Indonesia Hails Palestinian "Birth Certificate" of Independence

By Fardah Assegaf Jakarta - Out of the 193 United Nations member states, 138 countries responded positively after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the UN General Assembly to issue its long overdue "birth certificate" for the Palestinian state at the UN Headquarters in New York on November 29. "Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel. The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," Abbas told the Assembly, as quoted by Reuters. The assembly voted 138 in favour, with only nine against and 41 abstentions. At least 17 European nations, such as Austria, France, Italy, Norway and Spain, voted in favour of Palestine, while Czech Republic, the United States, Israel, Canada, Panama and the tiny Pacific Island states of Nauru, Palau and Micronesia voted against it. Palestine was implicitly recognised by the UN as a sovereign state, after the voting led to the upgrade of the Palestine's observer status at the UN to "non-member state", which was previously "entity". The move was strongly opposed by Israel and the US. However, many nations, including Indonesia, hailed the UN decision and congratulated Palestine for its diplomatic victory. "The decision is historic for the realization of a two-state vision, where Palestine and Israel could live side by side peacefully," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said in New York, on November 30. "Indonesia hailed the UN general assembly's recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state status, and the country will continue to support Palestine's bid for UN full membership," he stated. "Indonesia, a co-sponsor of Palestine's UN membership bid resolution at the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, believes that Palestine's full membership is consistent with the two-state solution vision," he continued. "Alhamdulillah (Thank God), our efforts have yielded positive results and helped Palestine become an observer state at the UN. However, the work is not finished yet, of course," Marty pointed out. "We will continue our joint efforts with other countries to support Palestine's UN full membership bid," he said. With Palestine's upgraded status at the UN, Marty expressed hope that the international community would stop Israel from violating international laws in the occupied Palestinian territories. He also called on all countries to recognise Palestinian as an independent nation. "Indonesia will never recognize Israel's sovereignty as long as Palestine has not gained its independence and UN full membership status," the minister stated. "We will talk about the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel only after there is an independent Palestinian state," he said. In his speech at the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Marty expressed optimism that UN would accept the Palestinian application for full member state status. He said the international community must take concrete steps to help Palestinians gain independence and sovereignty. "The time has come for the international community to set things right. No longer can the world turn a blind eye to the long sufferings of the Palestinian people, the denial of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, the obstruction of their rights to self determination and to independence," the minister noted. Marty also noted that despite the "enormous barriers erected by the occupying power" in the Palestine, the Palestinians had diligently and resolutely developed their capacity to function as an independent state. "We believe that an independent state of Palestine, with equal rights and responsibilities as those of other states, will contribute to the attainment of lasting peace in the Middle East," he added. Marty warned that the "cycle of indiscriminate violence and disproportionate use of force" in Gaza served as a serious reminder of the need for an earnest resumption and acceleration of the peace process. "Therefore, in order to create conditions conducive to that process a few things need to be done: illegal settlement activities should be stopped and the Gaza blockade needs to be lifted, through which the inhumane policy of collective punishment can come to an end. There is a need, too, for resumption of peaceful dialogue between the rival Palestinian factions," he added. "By according the observer state status to the State of Palestine, the world is signalling the primacy of diplomacy and rejection of violence," Marty continued. "We are making a strong statement on the need for mutual respect among nations. We are placing faith in the principle of universality of membership of the United Nations," he stated. "We are beginning to redress a festering historic injustice and reaffirm that all of humankind, including the long-suffering people of Palestine, is entitled to human rights and fundamental freedoms," Marty noted. The injustice against the Palestinian people was also pointed out earlier by the Foreign Affairs Ministry's director general for public diplomacy and information, Abdurachman Fachir, who stated that Indonesia would encourage all governments to support Palestine. "We continue to encourage the international community to be fairer and be more democratic in dealing with the Palestinian issue," Fachir said on the last day of the 5th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in Bali, last month. He noted that the current global governance system had not been able to provide justice to the Palestinians, who have been desperate to be recognised by the international community as an independent state. The crisis in Palestine was one of the many issues being addressed by the several heads of state who attended the BDF, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganyang. The heads of state discussed the Palestine issue during a session on "Global Governance Contributions to Peace and Security," which was moderated by Institute for Peace and Democracy founder Hasan Wirajuda. During the discussion, the heads of state said global governance should be reformed, enabling effective action in dealing with humanitarian issues, such as the one in Palestine. "However, we did not specifically discuss the mobilization of support for Palestinians. We further discussed issues that were in accordance with the theme," Fachir explained. In November 2011, Palestine was granted full membership of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with a 107-14 vote and 52 abstentions. As a staunch supporter of Palestine's struggle for independence, Indonesia was a co-sponsor of Palestine's bid for UNESCO membership as well. (*)