Jokowi, OIC Urge International Community to Ban Israeli Products

Indonesia and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday (07/03) called upon the international community to boycott items produced in illegal Israeli settlements.

The call to ban the products was conveyed by President Joko Widodo in his closing statement at the end of an extraordinary OIC summit, which produced a document called the Jakarta Declaration.

Hasan Kleib, director general of multilateral affairs of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, explained the government’s reasoning behind the initiative when asked by reporters.

“If we import these products, we will give additional incentive to the settlers to develop and improve themselves in the region that is not theirs, and then they will take more land,” Hasan said.

Hasan also said that since 2013-14, the OIC had been working to identify products coming out of illegal settlements, especially agricultural products. The products were then listed and OIC member countries were notified to prevent them from importing these products.

Indonesia now wants to take this effort one step further by calling on the international community to participate in banning these products.