SBY's proposed side visit to Israel

Emanuel Shahaf's reasoning behind President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's proposed side visit to Israel whom the former claims would represent the views of the world's biggest Muslim country on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (The Jakarta Post, July 19: Susilo should visit Israel too) is merely an oversimplification of facts and argument.

One fact that needs to be understood is that even though the majority of Indonesians embrace Islam most are overwhelmingly nationalistic and secularistic rather than theocratic. Indonesia has never pursued a policy that is discriminative toward any country's social, religious or political affiliation, for it had in the past -- until the present -- advocated a policy of non- alignment and non-discrimination.

As the world experienced a heated debate concerning "religious extremism" post the September 11 bombings in New York, Indonesia was swift enough to distance itself from the discourse by stressing that acts of terror neither reflect nor represent a particular religion.

Palestine's continuing struggle for a separate and free homeland is solid evidence that independence transcends religious values for it is the most basic right of any nation as indicated in the recent Declaration of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership in April this year.

Indonesia is indeed a mainstay of Islamic moderation, progress and democracy. Nevertheless, Indonesia cannot simply ignore the voices of freedom in Palestine. Therefore, the real issue is about foreign occupation and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

KAMAPRADIPTA I. Jakarta