President Jokowi Calls on OIC to Unite in Resolving Gaza Crisis
President Joko Widodo attends OIC Extraordinary Summit held at KAICC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday (11/11). (Photo: Bureau of Press, Media, and Information of Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to unite and be at the forefront in resolving the ongoing crisis in Palestine’s Gaza.
The President made the statement in his remarks at the OIC Extraordinary Summit held at King Abdulaziz International Convention Center (KAICC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday (11/11).
“The OIC must stand united and be at the forefront in optimizing all avenues of peaceful settlement, exerting every influence, and making all diplomatic efforts in the defense of justice and humanitarian causes for Palestine,” President Jokowi said.
President Jokowi also extended his support to the convening of an OIC Summit, which is deemed most appropriate, while underscoring that the OIC must be able to produce concrete results in order to immediately bring an end to Israeli atrocities perpetrated in Gaza.
“Within a period of one month, atrocities were perpetrated with the world seemingly truly incapable of being helpful. With more than 7.9 billion world inhabitants and more than 190 Heads of State, up to the present, not even a single party has been able to halt the atrocities,” he said.
To that end, President Jokowi proposed four concrete suggestions before the Islamic State Leaders.
First, a ceasefire must be implemented.
“Without ceasefire, the situation will only worsen. Israel has repeated the narrative of ‘self-defense’ and continues to commit the murders of civilians. This is, without a doubt, a collective punishment. We must all find a way so Israel implements a ceasefire,” he said.
Second, humanitarian aid distribution must be expedited and reach more areas.
According to the President, the OIC must suggest an aid distribution mechanism that is more predicable and sustainable considering that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is very dire.
“The humanitarian situation is truly dire. For instance, the Indonesian hospital in North Gaza continues to be the target of Israeli attacks and it has run out of fuel as of yesterday. Indonesia strongly urges all parties to respect international humanitarian law,” he said.
Third, the OIC, at all levels, must demand accountability from Israel for the atrocities committed with complete disdain to humanitarian concerns.
For instance, the OIC must urge that the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory established by the UN Human Rights Council be given access to carry out its mandate.
“And we must continue to support the process of advisory opinion at the International Court,” the President added.
Fourth, the OIC must urge that peace negotiations be immediately resumed with a view to establishing the two-state solution and reject the discourse of a one-state solution.
The President considered that the one-state solution will only disenfranchise Palestine.
“In the event that the quartet mechanism is no longer viable, the OIC must encourage the process of peace negotiations with a new format, and Indonesia stands ready to contribute to such peace negotiations,” he said.
President Jokowi also called for the support of OIC Leaders to submit the results of the OIC Extraordinary Summit to the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
“From Riyadh, I have been scheduled to pay a bilateral visit to the United States of America. With the approval of the Leaders, I shall apprise President Biden with the results of today’s OIC Summit,” he remarked. (Photo: Bureau of Press, Media, and Information of Presidential Secretariat/UN)(AW/EP)
