Plans for holy land tour in limbo as Israel imposes blanket ban on Indonesian visitors

JAKARTA: Sally Piri's plan to take her mother on a tour of the holy sites in the occupied West Bank this year may be put on hold after Israel's recent move to ban Indonesian passport holders from entering the territory.

She had planned to go with her mother in November and has already paid for the tour, which includes visits to Bethlehem, Jericho, Nazareth and Caesarea, when she read the news that Israel had issued policy starting on June 10 that bans Indonesians.

"I really hope the policy will change so tourists like us who want to go on pilgrimage tours can still go. My travel agent told me they are still waiting for results of negotiations between their local partners and the authorities in Israel to have the policy revoked," Sally told Arab News.

"My mother said she has been everywhere and now she just wants to go to the holy land," she added.Syuhelmaidi Syukur, a senior vice president of Jakarta-based humanitarian group Aksi Cepat Tanggap, told Arab News the ban will not disrupt the group's humanitarian assistance for people in Palestine.

"We have rarely sent our own humanitarian workers there for the past two years, so we distribute our aid with the help of our local partners and fellow humanitarian groups in Gaza and Jerusalem," he said.

Last week's blanket ban for Indonesian tourists was, according to media reports, a tit-for-tat response to Indonesia's decision to suspend visas already issued to Israeli citizens, suggesting that the visa cancelation was Indonesia's response to the violence in Gaza in which Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians and injured thousands during recent protests to mark the Nakba.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said last week that Israel had been trying to reverse Indonesia's decision but to no avail, which resulted in Israel reciprocating the move.Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly confirmed on Friday that there were 53 Israeli nationals who had been denied visas to enter Indonesia.

"It was a clearing (house) decision that we have to carry out. We can't disclose the reason because it's a sensitive matter. It is our sovereign right to accept or reject visa (applications) from other countries," Laoly told journalists at the Foreign Ministry.

Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel but an Israeli passport holder can still get an Indonesian visa through the "calling visa" mechanism which is available for citizens of nations with which Indonesia has no diplomatic relations.

The calling visa application is reviewed and granted by a clearing house which involves a number of government agencies with the Foreign Ministry at the lead, and the conditions applied to a calling visa holder are very restrictive.

Both Laoly and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi denied there had been initial talks about diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Israel or the possibility of Indonesia granting free visas to Israeli nationals.

"Indonesia continues to be with Palestine in their struggle for independence and their rights efforts. Our foreign policy to take sides with Palestine is very clear," Marsudi said.