STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana, who said Israel was angry and vengeful after the unexpected Hamas attack. Indonesia, in its proactive effort in pressing for a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, must also garner support from other countries, including members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), ASEAN, and non-aligned nations. “And most importantly, we must lobby the United States so that they do not support the Israeli government’s cruel actions,” he added.
House Bilateral Cooperation Group (GKSB) for Palestine Chair Syahrul Aidi Maazat appreciated the extraordinary supports of Indonesian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Palestine.
Syahrul said these NGOs have been very active in carrying out humanitarian activities in Palestine. He met with Aqsa Working Group on Wednesday who asked for the House support in their efforts for Palestinian solidarity programs.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued seven tausiah or messages, in response to the Israeli military attacks in Gaza, Palestine. MUI Fatwa Commission Chair Asrorun Niam Sholeh said that the MUI invited Muslims to hold Gaib prayers for the victims in Palestine after Friday prayers. In its statement, the MUI called for stopping all forms of violence including wars that will not end and called on both parties to carry out a ceasefire.
MUI stated it supports all forms of Palestinian efforts to be independent and sovereign in order to realize a just and civilized sense of humanity and supports peace efforts which is based on the UN resolution on a two-state solution.
According to Suzanne Maloney, Vice President of the Brookings Institute and Director of its Foreign Policy Program, the shocking Hamas assault on Israel has precipitated a beginning and an end for the Middle East. What has begun, almost inexorably, is the next war—one that will be bloody, costly, and agonizingly unpredictable in its course and outcome. What has ended, for anyone who cares to admit it, is the illusion that the United States can extricate itself from a region that has dominated the American national security agenda for the past half century.
One can hardly blame the Biden administration for trying to do just that. Twenty years of fighting terrorists, along with failed nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq, took a terrible toll on American society and politics and drained the U.S. budget. Having inherited the messy fallout from the Trump administration’s erratic approach to the region, President Joe Biden recognized that U.S. entanglements in the Middle East distracted from more urgent challenges posed by the rising great power of China and the recalcitrant fading power of Russia.
Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi is to continue to communicate with foreign ministers of friendly countries to find solution to conflict between Palestinian fighter group Hamas and the Israeli military.
“Indonesia and a number of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) countries propose an immediate Special Ministerial Meeting,” said a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry on X, the social media formerly known as Twitter.
If planned, the OIC Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 18. “The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister will fly directly from Beijing to attend the meeting,” the statement continued.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry Middle Eastern Affairs Director Bagus Hendraning Kobarsyih told VOA that the United States’ decision to send two aircraft carriers to aid Israel was an excessive use of force. He believes that U.S. involvement in supporting Israel will make ending the conflict even more difficult.
He emphasized that the United States should act as a mediator to ease tensions. He referred to a statement issued by the Chinese government, which stated unequivocally that injustice had occurred for Palestine and that no party had attempted to address the issue seriously.
Indonesia still imports a number of goods from Israel, even though there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Acting Chair Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said the value of imports from Israel reached $14.4 million (IDR226.08 billion) from January to September 2023.
She explained that mechanical equipment and parts, base metal tools and equipment, and electrical equipment and parts were the main commodities imported from Israel. Meanwhile, the value of Israel’s imports to Indonesia in 2020 was $56.5 million, $26.5 million in 2021, and $47.8 million in 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden will make a high-stakes visit to Israel as it prepares to escalate an offensive against Hamas militants that has set off a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran.
Biden’s visit will mark a significant show of U.S. support for its top Middle East ally after Hamas gunmen killed 1,300 people during a rampage through southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7, the deadliest single day in Israel’s 75-year history.
America’s intense war-time diplomacy is so far failing to sway Arab countries in the Middle East — and President Joe Biden’s planned visit to the region may not help. In recent days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been nearly ghosted by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and given a bizarre history lesson by Egypt’s ruler. U.S. officials have been unable to get most Arab leaders to denounce Hamas for the Palestinian militant group’s brutal attack on Israel or make statements supporting Israel’s military response.
President Jokowi at the 6th National Working Meeting of Projo volunteers at Bung Karno Sports Complex said the war that has erupted again between Israel and Palestine is worsening the world situation, which is currently facing food and energy crises.
He forewarned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could result in an energy crisis, which would raise gasoline prices all over the world, following the Russo-Ukrainian War’s food crisis. He further noted that apart from the two problems, the world is facing the big challenge of climate change, whose impact has been felt by humans in various parts of the world.
Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said that the Indonesian government unequivocally supports the Palestinian people’s struggle for independence. According to Prabowo, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has escalated for the past week. As a result, Prabowo hopes that the conflict between the two countries will end soon and that negotiations will start.
Indonesia-Palestine Friendship Initiative (PPIP) Chair Din Syamsuddin said that Israel’s plan to attack Gaza and expel millions of Palestinians from their homes would spark a regional and even global war.
“The double standard of the United States supporting Israel by providing arms and aircraft carriers and President Vladimir Putin’s firm stance in supporting the freedom of Palestinians with the capital Jerusalem have the potential to trigger a new world war,” he added.
The Indonesian Coalition to Defend Baitul Maqdis (KIBBM) held a solidarity action with the Palestinian community on the grounds of the Al Azhar Mosque in Jakarta. This action was carried out to show solidarity with Palestinians facing conflict with Israel. They urged the Indonesian government to demonstrate its concrete attitude toward Palestine, which is frequently expressed in various domestic and international forums.
Two thousand people took to the streets heading to Gladak Roundabout, Solo, to show their support for Palestine, waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags. Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School leader Abu Bakar Ba’asyir also took part and gave a speech at the rally attended by a number of members of Islamic organizations and students of the boarding school.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Chair for Foreign Relations and International Cooperation Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim said that Israel’s actions against Palestine met the criteria for being a force of imperialism, colonialism, and systemic terrorism.
He explained that he considered Israel to be a systemic terrorist force because it oppressed Palestine from 1948 to the present. In addition, he claimed that Israel had confiscated Palestinian residential areas by forcibly evicting them and establishing Israeli settlements in those areas.
Press Council Chair Ninik Rahayu said the council highlighted the rampant coverage of Hamas’ attacks on Israel’s colonization of Palestinians. In recent days, there have been complaints questioning the accuracy, dramatization, stigmatization, or negative labeling of certain groups. “This happens, because the news content uploaded, or broadcast is detached from the context of the event. And the root of the problem, such conditions generally do not come from the live/field coverage,” Ninik said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman to discuss the fallout from Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, especially repercussions in the occupied West Bank.
Blinken reiterated “the United States’ unequivocal condemnation of the abhorrent terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel” and “detailed U.S. efforts to coordinate with partners to prevent the conflict from widening,” per a readout.
The U.S. Department of Defense ordered the deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group (CSG) to the Eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Gerald R. Ford strike group that had arrived a day earlier…
In response to that, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Middle East Director, Bagus Hendraning Kobarsyih told VOA that the act of sending two aircraft carriers to help Israel was an excessive use of force.
