PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MAKES LOW-KEY VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 006802

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2014
TAGS: PREL KPAL ID IS
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MAKES LOW-KEY VISIT
TO INDONESIA

REF: A. JAKARTA 6491 (PA MINISTER VISIT)

B. JAKARTA 6510 (PA MINISTER VISIT DEMARCHE)

Classified By: Political Officer John Rath. Reason: 1.4 (D).


1. (SBU) Summary: In a May 26 visit to Indonesia, Palestinian
Authority Foreign Minister Mahmud Al-Zahar elicited
statements of support for Palestinian statehood from GOI
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other senior GOI
officials. After meeting with his Palestinian counterpart,
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told the media that the GOI
would provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians but did not
specify either the type of assistance or the channel through
which it would be provided. Wirajuda also stated that the
GOI was looking into the feasibility of establishing a
representative office in Palestinian territory, and announced
that PA President Mahmoud Abbas would visit Indonesia in
June. Al-Zahar later met briefly with parliamentary leaders,
and reportedly accepted a check from officials of the
Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) totaling
approximately USD 260,000 that had been collected from
private donations. In marked contrast to the recent
bombastic barnstorming tour of Jakarta by Iranian President
Ahmadi-Nejad, Al-Zahar's visit was brief and low-key, with
minimal public grandstanding and scant media coverage. End
Summary.

Formal Meetings and Little Else
--------------


2. (SBU) Announced as a three-day visit, Al-Zahar's
Indonesian visit was subsequently trimmed to a single day to
accommodate subsequent visits to Brunei and Malaysia.
According to Wirajuda's post-visit press briefing and written
GOI-PA joint declaration, Al-Zahar and Yudhoyono's meeting
focused on Indonesia's support for Palestinian statehood and
the GOI's "keenness" to play a role in supporting Palestinian
aspirations. Wirajuda stated that Yudhoyono pledged
humanitarian aid to Palestinians but specified neither the
amount of such aid nor the channel through which it would be
provided. After stating that the GOI was looking into the
feasibility of establishing a representative office in
Palestinian territory, Wirajuda expressed support for "the
Palestinian National Dialogue initiated by PA President
Mahmoud Abbas" and announced that Abbas would visit Indonesia
in June. Wirajuda also stated that he had encouraged
Al-Zahar to seek statehood by "continuing the existing peace
process." In sharp contrast to the recent visit to Indonesia
by Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad, media coverage of
Al-Zahar's meetings was minimal and Yudhoyono did not conduct
a joint press conference with him.


3. (SBU) Also unlike the Ahmadi-Nejad visit, when the Iranian
President delivered several bombastic speeches before throngs
of adoring students and Muslim leaders, Al-Zahar's public
statements consisted only of brief impromptu remarks
delivered after attending a Friday noon congregational prayer
at Jakarta's main mosque. He later met with Parliamentary
leaders Agung Laksono and Hidayat Nur Wahid. Hidayat and
other PKS officials also met with Al-Zahar and reportedly
presented him a check totaling approximately USD 260,000 that
had been collected by PKS from private donors who wished to
show solidarity with the Palestinian people and their elected
government. The fund-raising effort was launched in April
during a large PKS rally outside the Embassy.

Comment
--------------


4. (C) The Palestinian cause has long had significant
emotional appeal in overwhelmingly Muslim Indonesia, and a
high-level GOI reception for Palestinian leaders - whether
Hamas or Fatah - plays well here, particularly among
politicized Muslims and students. Since taking office in
late 2004, Yudhoyono has remarked frequently (most recently
during a late-April trip to the Middle East to drum up Gulf
Arab investment) that Indonesia would like to play a greater
role in facilitating Middle East peace. Such vague
statements of interest, however, have not yet been followed
by concrete measures. The GOI understands that it has no
place at the Quartet table, and Yudhoyono's "Middle East
Envoy" Alwi Shihab was parked into the largely-ceremonial
post without an office or staff late last year as a

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face-saving sop after his sacking as Coordinating Social
Affairs Minister. Potential Indonesian mediation efforts
must also navigate treacherous shoals of public opinion, as
the subject of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel
remains taboo and Wirajuda's periodic pull-asides with his
Israeli counterpart at the UNGA and other international fora
inevitably result in media reports and howls of complaint
from a wide variety of political players, not all of whom
represent Islamic-oriented parties. We expect that the GOI
will lay on a bit more pomp and public exposure for PA
President Abbas when he comes to town in June.
PASCOE