House Members Of PAN Faction Want The Government To Make A Policy Of Boycotting Israeli Products: They Have No Power

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives Yandri Susanto wants the government to issue a policy of boycotting Israeli products and inviting citizens not to use a variety of Israeli products.

"We ask the government to boycott Israeli products. Their products should no longer enter Indonesia," said Yandri Susanto quoted from Antara, Monday, May 24.

Yandri also stressed that the government does not need to open diplomatic relations and regional talks with the Zionist state.

He suggested that Israel should be made a common enemy by all countries in the world because what the state has done to the Palestinians does not reflect human values.

"There is no compromise with Israel at any time. We ask the Government of the Republic of Indonesia not to open diplomatic relations with Israel," said the politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Earlier, President Joko Widodo strongly requested that Israeli aggression into Palestine be stopped immediately because until now it has caused hundreds of fatalities, including women and children.

As reported, protesters protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday, May 18, called on all Indonesians to boycott U.S.-made and Israeli products in defense of the Palestinian people's struggle in Gaza and the West Bank.

According to them, a boycott of the two countries' products should be carried out, as the U.S. is believed to support Israeli military attacks against Palestinians.

"Surely Israel has no power whatsoever. They felt strong and great because zionist forces were supported by the United States. U.S. political power, likes, and dislikes, are underpinned by its economic power. So, if we want to fight the Zionists of Israel and the U.S., no other way we should boycott its economic power," said DPP Vice Chairman of the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) Amin Ngabalin.

Indonesia and Israel still have trade relations, although the two have no official diplomatic relations.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics records that in Q1/2021, Indonesia imported 144 tons of goods from Israel worth USD1,785,870. Goods imported by Indonesia from Israel, including weapons parts/components; machine components; electronic devices; plantations such as coffee, dates; electrically related tools, battery components, and machinery for cigarette production.

Meanwhile, in the same period, Indonesia has exported more than 11,000 tons of goods to Israel with a value of 30,986,779 US dollars.

Boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) are movements that Palestinian civil society networks have campaigned against to the international community since 2005.

The move is believed to be one way of putting pressure on Israelis who are occupying and launching military strikes against the Palestinian people.