The 'Tree Of Jerusalem' Is At The Bogor Palace, The Palestinian PM To Jokowi: Simbolize The Heart Of Indonesia

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad IM Shtayyeh was grateful to be given the opportunity to plant trees in the backyard of the Bogor Presidential Palace as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.

"Thank you so much, this is the tree of Jerusalem in the heart of Indonesia. Thank you Mr President for making this happen. Barakallah, (Thank you very much, this is a Jerusalem tree that symbolizes the hearts of the Indonesian people, thank you Mr. President for making this happen)," said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad IM Shtayyeh at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Monday, October 24, quoted from Antara.

President Jokowi invited PM Shtayyeh to the Meranti tree or Shorea Leprosula in the backyard of the Bogor Presidential Palace which is also the location for planting trees for other heads of other countries visiting Indonesia.

After planting trees together, President Jokowi and PM Mohammad IM Shtayyeh headed to veranda to chat for a moment before holding a bilateral meeting with delegates from each country.

"Welcome to Jakarta Your Excellency PM Shtayyeh and are delighted to meet again after our meeting in Glasgow, Palestine is a close friend of Indonesia," said President Jokowi at a bilateral meeting.

According to President Jokowi, Palestine was one of the first countries to recognize Indonesia's independence.

"Indonesia also consistently continues to support the struggle of the Palestinian people and I hope that this noble visit can further strengthen this good relationship. I entrust your honor to deliver the opening remarks," said the President.

After the bilateral meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and then made a joint press statement in the Lotus Room. This series of official welcomings ended with a state lunch for PM Shtayyeh in the Garuda Room.

It is known that Palestine is the only participating country in the 1955 Asia-African Conference, which until now has not been independent due to Israeli occupation.

Bilaterally, Palestine continues to seek to garner recognition from various countries. As of September 14, 2015, 136 countries from 193 UN members have recognized Palestine as a country.

The international community to date continues to encourage the realization of a peaceful solution between Palestine and Israel, which is based primarily on the principle of "two-state solution", as mandated in various resolutions of the UN General Assembly (MU) and Security Council (DK).

However, the challenges have increasingly hampered the journey of the peace process between the two, its militia, the US decision on December 6, 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and followed by the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018.

Indonesia has consistently voiced the rights of the Palestinian people, including encouraging the establishment of a Palestinian state under the principle of "two-state solution" including in the holding of the 60th Anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (KAA) in April 2015 which agreed on the Declaration on Palestine to underscore the support of Asian and African countries for the Palestinian struggle for independence and efforts to create a two-state solution.