On Thursday, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s seat on the Board of Peace. Ministry spokesperson Vahd Nabyl Mulachela said joining the Board is part of Indonesia’s effort to support Palestine and help rebuild Gaza. He hoped the Board could lead to an independent Palestine living next to Israel.

He was answering Amnesty International Indonesia. A day earlier, its director, Usman Hamid, said the Board was a mistake from the very beginning and that Indonesia still has time to leave. He spoke in Jakarta after an event with Francesca Albanese, the United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territories. Usman said the Board is controlled by the United States, a country that fully supports Israel and its military campaign that has killed so many Palestinian civilians.

The real question is whether the Board of Peace is the right tool. Amnesty says it is not, and Amnesty is right.

The ministry’s hope is understandable. But hope is not a plan. The way the Board actually works tells a different story.

Neil Quilliam, a researcher at Chatham House, a respected think tank in London, studied the Board’s design in February. He explained that real power sits with the Board and its chairman, Trump. Daily decisions go to a Gaza........

© Middle East Monitor