INDONESIA WELCOMES PALESTINE MEMBERSHIP IN ICC

Jakarta, 14 Jumadil Akhir 1436/3 April 2015 (MINA) – Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR), Fadli Zon, said Indonesian Parliament strongly supports and welcomes Palestine becoming a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Indonesia supports Palestinian independence struggle. We expect, Palestinians immediately receive the de facto and de jure recognition by the international community, “said Fadli Zon told Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) at the Parliament Building in Jakarta, Wednesday (1/4).

He also emphasized that Indonesia supports membership and recognition of Palestine in the international institutions.

Palestine becomes a member of the ICC with the original copy of the submission marked the Rome Statute (treaty which established the ICC) and the delivery of a speech on behalf of the Palestinians by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki, Wednesday (1/4).

Palestine has joined 41 international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol of the Convention, as well as the core international human rights agreements.

Palestinians have decided to pursue internationalization approach to achieve human rights of the Palestinian people that is long overdue and end decades of occupation, deprivation, forced displacement and massacres, including the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the occupied Gaza Strip in 2014.

Fadli Zon also welcomed the initiation of the Palestinian Declaration as one of the three main documents ini the results of the 60th  Asian-African Conference to be held in Indonesia, 19 to 24 April 2015.

According to him, it is as a form of strengthening the support for the liberation of Palestine and the end of the Israeli occupation that has been echoed in the international community.

“Every forums, events, and even on every international occasion that allows, we will consistently voiced support for Palestinian independence,” said Fadli Zon.

The Asian-African Summit was a conference between the countries of Asia and Africa, many of whom had just gained independence. Initially, Konferensi Asia Afrika (Asian-African Conference) 1955 held in Bandung. Indonesia initiated together with Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), India and Pakistan and coordinated by the Indonesian Foreign Minister Prof. Sunario that time.

The first meeting took place between 18-24 April 1955 at Gedung Merdeka, Bandung, with the aim of promoting economic and cultural cooperation between Asian and African countries and against colonialism or neocolonialism powers like United States, the Soviet Union, or other imperialist countries.

Palestine as the only country that was occupied to be a major focus of the meeting that will be held in two cities, Jakarta and Bandung later.

More Support

While the House of Representatives Commission III member in charge of law, human rights and security, Almuzzammil Joseph also said the Palestinians joining the ICC is a step forward as UN recognition for improving the status of Palestine in 2012.

According to him, the Palestinian membership in the ICC as pressure and public awareness of the world, thus the Palestinians will gain greater international attention to the Israeli human rights violations against them.

Chairman of Bilateral Cooperation Group (GKSB) Indonesia-Palestinian states Israeli crimes against Palestinians can be brought to the ICC.

Although it has officially become a member of the ICC, he continued, the Palestinians still have to wade through a long journey to be able to drag Israel to the ICC. It is because there is still a strong ally of the Zionist entity, the United States, which makes various UN resolutions and the international community to pressure Israel become so weak.

Meanwhile, Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction.

“The Palestinian move to drag Israel into an international court is not as easy as turning the palm of the hand. It must a step by step action. Palestine is already moving a step ahead, ” he said.

To that end, the Palestinian struggle must involve the intervention of the UN and the international community, particularly the Arab and Islamic countries.

He said, one of the forms of struggle of the Indonesian parliament to support Palestinian independence is to immediately deny the existence of the Israeli parliament in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to revoke the membership of the Israeli parliament in the world parliamentary organizations. The reason is because the Israeli arrest of Palestinian parliament members.

Almuzzammil expects, as SBY Government has done in supporting the Palestinians, Jokowi government should be more intense in the efforts to create an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

“The role of Indonesia government and parliament should be to voice support for Palestinian independence in international forums,” he said.

Indonesia’s efforts to support Palestinian independence manifested also in the rejection of any diplomatic relations with Israel.(L/P008/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)