April 15, 2025
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto has called out Western powers for their silence and inaction on the situation in Gaza, as Middle Eastern counties put up a united front to resist any plans to remove Palestinians from their homeland.
Gaza has been at the center of Prabowo’s ongoing Middle East tour, which has so far taken him to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar. Prabowo has met with leaders of these countries and discussed the conflict at the besieged Palestinian enclave, which has dragged on for a year and a half.
At the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Friday, Antalya time, Prabowo criticized the double standards of Western powers, saying that many of these countries have “fallen short in the eyes of the Global South” through their silence or inaction over Israel’s military action in Gaza.
“It is a wakeup call,” Prabowo said. “For decades, Western countries came to us and told us what we had to do — democracy, human rights […] Now when we see flagrant violations of human rights, every night on television, they [are silent].”
The President reiterated Indonesia’s long-standing support for Palestinian independence, calling the creation of two independent states of Palestine and Israel as the only viable path to lasting peace.
“We are trying to convince everybody that the only real, permanent solution will come through a two-state solution with an independent Palestine,” he said.
Prabowo went on to say the suffering in Gaza resonates deeply with Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country with fervent support for the Palestinian cause.
“My people see the suffering in Gaza as [their own],” he said. “[…] That’s why I must contribute what I can”.
To this end, Jakarta has sent a medical team to Gaza and more recently, proposed to bring a total of 1,000 injured Palestinians and orphaned children to Indonesia temporarily for treatment.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Friday’s forum, Prabowo emphasized that the arrangement would only be temporary and is in no way a permanent relocation.
“This is our offer to take part in helping out with the humanitarian crises and the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people. We want to do something,” Prabowo said.
Foreign Minister Sugiono elaborated further by saying that Indonesia would only push for the temporary evacuation of Palestinians under the condition that “every stakeholder and every country in the region” agreed on the proposal.
“We reject the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland under any pretext,” Sugiono said at a press conference of the diplomacy forum on Friday. “As a staunch supporter of Palestinian independence, Indonesia feels that we are ready to give any assistance should there be any need to do so”.
Sugiono was joined by top diplomats from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, who were all united in voicing their rejection of any plan to permanently relocate Palestinians and their support for a two-state solution.
In February, United States President Donald Trump said that the US plans to take ownership over Gaza and relocate its 2 million residents to other countries to establish what he called the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Back home, Prabowo’s evacuation plan garnered criticisms from some Muslim groups and observers, who said that it could make Jakarta complicit in displacing Palestinians.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Rolliansyah “Roy” Soemirat said on Sunday that Middle Eastern countries’ rejection of any plan to permanently displace Palestinians should not be construed into their rejection of Prabowo’s evacuation proposal, as talks to hash out the proposal are currently ongoing at both the presidential and ministerial levels.
“[Talks] are still in process because they need to involve all parties, including the various stakeholders abroad,” Roy told The Jakarta Post.
But international relations expert Teuku Rezasyah cast doubt that the evacuation proposal would garner any support among Middle Eastern countries, since it could lead to a slippery slope of more Palestinians being removed by Israel as part of its so-called “voluntary migration” push.
Even if the evacuation plan were to come to fruition, Teuku questioned whether Prabowo had made sufficient arrangements and preparations to ensure that Palestinian evacuees would be properly looked after.
“The only good thing to have come out of the proposal is that it could spur other countries who have so far been inactive or ‘all talk and no action’ to also come up with their own proposals to aid Palestinians,” Teuku said on Sunday.