Indonesia’s independence rings hollow if it clings to the two-state solution for Palestine

This weekend, as red-and-white flags ripple across the Indonesian archipelago and schoolchildren recite “Merdeka!” (freedom), the nation will mark its 80th Independence Day. It is a moment to recall a truth that has defined the republic since 17 August 1945: no inch of its land should ever be conceded to colonisers.

That conviction was unshakable when the Dutch tried to reimpose their rule after World War II, and again when foreign powers sought to seize Indonesian territory. The founding generation refused to trade sovereignty for temporary peace. Why should Palestinians be expected to do so today?

In Gaza, bombs have flattened neighborhoods and hospitals. Since October 2023, Israel’s assault has killed over 61,700 people — most of them women and children — and claimed the lives of 304 journalists, including five in a targeted strike near Al-Shifa Hospital last week. Churches have been shelled, aid workers targeted. As Indonesia’s Majelis Ulama has stated, saving Gaza is not about rescuing one group; it is about defending humanity itself.

The connection between Indonesia and Palestine is more than rhetorical. In 1944, before Indonesia had declared independence, Palestinian leaders such as Syekh Muhammad Amin Al-Husaini used Arab radio broadcasts to call for Indonesian sovereignty. Merchant Muhammad Ali Taher lobbied Middle Eastern nations to recognize the new republic. Palestine stood with Indonesia before the world knew its name.

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Indonesia’s Constitution declares: “Independence is the right of all nations, and colonialism must be abolished.” This mandate is global. It explains why Indonesia has never recognized Israel, officially recognized the State of Palestine in 1988, and continues to send aid — 800 tons this month alone, delivered by TNI Hercules aircraft via airdrop with Jordan’s air force — to Gaza. It is why Indonesia built a hospital there and why its doctors work in Rafah and Al-Arish, stepping in after colleagues treated more than 7,000 patients.

This month, the government announced plans to receive 2,000 wounded Gazans for treatment at Pulau Galang, with assurances from President Prabowo that this will not enable permanent displacement. Training programs for Palestinian farmers in high-value crops, run in partnership with Japan, aim to help rebuild Gaza’s economy. Civil society efforts, such as the “Miles for Meals” charity run, have raised hundreds of millions of rupiah for Palestinian children.

Yet official diplomacy remains tied to the “two-state solution,” most recently reaffirmed in talks with Peru’s President Dina Boluarte: two states, based on 1967 borders. The question is: two states, on what land? After decades of settlement expansion, annexation, and occupation, the 1967 map exists only in fragments. Calling for two states without confronting the reality of land theft risks turning diplomacy into a stalling tactic rather than a path to justice.

Indonesia’s own history offers a clear lesson: colonial powers do not relinquish territory out of goodwill; they are compelled by resistance, solidarity, and international legitimacy. The republic would not exist if its founding fathers had accepted a “compromise” leaving parts of the archipelago under Dutch control. Why should Palestinians be urged to accept permanent fragmentation of their homeland?

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The logic of 1945 points to another vision: a single state across all of historic Palestine, where Jews, Muslims, Christians, and others live with equal rights under the law. This is not utopian idealism — it addresses the root injustice of dispossession.

Skeptics will call it unrealistic, just as they once said Indonesia could never oust the Dutch or apartheid South Africa could never fall. Political imagination often lags behind political necessity.

Indonesia’s foreign policy doctrine of bebas aktif — independent and active — was made for moments like this. With credibility in the Global South, the Non-Aligned Movement, and at the United Nations, it can champion a rights-based approach aimed not at managing occupation, but ending it. A UN General Assembly resolution, akin to the 1950 “Uniting for Peace” measure, could bypass a deadlocked Security Council and mobilize global action.

The phrase kemerdekaan adalah hak segala bangsa — independence is the right of all nations — is not a slogan. It is a binding moral contract, one Palestine upheld in 1944 and one that still demands honor today.

On 17 August, as Indonesia raises its flag and sings of independence, the message should resonate beyond its shores: freedom is indivisible. It must be defended for all, or it is conceded for all.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.