ ID cards.

On the Jewish High Holy Days, especially Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the next Indonesian president should convey wishes of goodwill to all Jews, and convene local Muslim and Jewish leaders around areas of mutual concern. Like the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia should also appoint a minister of tolerance, increase student religious literacy through interfaith education, and officially recognize all religious minorities, including Jews. This would be true bridge-building and leadership.

At the global level, during Indonesia’s rotating presidency of the UN Security Council this May Indonesia’s Ambassador to the UN Dian Triansyah Djani should circulate a resolution condemning the global rise of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Indonesia should also formally recognize both Israel and Palestine, open diplomatic relations with both, and engage in multiparty peace negotiations for a two-state solution. These recommendations have less to do with “the Jews”, and more to do with Indonesia’s long-term reputation: to protect Indonesia’s credibility as a global “bridge builder”.

As the foreign policy scholar Joseph Nye famously observed, “proof of power lies not in resources, but in the ability to change the behavior of states”. Unfortunately, Jakarta’s current Mideast foreign policy is ineffective, and utterly weakens its convening power. Indeed, Indonesian global leadership only works if most of the world sincerely believes that Jakarta is serious about recognizing and convening both the Israelis and Palestinians.

Nevertheless, Indonesia still has a rich opportunity here for taking the lead in advancing Jewish-Muslim ties — proving that it has the power to build somewhat sensitive but crucial bridges between Israelis and Palestinians, instead of passively waiting for other nations to lead a two-state solution. For example, instead of a pointless blanket ban on all Israelis, Indonesia can stipulate a series of carefully-considered, nuanced conditions for including both parties in a Track 1.5 peace trialogue that includes governmental and nongovernmental leaders.

Leading in Jewish-Muslim relations both at home and abroad will demonstrate the maturity and progress that Indonesia has made, which is the only credible way to secure Indonesia’s future as an international bridge-builder and peacemaker. My hope is that these actions will help Indonesia more fully live up to its own declared ideals for peace on the global stage.
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