Taufiq Syarifudin, Jakarta – A group of people held a Defend Palestine solidarity action on Car Free Day (CFD) in Central Jakarta on Sunday June 15 in which they called for Palestinian independence.
The protesters arrived at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle at around 8.3 am after holding a long-march from the US Embassy then went on to the Palestinian Embassy in Menteng.
The action was titled "Solidarity March with Global March to Gaza" as a form of solidarity for the release of Palestine from Israeli colonialism. The protesters at the action came from the Civil Society Coalition and several other groups.
They circled the HI traffic circle and mingled with residents who came to Car Free Day while calling for Palestinian independence. They also carried a large Palestinian flag.
"From the river to the sea!" shouted one of the protesters at the action in English. "Palestine will be free!" responded the other demonstrators.
As they passed through the Car Free Day area, the protesters continued to shout for Palestinian freedom. They also brought posters containing calls for liberation and demands of for an end to genocide.
"Indonesian citizen solidarity march with march to Gaza and freedom flotilla coalition," read one of the banners in English. "Palestine exist, resist, return!", read one of the posters. "Stop genocide in Gaza, Netanyahu just like the demon. Hell's the best place for you and your allies. Ceasefire", red another poster.
One of the participants from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Nadine Sherani, said that the action was triggered by efforts by activists in Egypt who are struggling to open access for humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Up until now, this effort has been blocked by Israeli authorities.
"Because as we know, there was a statement that was quite annoying, because on May 28, 2025, our government stated that Indonesia would recognise Israel if the entity would recognise Palestinian sovereignty even though this statement actually contradicts the struggle and solidarity which had been formed by many Indonesian civil society [groups]", Sherani told reporters at the location on Sunday
Nadine said they gave a speech earlier in front of the US Embassy highlighting the role of the US in funding and supporting Israel's actions in Palestine. They will go to the Egyptian Embassy later to criticise the attitude of the Egyptian government which has blocked humanitarian assistance efforts.
"It turns out that when our friends were struggling for the Global March to Gaza in Egypt, it was even blocked by the Egyptian government. So we will show our anger and disappointment in front of the Egyptian Embassy then later at the last point at the Palestinian Embassy", she said.
Nadine said she hopes that the Egyptian Embassy will respond directly to the action. She also mentioned that the action was in response to the recent statement by Indonesian government that it would recognise Israel if they recognise Palestinian sovereignty.
"This is what we are trying to demonstrate that things like this should show that our humanitarian solidarity is not in the form of statements with conditional freedom or sovereignty or conditional recognition or economic activities", she continued.
"Solidarity is not conditional, especially in terms of humanity. What our friends need in Gaza today is not political promises, but concrete actions such as opening aid channels and cutting economic relations with the oppressor country [Israel]", concluded Nadine.
The solidarity action took up three demands:
1. Open access for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza
2. Urging the Indonesian government to revoke its recognition plan for Israeli sovereignty.
3. Stop all forms of Israeli economic activity with Indonesia
(wnv/wnv)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Solidaritas Long March ke CFD Bundaran HI, Serukan Kemerdekaan Palestina".]
