Indonesia Reiterates Share of Responsibility to End Occupation of Palestine during NAM Meet

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi reminded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of its ‘unfinished business’ to shoulder the responsibility to free the Palestinian people.

This was brought up by Retno during the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was chaired by Azerbaijan, in New York on Saturday, Sept. 24.

“Over the past week, we have touched on the issue of global crisis a lot. However, one thing that must not be overlooked is our shared commitment to Palestine. Liberating Palestine from occupation is our ‘joint debt’,” Retno told the meeting as stated in a press statement issued on Monday, Sept. 26.

Indonesia is proud to be able to stand at the forefront of fighting for Palestinian independence. Indonesia reiterated our unwavering commitment to supporting the two-state solution, she said.

Also read: Indonesia FM to Non-Aligned Movement: ‘We All Still Owe Palestine Independence’

The minister said that the Palestinian issue remains on the agenda of the NAM countries as many problems are still unresolved.

“There is a gap between NAM’s commitments and the outcome. We don’t walk the talk, we only talk without doing anything,” she said.

The minister urged NAM to play a bigger role in encouraging the start of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process as NAM has 120 member states, constituting 60 percent of the votes in the UN.
“This will obviously make a difference. Besides, currently, five NAM countries are non-permanent members of the UN Security Council,” she said.

She called on the NAM countries to close ranks, unifying the stance to promote peace for the Palestinians, given the ongoing violence that can hinder the process.

Also read: Indonesia Thanks International Community for Backing Palestine

“With 139 countries having recognized Palestine as a state, we [NAM] must continue to fight for Palestinian independence until it is achieved.”

The NAM meeting was held on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Indonesia was one of the pioneers of the establishment of the NAM, which was inspired by the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung.

(Writer: Fika Nurul Ulya | Editor: Novianti Setuningsih)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2022/09/26/10565321/menlu-retno-membebaskan-palestina-dari-penjajahan-adalah-utang-kita-bersama.