Indonesia Invites Jordan to Strengthen Diplomacy for Palestine Independence

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia has invited Jordan to strengthen its diplomatic fight for the independence of Palestine.

"The US unilateral statement about the status of Jerusalem will not change Indonesia`s strong diplomatic commitment to Palestine`s independence fight," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a bilateral meeting with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, at the latter`s office in Amman on Monday, according to a press release from her office.

The meeting, which was part of Indonesia`s diplomatic efforts for Palestine, discussed preparations for the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) scheduled in Turkey on Dec 13, following US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital and plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to that city.

The two foreign ministers also coordinated with regard to diplomatic steps they would take to fight for the status of Jerusalem and Palestine`s independence.

The coordination is important because the King of Jordan is the guardian of the holy sites in Jerusalem, representative of international interests over the holy sites, and regulates the waqaf service in Jerusalem.

At the meeting, Marsudi also conveyed President Joko Widodo`s condemnation over the US unilateral move, which puts the peace process between Israel and Palestine at stake.

She stated that the international community must stick to the UN status quo decision over Jerusalem.

"We all have moral responsibility to stop injustice being faced by the Palestinian people," she added.

In view of that, she had invited Jordan to strengthen the diplomatic fight, bilaterally or multilaterally, to prevent other countries from following the US action.

She also invited Jordan to take steps to convince countries that have not yet recognized Palestine`s independence to immediately do it.

She remarked that the support to Palestine must be demonstrated not only politically but also concretely by increasing humanitarian aid, economic assistance, and capacity building.

She noted that Jokowi will attend the upcoming OIC summit to demonstrate the importance of the Palestinian issue for the Indonesian people as well as the Indonesian government`s commitment to support Palestine`s independence.

"There will be no just and eternal peace in the Middle East unless there is Palestine`s independence," she revealed.

She stated that public expectation in OIC member countries over the result of the summit was high and, therefore, OIC must be able to unite in defending Palestine.  (WDY)