"The incident in Ramallah has revealed Israel's stand to the world more vividly and with greater clarity as a state or an entity that refuses to face reality," Natalegawa said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Israel`s refusal to allow five foreign ministers -- from countries that are part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) -- to enter Ramallah for a meeting will reinforce the country`s negative stance in the international community, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday.

Israeli authorities did not allow Natalegawa, along with others to attend a NAM ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in Ramallah, Palestine on August 5.

"The incident in Ramallah has revealed Israel's stand to the world more vividly and with greater clarity as a state or an entity that refuses to face reality," Natalegawa said.

He added that Israel has acted in an arbitrary manner by deliberately complicating the interactions between the Palestinians, the international community and NAM member countries, who had gathered to discuss Israel's occupation of Palestine.

Israel refused to allow entry to foreign ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cuba, and Algeria because they do not recognize Israel's sovereignty.

The meeting in Ramallah was expected to set the agenda for the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit scheduled to be held in Tehran, Iran, in late August, Natalegawa said.

The NAM foreign ministers agenda also included a visit to the Palestinian territories in order to directly assess the ground situation in the country.

"This rejection by Israel will create a new momentum for demands made by Indonesia and other NAM member countries to the UN seeking an improvement of Palestine's status," Natalegawa said.

He added that Indonesia remains committed in its support for Palestinian statehood, and will try to help the country in its efforts towards "capacity building" in various fields.

Around 1,000 Palestinians are being trained under this programme, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

At present, 400 people have been trained, and more need similar training.

International political observer Ludiro Madu said that Israel's inflexible stance will only strengthen Indonesia and NAM members' support and commitment for Palestine.

"Israel's refusal to allow entry can be used by NAM member countries to raise support for Palestine's membership of the United Nations (UN) and other international or multilateral organizations," Madu said.

The Foreign Affairs minister can improve diplomatic communications with NAM member countries and their collective efforts can strengthen and expand NAM's commitment to not only the Palestinian issue, but for Syria and the ethnic Rohingya community in Myanmar.

We need to keep in mind that society plays the part of a non-state actor in international relations, so we need to act constructively and express solidarity for the Palestinian struggle in a way that is not counter-productive to NAM's struggle, Madu said.

He added that Indonesia being a democracy with the world's largest Muslim population had to take an active position in the fight for the rights of Palestinians in the NAM and at other global forums(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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