Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah emphasized that the participation of the Israeli national team in the U-20 World Cup, which will be hosted by Indonesia, will not shake RI’s support for Palestine.
“The Indonesian government’s position on the Palestinian issue will never change and is very consistent. Indonesia is one of the few countries that continues to consistently support the struggle of the Palestinian people,” Faizasyah said at a media briefing in Jakarta, Friday.
Indonesia’s support for Palestine, he said, was emphasized during the visit of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to Jakarta on 24 October 2022.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi has also always voiced Indonesia’s support for Palestine in various international forums, including at the United Nations Security Council (UN), the UN Human Rights Council, as well as at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India recently.
“During the Human Rights Council meeting in early March, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs raised the issue of Palestine again, even though not many countries raised the issue of Palestine during the meeting,” said Faizasyah.
Regarding the technicalities of organizing the U-20 World Cup, the government has prepared all channels – political, diplomatic and security – to anticipate the pros and cons of Israel’s participation in the tournament.
The participation of the Israeli national team in the U-20 World Cup has reaped pros and cons. Several parties in Indonesia criticized Israel because of its conflict with Palestine.
Israel’s presence has become a hot topic of public discussion. Some believe that Indonesia does not support Palestine because it allowed Israel to appear in the world junior tournament.
The Israel U-20 national team has the right to appear at the 2023 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia after becoming a finalist for the 2022 U-19 European Cup.
The 2023 U-20 World Cup will be held in Indonesia from 20 May-11 June 2023.
To date, 20 countries out of a total of 24 have been confirmed to appear at the 2023 U-20 World Cup, namely Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, United States, Fiji, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, UK, France, Israel, Italy, Slovakia, Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. (mhn/bbs)
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