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An urgent humanitarian appeal
Increased pressure on the ICRC from such a large branch as the Indonesian Red Cross may well be highly instrumental in facilitating a more forceful Red Cross approach to Hamas.
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Family members and supporters of hostages being held in Gaza after they were kidnapped from Israel by Hamas attend a protest calling for the hostages’ immediate release in Tel Aviv on Oct. 26, 2023. (Reuters/Tomer Appelbaum)
I
ndonesia's long-standing support for the Palestinian cause is not viewed negatively by many of us in Israel, even if that incorporates criticism of Israeli government policies.
On the contrary. There is a vast body of proof which shows that a majority of Israelis will support the establishment of a Palestinian state, existing side-by-side with Israel within the framework of a comprehensive peace agreement between our two peoples, on which Indonesian policy is largely predicated.
This is something I have fought for all my life, both as an Israeli diplomat and even more so now, as someone who no longer works for the government. Coupled with that is the indisputable fact that anyone here who has had any interaction whatsoever with Indonesia and Indonesians bears the greatest respect for their civilization, culture and moderation.
To a large extent, therefore, these two facts together place Indonesia in a special – even unique – situation as far as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is concerned, and the fact that Indonesia and Israel do not have any formal relationship is in many ways irrelevant.
Support for the Palestinian cause, indeed support for any cause, does not by any means signify support for the most extremist elements imaginable. There may be criticism of Israel's response in the current crisis – although there is overwhelming support for Israel's right to defend itself.
Yet there is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the Middle East and certainly in such a civilized society as Indonesia harbor deep anathema to the unfathomable fanaticism of Hamas, whose savagery on Oct. 7 took the form of an orgy of indiscriminate slaughter, rape, burning alive of entire families, beheading of babies and small children and, by no means least importantly, the brutal abduction of 222 people, including over 20 infants, many without their parents, and more than 30 elderly men and women.
Their ages range from early childhood to 90 and quite a few are not Israeli. Many of them are in life-threatening condition, requiring immediate medical attention and life-saving medication due to illness, injury or disability. A number of them suffer from pre-existing medical conditions such as dementia, autism, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and cancer.
The taking of hostages is defined as a war crime, including under the Rome Statute and indeed by every basic tenet of international law. The Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which entered into force in 2002, explicitly states that taking hostages in an international or internal conflict is a war crime, coming under ICC jurisdiction.
Furthermore, all available information indicates that many abductees were tortured by their captors, and as such, their brutal abduction also constitutes a crime against humanity. Pending their release, all efforts must be made by the international community to do their utmost to ensure access to the hostages and to provide them with essential health care.
The Indonesian Red Cross, one of the world's largest, can play a crucial role here. Perhaps unsurprisingly for an organization like Hamas, it is preventing the International Red Cross from gaining access to the hostages, but increased pressure on the ICRC from such a large branch as the Indonesian Red Cross may well be highly instrumental in facilitating a more forceful Red Cross approach to Hamas.
By no means does assistance to the hostages pending their release signify any political tendency whatsoever. It is purely humanitarian in nature. Given the enormous influence that Indonesia wields, its moderate approach to international issues and the respect it garners the world over, its leadership is uniquely poised to be of immense value in this humanitarian endeavor.
The families of these innocent hostages appeal urgently to the humanitarian values of the Indonesian leadership to do all in its power to facilitate the release of all the hostages and certainly, as a first stage, the infants, women and elderly, as well as ensuring provision of the much-needed medical assistance which is so vital.
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The writer is a former Israeli ambassador to Australia and a representative of The Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
