Top diplomats from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are to convene in an emergency meeting next week, as the announcement of United States President Donald Trump’s divisive Middle East peace deal revealed divisions within the Muslim world
span>Top diplomats from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are to convene in an emergency meeting next week, as the announcement of United States President Donald Trump’s divisive Middle East peace deal revealed divisions within the Muslim world.
Meanwhile, Indonesia, as the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, has asserted that the issue of Palestine “should be resolved based on the principles of the ‘two-state solution’ that respects international law and internationally agreed parameters”, according to a Foreign Ministry statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Trump released his long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, which lays out a vision for future Palestinian statehood if a series of strict conditions are met. These include requiring the future Palestinian state to be "demilitarized", while formalizing Israeli sovereignty over settlements built in occupied territory, AFP reported.
The director of the Foreign Ministry’s international organization for developing countries, Kamapradipta Isnomo, said the OIC was likely to issue a response on Feb. 3, when it convenes an extraordinary ministerial meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“We are working with the OIC to issue a statement that is consistent with the previous OIC position and to also come up with a resolution that can unite the voices of all OIC members,” he told the Post.
Last November, the OIC issued a statement condemning Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. In an OIC summit in May, leaders of the organization also said they opposed all illegal Israeli measures aimed at changing facts in occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, and undermining a two-state peace solution.
Hamdan Basyar, a Middle East expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), pointed out that the OIC had already been fractured, with Saudi Arabia notoriously “tolerating” Trump, despite its official position of siding with the Palestinians.
“The Saudis’ stance on Palestine is a bit confusing because even though the king [Salman] has stated that the country would stand up for the Palestinians, the crown prince MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] is very close with Israel,” he said.
AFP reported that Saudi's foreign ministry said in a statement that it "appreciates" Trump's efforts, while Qatar, one of the other US allies in the Middle East, has responded cautiously to the peace plan, saying it welcomed efforts to broker "longstanding peace" but warned that it was unattainable without concessions to the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Turkey, a strong advocate of the Palestinian cause, condemned the plan, and Iran, which does not recognize Israel and has recently been in a confrontation with the Trump administration, denounced the plan as a threat to regional stability.
Kamapradipta said the ministerial meeting was called by Palestine to discuss Trump’s proposal, noting that it would be more difficult and take more time to call for a leaders’ summit.
Hamdan said that based on past experience the OIC could make a significant response, as in 2017 when the top leaders, including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, came together for the OIC extraordinary summit and issued a statement opposing the US plan to move its embassy to Jerusalem.
“It would be less meaningful if represented by someone of lower rank, particularly only foreign ministers, when the top leader of the US himself is the one unveiling the measures,” Hamdan said.
In the 2017 summit, Jokowi asked Muslim leaders to reconsider their relationships with Israel and continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine.
“This time Indonesia also has to make a stern response, otherwise the Palestinians’ situation will continue to get worse,” Hamdan said. “I am not sure whether Jokowi still has that same spirit, but I think it is important for the top leader to act.”
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