Jakarta (ANTARA) - Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Bambang Soesatyo emphasized Indonesia's stance in supporting the struggle for Palestinian independence.
He also said Indonesia is grateful that support for Palestine is increasing. By June 2024, 145 countries out of 193 UN countries have recognized Palestine as a country.
"Increased support has also come from European countries, where 12 out of 27 European countries have recognized the state of Palestine," he remarked after meeting former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh here on Sunday.
Soesatyo noted that Indonesia consistently advocates for parliamentary diplomacy to encourage recognition of Palestinian sovereignty by Asian countries, especially ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
In July 2024, Indonesia and Malaysia initiated the formation of the Southeast Asian Parliamentary Forum for Palestinian Independence.
Meanwhile, in multilateral forums, Palestine has been officially recognized as a non-member observer state of the UN through a UN General Assembly resolution since 2012, with Indonesia as a co-sponsor.
"It shows symbolic and strategic significance for Palestine, as an international recognition of the existence of the Palestinian state. Since September 30, 2015, the Palestinian flag has also officially flown at the UN Headquarters in New York, thanks to the support of the majority of UN member states, including Indonesia," the speaker pointed out.
He mentioned that efforts through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) forum were also made by Indonesia to end Israel's military aggression in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
On November 11, 2023, President Joko Widodo attended the Extraordinary Joint Arab League-OIC Summit in Riyadh, agreeing on resolutions that included urging immediate humanitarian aid, encouraging an investigation into Israeli actions, and granting a mandate to the Indonesian foreign minister as one of the special envoys of the Arab League-OIC Commission to initiate the peace process.
As a follow-up to the summit, the special envoys paid diplomatic visits to the Permanent Member States of the UN Security Council on November 20-22, 2023, including China, Russia, UK, and France.
“They also met with several high-ranking leaders of international organizations such as the UN Secretary-General, WHO Director-General, ICRC President, and High Commissioner for Human Rights," Soesatyo said.
On March 5, 2024, Indonesia participated in the OIC Extraordinary Foreign Ministerial Conference and succeeded in urging the continuation of UN funding assistance for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, supporting the lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice filed by South Africa, and rallying international support for Palestine's membership in the UN.
He emphasized that all Indonesians are rooting for the conflict in Palestine to end and for Palestine to achieve full sovereignty with development in all fields.
Present at the meeting were the Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair Alshun and the International Relations Department of the Palestinian Fatah Group Zayoud Faraj.
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Translator: Genta Tenri M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
