Palestine not religious issue

Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, stated that various issues concerning Palestine are not religious issues and efforts to defend Palestine are not just Indonesian interests.

"The issue of Palestine is not a religious issue. It is not just the interests of Indonesia to defend Palestine but the interest of all countries in the world," Marsudi said here on Monday.

The statement was conveyed by the Indonesian Foreign Minister at the seminar "Geo-Political and Geo-Economic Shift in Indo-Pacific Region and Indonesian Foreign Policy" in Jakarta.

According to her, defending Palestinians to fight for their rights and freedom is in the interest of all countries and stakeholders at the international arena. It reveals the importance of justice and humanity in the world, she noted.

Indonesia, along with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members, condemned the United States administration's decision that recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and planned to move its Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Earlier, President Donald Trump on Dec 6, 2017, suddenly reversed the policy that has been embraced by the United States for decades, by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Related to that, the Indonesian government made various diplomatic efforts to garner international support to defend the rights of the Palestinian people.

"One of the efforts is my visit to Brussels, Belgium, to meet the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. I received information from Mogherini that the EU also took the same position (with Indonesia) on the issue of Palestine," Marsudi explained.

She affirmed that the EU member states also did not support Trump's move.

"Furthermore, hopefully, we can gather more support for Palestine. Indonesia will always stand beside Palestinians. The Palestine issue is at the heart of Indonesia`s diplomacy, she asserted

Source: ANTARA