Philippines Should Carefully Weigh Policy on Israel

Posted by AsiaViews | Jan 2, 2018 | 0 |

Manila Times

27 Dec 2017
In an unsurprising move, the Philippines last week abstained from the United Nations General Assembly vote on the United States’ contentious decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The status of Jerusalem is a very clear faultline in international diplomacy. Jerusalem is of course considered by three religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – as a Holy City.

Politically, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs both claim it as their capital.

To be sure, US President Donald Trump’s historic decision has upended, if not ended, the Middle East peace process.

It should be pointed out however that the international condemnation of Trump’s decision is animated by a near-universal dislike of the billionaire ex-realtor and reality TV star, when any US president, Republican or Democrat, could have made the same decision given the historically close US-Israel ties.

Indeed, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a Jewish nation whose capital is not Jerusalem.

But the geopolitical context within which Trump made his decision has changed. Sympathy has shifted considerably away from Israel decades after it was able to convince the UN General Assembly to partition Palestine into separate states for Arabs and Jews.

Trump, for his part, was undoubtedly influenced by a desire to undo his predecessor Barack Obama’s foreign policy legacy, deemed weak by Republican conservatives, as well as by his culture-war crusade in which Obama and the Democrats are blamed for undermining America’s Judeo-Christian moorings in favor of religious and racial minorities.

On top of all this, the Philippines needed to consider the plight of its overseas workers, who are both in Israel and the Arab world.

It was therefore not a surprise that the Philippines abstained from the December 21 UN vote on the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Turkey and Yemen, which declared as “null and void” Trump’s decision on Jerusalem.

The bottom line nonetheless is that the Philippine abstention is a pro-US stance, or at the very least one that is acceptable to Washington.

The Philippines has generally toed the US line on Israel policy. In 1947, the newly independent republic, still dependent on American aid, was the only Asian country in the UN General Assembly to vote in favor of the Arab-Jewish partition.

The Philippines and Israel established full diplomatic relations 10 years later, and subsequently opened their respective embassies.

The question now is whether Manila will follow the US lead to move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and talks are said to be ongoing in this regard.

This will be a very tough decision for the Duterte administration, and one that should be weighed carefully, taking into account historical precedent and present realities.

(source: http://www.manilatimes.net/philippines-carefully-weigh-policy-israel/370803/)

About The Author

AsiaViews

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Neigborhood Watch

Subscribe To Newsletter

POINTS TO PONDER

EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Philippines Should Carefully Weigh Policy on Israel