JakartaPost-June 6, 2024
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has condemned Israel’s parliamentary bill seeking to label the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) as a terrorist group. Through the bill, which passed a parliamentary vote in the Israeli parliament on May 29, Israel accuses the agency of having militant links and hundreds of its staff of being involved in the militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 of last year. “The investigation has been done and such accusations were unproven,” Retno said during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission I overseeing foreign affairs in Jakarta on Wednesday. She referred to an investigation launched by UNRWA in January after Israel made the claim that some staffers were linked to the Hamas assault. The terrorist group label was part of Israel’s attempt to weaken the UN body systematically to turn the world’s attention away from the Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee their homes due to the war, the minister continued. “If no one talks about the refugees, the fleeing Palestinians will be forced to stay in their current place now and the issue of returning to the homeland is diminished,” she said.
Retno continued by arguing that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been working to dismiss the two-state solution offered by several parties in pushing for the end of the war. “The Palestinians’ right to have a sovereign country is systematically diminished by Israel.” Israel’s allegations of links to the militant group had led to a freeze in funding by many donors for UNRWA. After the UN agency launched an investigation to clarify the accusation, some countries resumed funding, although not the United States. The bill still needs to go through committees and three other votes before becoming law. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2024/06/06/indonesia-condemns-israeli-bill-labeling-unrwa-terror-group.html
