Indonesia Remains Firm in Supporting Palestine: Minister Marsudi

TheIndonesia.id - Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi affirmed that Indonesia will continue to support the Palestinian people in the fight for justice and freedom. 

"Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi conveyed Indonesia's consistent stance toward Palestine that Indonesia will continue to stand with the Palestinian people to fight for justice and independence," a spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah noted in a statement here on Friday, December 24, 2021.

Faizasyah's statement came in response to the Israeli media reports that said the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was keen to normalize relations between Indonesia and Israel. "The topic of Israel was raised by Foreign Minister Blinken at a meeting with the Indonesian foreign minister during a visit to Jakarta," Faizasyah noted.

Earlier, the Israeli media reported that Blinken had raised the idea of normalizing Indonesia's relations with Israel at a meeting with senior Indonesian officials during a visit to Jakarta last week.

Blinken noted that four Arab countries had normalized relations with Israel. The four Arab countries are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.

However, Israeli officials, abreast of the discussions, believed that no breakthrough would be possible regarding the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo, in his first speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2020, affirmed that Indonesia will continue to stand with the Palestinian people until the day they gain independence.

“Indonesia consistently supports Palestine to claim its right,” the president stated.

The consistent stance against colonialism and occupation is in line with the mandate of Indonesia's 1945 Constitution in its Preamble, which states that colonialism must be abolished in this world.