Medan, Indonesia – Indonesian President Joko Widodo is in the US this week for a summit with President Joe Biden on the White Home, and later to attend the thirtieth Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, amid the persevering with Israel-Gaza warfare.
The go to has prompted questions on whether or not Widodo, popularly often known as Jokowi, will name for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The difficulty is especially heated because the Indonesia Hospital, positioned in north Gaza, has been encircled by Israeli forces.
The hospital was in-built 2011 with donations from Indonesian residents and organisations, together with the Indonesian Pink Cross Society and the Muhammadiyah Society, certainly one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisations. It was formally inaugurated in 2016 by the then-Indonesian vice chairman, Jusuf Kalla.
Three Indonesian volunteers with the Indonesian humanitarian organisation the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), which organised the donations to construct the hospital, are at the moment primarily based in north Gaza.
Nevertheless, regardless of the grim scenario within the besieged enclave, specialists informed Al Jazeera that Widodo was possible to make use of the go to to the White Home to debate a variety of points.
“He will likely discuss several matters related to investment and trade, especially related to the relocation of the capital and critical minerals such as nickel, downstreaming and the production of electric vehicles in Indonesia,” stated Ahmad Rizky M Umar, an affiliate lecturer on the College of Queensland.
![Joko Widodo examining aid meant for Gaza at the airport. The aid is on pallets and ready to be lifted into the plane. Widodo is accompanied by his foreign minister](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/33ZT64G-highres-1699842973.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
Commerce and funding
As an outgoing president whose second, and last, time period in workplace will finish subsequent 12 months, Widodo is more likely to be involved with securing his legacy and shoring up present initiatives already within the works, reminiscent of plans to relocate 1.5 million of Jakarta’s 11 million residents to East Kalimantan below the brand new capital metropolis challenge estimated to price some $32bn.
Umar added that Widodo would most likely additionally focus on Indonesia’s membership of the Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Improvement (OECD), which could make it extra engaging to buyers given the organisation’s dedication to greatest practices, as Southeast Asia’s largest financial system seems to lure extra US entrepreneurs.
“He will also probably discuss the elevation of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the United States into a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’,” Umar stated.
In keeping with the White Home, the theme for this 12 months’s APEC is “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All” with the intention of constructing “an interconnected, innovative and inclusive” area and advancing “a free, fair and open economic policy agenda that benefits US workers, businesses and families”.
APEC was established in 1989 and has 21 members together with Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the US and Vietnam, comprising practically 3 billion folks and contributing 62 p.c to the world’s gross home product (GDP), whereas controlling nearly half of all world commerce.
Indonesia itself can also be a significant rising financial system which some estimate might rank within the prime 5 economies globally by the center of the century.
Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer in worldwide relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Bandung, informed Al Jazeera that, whereas Widodo may point out Palestine, it might not be the primary subject of dialog.
The US has backed Israel since Hamas launched a shock wave of assaults on October 7 killing not less than 1,200 folks and taking not less than 200 extra captive.
After the assault, Israel declared warfare on Hamas and has subjected Gaza, dwelling to some 2.3 million folks, to relentless bombardment.
Greater than 11,000 folks have been killed.
“I think he will focus on the economy and wider Indonesian relations with the United States. He is not the kind of leader who will get on his soapbox with America. He will want to make sure that relations with the United States are running smoothly,” he stated.
“He will be focused on what Indonesia can gain from the visit and not spend too much time on other issues. It will be a transactional meeting.”
An open letter to Widodo
Nevertheless, a lot as Widodo might need to deal with financial issues, the thorny concern of the Indonesia Hospital is more likely to be tough to disregard.
“I suspect he will talk about Palestine, especially regarding humanitarian aid and a ceasefire, because Israel itself has accused the Indonesia Hospital of being a Hamas hideout,” College of Queensland lecturer Umar stated.
Final week, Israel accused the Indonesia Hospital of harbouring Hamas fighters in tunnels below the constructing.
Indonesia’s overseas ministry rejected the allegations, saying that the Indonesia Hospital was to “fully” serve Palestinians.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation with 207 million of its 270 million folks following Islam. The nation doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and there’s no Israeli embassy in Indonesia.
Indonesian residents and the federal government have lengthy been seen as sympathetic to the Palestinian trigger – a whole lot of hundreds have taken to the streets of Jakarta in current weeks to name for a ceasefire – however there have been periodic makes an attempt to thaw relations with Israel, together with below former President Abdurrahman Wahid.
On November 11, MER-C issued an open letter to Widodo, calling on him to make use of his go to to the White Home to “save the Indonesia Hospital”.
“Today marks the 36th day of the world witnessing indiscriminate aggression, murder, and mass slaughter of civilians in the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom are women and children […] all hospitals in the Gaza Strip, have fallen victim to the brutality of the Israeli military,” the letter stated.
It added that the Indonesia Hospital was making an attempt to function amid complete darkness and a scarcity of medicines.
MER-C continued that it hoped that Widodo would increase the problem of the hospital throughout his assembly with Biden, and “exert pressure on the world, especially the United States, to immediately initiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and save the Indonesia Hospital from Israeli attacks”.
“Will the world and our Indonesian nation continue to remain silent in the face of this?” the letter stated.