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Indonesia could take more active role in brokering Palestine-Israel peace: Kalla
At a University of Indonesia discussion on the Palestine issue, the former vice president said he hoped the government would take a more active role in brokering peace between the two conflicting sides, which necessitated building ties with both Palestine and Israel.
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Former vice president Jusuf Kalla (JP/Seto Wardhana)
A
s Indonesia celebrated its 77th year of independence, former vice president Jusuf Kalla expressed his hope that the country would be more active in supporting Palestine’s struggle for independence, suggesting that it could do more to build ties between the conflicting parties.
In his keynote speech for a discussion on Palestine organized by the University of Indonesia School of Strategic and Global Studies (SKSG UI) on Friday, Kalla said Indonesia had primarily taken a diplomatic and political role in supporting the Palestinian cause, often publishing strong statements of support for Palestine.
He added that Indonesia had previously tried to take a more active role. In 1993, president Soeharto had invited Palestinian president Yasser Arafat to the State Palace, and invited Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to his private residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta.
Kalla said that another possibility for Indonesia to help broker peace between Palestine and Israel was by establishing trade ties with Israel. The suggestion was raised when he had met the Israeli trade minister during a World Trade Organization conference in the state of Washington in the United States.
Although Kalla did not specify the date of the WTO event and the identity of the Israeli minister in his speech, he was likely referring to the WTO conference held in Seattle in November 1999, which he had attended as the Industry and Trade Minister under then-president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.
While calling on the country to maintain its support for Palestine, Kalla said that brokering peace between the two conflicting sides necessitated establishing ties with both Palestine and Israel.
“It’s impossible to broker peace without understanding the two sides well. I myself did so,” he said.
