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Palestine’s G20 message
Abbas’ UN mission is very clear, but the big question is how Palestine can apply for full UN membership if they remain unable to maintain national unity.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (left) pose for photojournalists ahead of their meeting on Oct. 24,. (The Jakarta Post/State Secretariat)
In a meeting with visiting Palestine Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the Bogor Palace in West Java last week, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo reaffirmed Indonesia’s unconditional support for the Palestinian people’s struggle for independence during the Group of 20 Summit in Bali next month. PM Shtayyeh specifically asked Indonesia to exercise its privilege as host of the summit to emphasize Indonesia’s support for Palestine.
During the meeting, President Jokowi promised to reconfirm Indonesia’s commitment to Palestine’s independence and, therefore, full United Nations membership and will call on other G20 leaders to throw their weight behind Palestine’s application. For the last 10 years, Palestine has attended the UN General Assembly as an observer. Palestinian independence has long been on the foreign policy agenda of all Indonesian presidents, including Jokowi.
“We have discussed with [Jokowi] regarding the holding of the G20 Summit. We hope that Indonesia can convey its message of support for Palestine at the forum,” PM Shtayyeh said.
Last September, the Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reapplied for full UN membership. No fewer than 146 out of the 193 UN members, including Indonesia, have supported Palestine’s full membership since 2019, but the United States has always vetoed the plan at the UN Security Council.
The Palestinians want to establish an independent state situated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and also establish East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel occupied those territories in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed East Jerusalem, a move that lacks international recognition. Indonesia strongly supports a two-state system as a permanent solution to the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict.
Former US president Donald Trump and Israel intensively persuaded President Jokowi to open diplomatic ties with Israel and promised lucrative incentives, including US$2 billion in development aid. The President rejected the offers, as it would have been an act of political suicide. After all, it has been in Indonesia’s DNA to support an independent Palestinian state.
The President expressed Indonesia’s readiness to mediate peace talks between conflicting parties in Palestine that have been at odds with each other for 16 years, especially between the Palestinian National Authority, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The planned initiative is much more realistic and sensible than the old-standing ambition to mediate peace talks between Israel and Palestine because Indonesia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
It is not clear whether the President is aware that the battling factions in Palestine have signed a peace agreement in Algiers on Oct.13. The Palestinian leaders plan to hold a general election in the whole territory within a year.
Hamas surprisingly won the election in 2006, but President Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept his loss. President Abbas’ UN mission is very clear, but the big question is how Palestine can apply for full UN membership if it remains unable to maintain national unity.
For its part, Indonesia has taken all viable measures to strengthen Palestine’s position in its fight for independence. President Jokowi will again prove Indonesia’s commitment to the Palestinian cause during the G20 Summit, but Palestinian leaders must first win the war within by overcoming their egos and working together in order to reach a long-awaited independence.
