Israel, the Land Grabbing State

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government's intention to contribute to world peace needs to be appreciated. Commitment to humanity and global peace is part of the constitutional mandate. However, it needs to be reminded, peace without recognition of colonialism is only a moral illusion that actually drags Indonesia away from the principles of justice and free-active foreign policy.

The political principle of "free and active" should not be reduced to mere diplomatic flexibility without an ethical foundation. Free does not mean value-free, and active does not mean active in all forums without moral selection. In the modern era, colonization is not always present in the form of direct military occupation, but often takes the form of international mechanisms that appear neutral, peaceful, and cooperative, but in fact perpetuate inequality and injustice.

The Board of Peace, inaugurated on January 22, 2026 in Davos and headed by Donald Trump, is designed as an international supervisory body to end the Gaza conflict and promote global peace. Its presence has sparked debate over whether this initiative really aims to prevent conflicts or manage them for the benefit of certain parties, none other than Israel.

BoP is not only led but also initiated by Donald Trump, a political figure from the United States who during his leadership openly showed full support for Israel. It is proven in the structure of BoP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually placed as an equivalent member, parallel to other countries. Israel is not positioned as an occupying power that must be held accountable, but as a neutral peace partner. And from this clear construction shows a serious and intolerable structural defect.

The Palestinian conflict is not a conflict of two equal parties, but rather a matter of occupation of territory, deprivation of rights, murder and systematic violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel. When Israel is placed as a subject of peace without first recognizing its status as an occupying crime perpetrator, then the forum has lost its moral footing from the start. According to the perspective of international justice, it is impossible to build a peace process by blurring the power relationship between the occupier and the occupied.

Deputy Chairman of the MUI, Cholil Nafis, asked President Prabowo Subianto to immediately withdraw from the Board of Peace (BoP). The senior NU firmly said that Indonesia's involvement as a country whose people are the majority of Muslims, in the Board of Peace does not show a firm bias towards Palestine.

Chairman of the MUI for Foreign Relations and International Cooperation, Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, even called the Board of Peace a new form of neocolonialism - a new style of colonization wrapped in the language of stability, peace, and global governance. This term of neocolonialism is important to be observed. If the Board of Peace only becomes a tool for legitimizing the status quo of Israel's colonization of Palestine, then Indonesia's involvement risks undermining the consistency of a free and active foreign policy that has long been the pride of the nation.

"Occupation is a form of injustice in Islam. Peace cannot be born from compromise on injustice. This principle is in line with universal human values and international law. Therefore, any peace initiative that does not explicitly make the end of the Israeli occupation and the recognition of Palestinian independence as the main prerequisite, in essence, only moves the problem, not solves it," he told VOI, Monday, February 2.

The heated public debate on the Board of Peace cannot be simplified into mere political pros and cons. What is at stake is much more fundamental: Indonesia's moral position in the face of history. MUI emphasizes one key principle - true peace does not arise from international forums alone, but from the courage to uphold justice. And as long as justice for Palestine has not been established, the Board of Peace - no matter how beautiful its name - will be difficult to believe as a

'Boneka' BoP Diplomat

The appointment of Nickolay Mladenov as director general of the "Board of Peace" and appointed by the United States, is tasked with overseeing the transition from the Hamas government to a new technocratic government led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The 53-year-old former foreign minister and defense minister of Bulgaria has also served as the UN's chief envoy to the Palestinian territories. Reported by Al Jazeera, Mladenov has earned a reputation as a firefighter who can talk to everyone.

The supervision of the transition mass that Mladenov received for the new technocratic committee led by Shaath seems to be just a lip service. The reason is that the technocratic committee will regulate the daily lives of two million Palestinians who are plagued by war, who have lost their family members, homes, hospitals, and schools due to Israel's endless bombing. Mladenov is unable to navigate the landscape where Israel controls the "buffer zone" in the eastern part of Gaza, more than 50 percent of the entire territory, and refuses to withdraw completely.

There is concern among humanitarian experts that Mladenov's mandate - which is tied to the high-level politics of the "Peace Council" - may be detached from the urgent needs of a starving population. The risk is an administrator focused on the future of "Davos" while the present is still trapped in disaster.

And finally, Mladenov's performance needs to be questioned as the director general of the Board of Peace (BoP) for Gaza affairs. At 10.00 am, Saturday (31/1/2026) Israeli jet planes again bombed several areas in Gaza.

The impact killed 32 Palestinians. Specifically in Gaza City, another airstrike hit an apartment building in the Remal neighborhood, west of the city. Emergency services reported at least five Palestinians were killed, including a mother and her three children. A relative of the victim, Samer al-Atbash, expressed deep sorrow over the incident. "Three girls died while they were sleeping. We found their bodies in the street," he said.

The spokesman for the Gaza civil defense, Mahmud Bassal, said that a number of civilian locations were targeted in the attack. "Residential apartments, tents, shelters, and a police station were targeted in the attack," he said as reported by AFP, Tuesday, January 3.

A resident, Nael al-Atbash, questioned the meaning of the ceasefire which he claimed was still in effect. "What ceasefire are you talking about? Everyone is deceiving each other," he said.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) assessed that the attack violated the current ceasefire agreement. "Indonesia strongly condemns Israel's repeated attacks in the Gaza Strip, including the latest attack on January 31, 2026, which targeted civilian areas and public facilities," wrote the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its official X account, Sunday (1/2).

The success of the Board of Peace is still questionable because of the contrast with the increase in Israeli attacks in Gaza. Currently, the BoP is seen more as an elitist transactional mechanism than a fair peace forum, making it vulnerable to being considered a tool of legitimacy of domination rather than a real conflict resolution.