RI urged to be more active in settling Palestinian issue

Sharing the idea with Hamdan is Broto Wardoyon, an observer of Middle East Affairs of the University of Indonesia, who said that Indonesia`s role in trying to settle the Palestinian peace issue should be further improved.

"So far, Indonesia has only been giving moral support, without concrete action in solving the Palestine peace problem," Broto said.

Indonesia, which is only consistent in giving moral support to Palestine and opposing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in many occasions and international fora, has yet to make any significant contribution to the settlement of the Palestinian issue.

The basic problem of Indonesia`s policy in the peace process lies in the dialogues between the Islamic public and the secular government. Without solving the conflict of domestic interest, all efforts would be in vain.

He stressed that Indonesia could build a bridge for a dialogue between Hamas and Fatah in Palestine. However Indonesia, as the world`s largest archipelagic country, could take into account Arab aspirations from Eqypt, Saudi Arabia, Yordan and Syria, because they have strong links with this issue.