"Having a representative office in Palestine is urgent.
Moreover, now the momentum is right and must be responded to by speeding up the representative office opening," Mahfudz said here on Monday.
The current momentum is positive since Hamas and Fatah have united to build Palestine. Therefore, Indonesia must respond quickly, he stated.
"It might not be an embassy, because the process to become an independent state is quite long. So, it`s enough by initiating a representative office, such as for culture and trade," he added.
The office could be located in the city of Ramalah in the West Bank, Mahfudz said.
Also, the opening of the representative office has nothing to do with the absence of diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Israel, he noted.
"Although it`s under the Israeli authority, it has nothing to do with Israel. Indonesia`s support of the independence of Palestine must be demonstrated by opening a representative office, not just with talk," he added.
The obligation to free Palestine from colonialism is in line with the preamble of the 1945 Constitution and then-president Soekarno, who said that Palestine was the only remaining colonized nation on Earth, Mahfudz said.
Further, Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene recently said Indonesia is looking forward to opening a representative office in Palestine.
"To be exact, what we have in mind is not an embassy, but just a representative office," Tene told newsmen.
He said the foreign ministry was studying how to open a representative office in Palestine, since Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
"That is the problem, because Palestinian land is still being occupied by Israel," he said.
Tene added that the foreign ministry would continue seeking a way to open an office in Palestine, specifically in Ramallah.
(Uu.F001/INE)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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