By Damien Kingsbury

 Aug 19, 2024

In trying to Palestine’s prospects of independence and peace with Israel, one is reminded of Tolstoy’s observation that ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. This is to say that, successful claims to independence share common features, but the circumstances of Palestine’s aspiration for independence are distinctively its own.

Despite this, comparisons have been, perhaps, inevitable. In this, some key principles appear to be universal to successful independence movements; they reflect a bonded political identity, they occupy a relatively clearly delineated territory, and they share a common grievance. These criteria apply to Palestine.

Two specific comparisons of, so far, unresolved claims to independence that are sometimes cited as similar to Palestine are those of Western Sahara and West Papaua. Where Western Sahara, West Papua and Palestine are similar is that their territories have been occupied by another, numerically large population.

In Western Sahara, under the banner of the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi people fought to achieve independence from colonial Spain when, in 1975, their territory was invaded by neighbouring Morocco and Mauritania. In this respect, Western Sahara bears closest similarity to East Timor and its invasion by neighbouring Indonesia as it underwent its own process of decolonisation from Portugal. The United Nations did not recognise Indonesia’s incorporation of East Timor, paving the way for an eventual referendum on independence in 1999.

Similarly, the UN also did not to recognise Morocco’s incorporation of Western Sahara (Mauritania having withdrawn in 1979). But a planned UN supervised referendum on independence in 1991 was thwarted when Morocco insisted on the dominant, transplanted Moroccan community in Western Sahara be included in the vote.

West Papua was nominally allowed a vote on independence in 1969, by a little over 1,000 hand-picked village leaders, at Indonesian gunpoint. Unsurprisingly, that sham vote – subsequently ratified by the UN – was for incorporation within Indonesia. The territory has since seen a significant influx of non-Melanesians, now comprising more than 40 per cent of the territory’s population.

By comparison, following the UK’s 1917 promise of a Jewish homeland, Mandatory Palestine saw increased Jewish immigration. With growing conflict between Jewish settlers and Palestinians and, following World War II, an influx of Jewish refugees, without Palestinian agreement, in 1947 the UK proposed to the UN that the territory be divided between Jews and Palestinians. As a result of the ensuing civil war, the UK withdrew and the state of Israel was unilaterally declared.

In response, Israel’s Arab neighbours invaded, sparking the first Arab-Israel War. Israel prevailed and Palestinians were largely expelled or forced to flee the Israeli state in what has been termed ‘the Catastrophe’ – ‘Nakba’. Subsequent war has only entrenched Israeli control over its own recognised territory as well, functionally, as over the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

As with Western Sahara, a 1995 agreement to transition towards Palestinian ‘final status’ – independence – for the remnant territories was subverted by Israel, in particular through establishing permanent settlements in the West Bank. Palestinian unity was also complicated by the civil war between the Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, when Fatah refused to recognise Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections. The unity of independence movements has, historically, been critical to their success. The West Papuan independence movement is similarly afflicted by internal, if not fratricidal, divisions.

Perhaps another example of colonial occupation, if with a somewhat better outcome, is that of New Zealand. Under the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, the indigenous Maori population agreed to British sovereignty in exchange for protection and recognition of ownership of their lands.

The critical differences are that, despite problems inherent in all post-colonial entities, New Zealand was established as a moderately progressive and inclusive state based on civic principles. By comparison, Israel was established as a largely exclusive state in which its civic principles are subordinated to largely ethno-nationalist principles. New Zealand incorporates its indigenous population within a civic democracy; Israel largely excludes the wider Palestinian population from what is, in effect, an ethno-state.

These two foundational state principles, of progressive civic nationalism and regressive ethno-nationalism, are, in the final analysis, mutually exclusive. Both Israel and the Palestinian resistance have increasingly redefined themselves in such ethno-nationalist rather than civic terms.

They key losers of this redefinition have been tolerance for the other and the status representative and accountable government. The other loser is, of course, the prospects of a peaceful resolution.

Damian Kingsbury is the author of ‘Separatism and the State’ and co-editor of ‘How Wars End’ (Routledge).

Jubi Papua – August 15, 2024

Activists from the West Papua National Committee or the KNPB returned to the streets for their 14th action on Thursday August 15, to commemorate the 1962 New York Agreement, the day when power over West Papua was transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia.

Several locations where demonstrations were to be held, both in Jayapura city and Jayapura regency, were blocked by police. Even though the KNPB claimed to have obtained a permit for the action from police.

As many as 36 protesters emerged from the direction of Buper Waena where they marched in six lines carrying KNPB flags and written demands on A4 carboard placards.

“No room for racism” and “The Indonesian state must be immediately held accountable for human rights violations in Papua” read the placards. The demonstration was tightly guarded by dozens of police officers with water cannons.

KNPB field coordinator Mesias Silak, after negotiating with police, was finally given permission to gives speeches and convey their demands.

The speeches proceeded peacefully, during which the KNPB members remained in line cordoned off by raffia rope. At around 1.45 pm the action was joined by around 50 people who arrived from the direction of the Abe Expo Waena Bridge.

Simultanious rallies by the KNPB marking the New York Agreement were held in several other parts of Papua.

Students in Jayapura protest New York Agreement and racism

Hundreds of students from various universities in Jayapura city held a protest on the Cenderawasih University (Uncen) campus on Thursday in which they took up two main issues: “The injustice of the 1962 New York Agreement and rejecting the racism experienced by the Papuan people”.

Action coordinator Enis Dapla emphasised that the 1962 New York Agreement was legally flawed because it did not involve the Papuan people.

“The agreement became the basis for the annexation of Papua by Indonesia through the 1969 Pepera [The 1969 UN sponsored referendum on West Papua’s integration with Indonesia], which we consider illegal and ridden with manipulation”, said Dapla.

In addition, Dapla also highlighted the issue of racism that continues to be felt by the Papuan people.

“Racism is not only the enemy of Papua, but also the enemy of the world. This action is a form of student resistance against all forms of racism, not only in Papua but throughout the world”, he explained.

The protest action that was initially planned to last until late afternoon was limited by the police to 12 noon, however the students continued the action on the grounds of the Uncen Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) secretariat.

“We didn’t violate anyone’s rights, but the police continue to limit the action. In fact they entered the campus area, which should not be allowed according to the law”, said Dapla.

The students emphasised that during the action they conveyed their aspirations peacefully and without anarchic acts. “Freedom of expression and expressing opinions in public is the right of every citizen, including students”, he said.

Laba Heluka, a student activist from the Uncen Faculty of Law, emphasised that the issue of racism was a major focus during the action.

“Racism is a global enemy. We demand that there is no more racial discrimination against the people of Papua, both in the world of education, work and health services”, he said.

Heluka also criticised the restrictions on freedom of expression that continue to occur in Papua, especially with regard to peaceful protest actions. “Even though Law Number 9/1998 guarantees freedom of expression in public, in fact Papuan students are often restricted and silenced”, he said.

Give Papua the right to self-determination

The KNPB along with indigenous Papuan communities and various organisations in Greater Sorong also commemorated the New York Agreement in Sorong city on Thursday.

Wespa Papwes Gombo, a representative of the Independent Indigenous People of Papua (MAI-P) said the action was to remember the New York Agreement which was made unilaterally without involving the Papuan nation which a year earlier, on December 1, 1961, had issued a manifesto of independence to stand alone as a nation and a state.

Gombo said that Indonesia manipulated the mandate of the New York Agreement on self-determination through the 1969 Act of Free Choice. Out of the 809,337 West Papuans who had the right to vote, only around 1,026 people were selected and quarantined, and just 175 people were then forced at gunpoint to vote to join Indonesia.

In Indonesia’s report to the UN, the reason given for this was that Papuan people were still “primitive and backward”. “This racist view was used by Indonesia to gain international support for its colonisation of West Papua”, said Gombo.

A similar view was expressed in a speech by Eskop, a law student from the Sorong Muhammadiyah University, who said that today the Papuan nation is marking 62 years of colonisation by the Indonesian colonialists.

Meanwhile Indonesia is celebrating its 79th anniversary of independence with the spirit of colonising West Papua. Yet on the one hand Indonesia claims to be an anti-colonial country, but on the other it also plays an active role in robbing the Papuan people of their right to self-determination.

Eskop said that Papuan Special Autonomy (Otsus), territorial expansion and all forms of enforced and brutal exploitation in the Land of Papua, were a continuation of racist colonialism that begun with the Trikora operation in 1961, the New York Agreement in 1962 and Pepera in 1969.

Eskop explained that Indonesian colonialism, which is ridden with racism, has resulted in reducing the number of indigenous Papuans to only 2,971,340 people out of a total population 5.4 million.

Even more tragic, the number of non-Papuan residents is now larger, with an annual growth rate 6.39 percent per year. Meanwhile the poverty and low life expectancy of Papuans continue to place Papua in first place in negative indicators for Indonesia.

Meanwhile, from the cities to the villages, migrants with company and military support dominate all productive sectors. “Our customary forests, the last fortresses against the threat of global warming, are now threatened. Of the 34.3 million hectares of primary forests in the land of Papua, 793,623 hectares were lost in 2021-2022 alone”, he said.

Action coordinator Appull Heluka added that Indonesian colonialism with its militarism, continues to massively invade the entire land of Papua. The goal is to secure military businesses and investment.

He said that Indonesia’s colonial military operations had created around 76,919 internally displaced people in seven regions, forcing them to leave their hometowns and live in uncertainty.

“The peaceful solution and humanitarian pause proposed by the Papuan Council of Churches and the ULMWP (United Liberation Movement for West Papua) were rejected by Jakarta, which prefers bloody [military] operations. We demand that they immediately leave our land, West Papua”, he said.

The action proceeded safely and peacefully under the close guard of dozens of police personnel. During the action, the demonstrators read out a number of statements and demands, including rejecting all the forms of colonisation and oppression by the Indonesian colonialists in Papua.

They also asked Indonesia to respect the right of the Papuan people to determine their own future.

Two protesters injured by rubber bullets in Nabire

A KNPB demonstration protesting the New York Agreement in Nabire, Central Papua, on Thursday was confronted with violence by security forces.

KNPB Nabire Regional Management Board Secretary Zadrak Kudiyai told Jubi that two demonstrators, Andrias Gobay (a Dogiyai regional KNPB member) and Yosua Pigome, were struck by rubber bullets fired by security forces.

“They were shot at the resettlement beside the Nabire River, Karang Market. A rubber bullet was found in Andrias Gobay’s thigh and the bullet has been removed, while Yosua Pigome was shot in the calf, the bullet has not been removed yet and he is currently still being operated on at Nabire District General Hospital (RSUD) emergency room”, said Kudiyai on Thursday afternoon.

Kudiyai explained that hundreds of demonstrators who are members of the KNPB throughout the Meepago region held a peaceful demonstration centred in Nabire. “The demonstrators were shot, arrested, shot at with tear gas, and beaten. During the action one police officer was also injured in Siriwini”, he said.

According to Kudiyai, they started the protest at 7 am at several different points. Protesters in front of the Satya Wiyata Mandala University (USWIM) campus were then taken away by police from the Nabire District Police using a crowd control vehicle.

Meanwhile protesters at the SP point were also picked up by police using two crowd control vehicles and taken to the Nabire District Police station.

“Meanwhile the demonstrators at the Siriwini point, police officers fired teargas and dispersed the demonstrators and one KNPB member was arrested by police”, he said.

The protesters who were taken away by the police, said Kudiyai, are still at the Nabire Police station. “They have not been sent home yet”, he added.

According to Kudiyai, the attitude of the police and TNI (Indonesian military) was very indiscriminate in handling the peaceful KNPB mass action. “This is very unreasonable, because this country guarantees democratic freedoms, but that’s not like what we experienced in the field today”, he said.

Protesters in Meepago dispersed with teargas

KNPB members throughout the Meepago region were deployed in a joint action on Thursday centred in Nabire. They came from the Paniai, Dogiyai, Deiyai and Intan Jaya regencies and from Nabire itself.

The protesters, who had gathered at Karang Tumaritis Market in the morning were scheduled to hold a long-march to the Central Papua Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) and the Papua People’s Council (MRP) offices located in Kali Bobo.

Upon arriving in front of the Karang Barat Gel-Gel Workshop, they were stopped by security forces who ordered them to disperse. Shortly after they began firing teargas to disperse the demonstrators.

SD, a resident of Karang Barat who witnessed the incident, said the demonstrators were marching peacefully in rank cordoned off by a rope. “When security forces using two Barracuda and crowd control trucks arrived at the location, [they] fired teargas and the crowd dispersed”, they said.

Then, said SD, the protesters fled into residential alleys and the security forces chased after them firing teargas. “I saw them running away and one person was put in a police car and taken to the Nabire police station”, they said.

Speaking at a cafe in Nabire, Nabire District Police Chief Assistant Superintendent Wahyudi Satrio Bintoro told reporters that based on his observations at several locations the situation was under control.

When Jubi.id asked about the use of rubber bullets and teargas, Bintoro said that police used standard operating procedures (SOP) in accordance with National Police Chief Regulation Number 1/2029 on the Use of Force during Police Actions.

“We implemented this from the start of our presence, right, we made an appeal, conveyed this, we encourage them, but it turns out that their position was to carry out anarchic actions, throwing stones. Even our members who were in position there were hit by stones, injured”, he said, adding that because of this, they used firm but measured actions using teargas.

Police disperse protest in Abepura with water cannon

Police used water cannon to disperse a peaceful action commemorating 62 years since the New York Agreement at the Abepura intersection in Jayapura city.

The action, which took place between 12:30 and 3:21 pm, was coordinated by the KNPB. Police personnel from the Jayapura city district police broke up the action before representatives from the protesters could read out their statements.

KNPB General Chairperson Warpo Sampari Wetipo said their demonstration was peaceful and open, therefore breaking up the action was an example of the practices of colonialism in the land of Papua.

“The colonialists will never give the slightest bit of space (freedom) to the people they colonise. They feel superior so they treat the Papuan nation arbitrarily”, said Wetipo.

However, he continued to call on all Papuan people not to be weak, let alone retreat from the ranks of resistance against this oppression. They must continue to gather their strength and become a new spirit for the struggle of the Papuan nation.

“The Papuan people must not be weak, let alone retreat. (The dispersing of protesters) will (in fact) provide new strength and spirit so that (the Papuan people’s struggle will) become more advanced and radical”, said Wetipo.

Jayapura City Deputy Police Chief Senior Commissioner Deni Herdiana said they broke up the action because in their view the coordinator was unable to control the situation. According to Herdiana, there were indications that the protesters intended to commit vandalism, such as burning used tyres on the road that could disrupt security and public order in Jayapura city.

“We coordinated (agreed) with the korlap (field coordinator), namely giving one to two hours (for the masses to give speeches). However, the korlapwas not committed so we took measured law enforcement efforts”, said Herdiana.

In Jayapura city, around 700 security personnel were deployed to secure the 1962 New York Agreement commemoration events consisting of Indonesian Police (Polri) and TNI personnel.

“Polri and the TNI are safe guarding (securing the action) because it is approaching August 17 (Indonesian Independence Day). Currently, we have not secured (arrested) any demonstrators”, added Herdiana.

— Reporting by Ratty Auparai, Aida Ulim, Gamaliel Kailele, Hengky Yeimo and Pes Yanengga

[Abridged translation by James Balowski based on five articles by Jubi Papua on August 15. The original title of the lead article was “Aksi KNPB Protes New York Agreement Dihadang Pihak Keamanan”.]

Ali Mirin September 4, 2024 Issue 1414 World

Members of the Indonesian mobile police (Brimob) fatally shot Tobias Silak, a 24-year-old Papuan employed by the local election supervisory agency (Bawaslu) and seriously injured 17-year-old Papuan, Naro Dapla, in Dekai, Yahukimo District, West Papua, on August 20.

These Papuans were shot on the same day that Indonesian Defence Minister and President-elect, Prabowo Subianto — notorious for his human rights abuses — was in Canberra to seal a security agreement with the Australian government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described it as a “historic treaty”.

For some Western leaders in Canberra who welcomed this versatile, enigmatic and notorious 72-year-old military figure, Prabowo represents an essential component of the West’s confrontation with China.

The fate of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other nations caught up in the power dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region is inextricably linked to the influence of the West — which seeks to preserve its regional hegemony — and China and its emerging allies, which seek to challenge the status quo.

Prabowo embodies the modern face of geopolitics — a decisive player in between two superpowers. As long as he continues to serve the interests of both, he will remain in their favour.

In this geopolitical game, there is one nation whose history — although central to the reshaping of the West, the East and Indonesia — has been relegated to insignificance: West Papua.

More Papuan lives will be sacrificed, like those of millions of people caught between the competing interests of powerful nations, such as the Ukrainians, Palestinians, and many others.

Without a significant re-configuration of the current geopolitical landscape soon, the sovereignty and fate of those entangled in the current world’s order appear quite grim.

As long as the sovereignty of the Papuan land, nation and state remains suppressed within Indonesia, all agreements and treaties signed between Indonesia and foreign powers will inevitably spell disaster for the Papuan people. This was illustrated by the shootings on August 20, which happened under Prabowo’s leadership as defence minister and president-elect.

Human rights abuses under Prabowo’s watch

There have been a number of human rights violations and shootings throughout West Papua this year.

New Zealand pilot Glen Malcolm Conning was shot and killed after landing his helicopter in the remote Alama district of West Papua, on August 5. Indonesian authorities initially blamed the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB). However, the TPNPB denied any involvement and accused the Indonesian military of being behind the killing.

Benny Wenda, an international icon of the West Papuan independence movement, based in England, accused Indonesia of lying about the pilot’s death and “urge[d] the world to listen to the categorical denial by the West Papua National Liberation Army”.

Papuans across West Papua peacefully commemorated one of the most important historical events in their national calendar on August 15: the infamous “New York Agreement”, a treaty signed between the Netherlands and Indonesia under the auspices of the US that sealed Papua’s fate with Indonesia. Protests called for a review of the agreement. Once again, Indonesian security forces cracked down on this commemoration.

The Indonesian military opened fire in Kalome village, Puncak Jaya regency, on July 16, while pursuing TPNPB member Terinus Enumbi. Innocent Papuan bystanders were shot and injured in this indiscriminate attack.

The Indonesian army accused three men in the village of being TPNPB fighters. This claim was immediately refuted by the TPNPB and a local community leader, who clarified that they were all civilians. One of the trio — Murib — is a village head.

Prominent Papuan human rights lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy was shot at an ATM in the coastal town of Manokwari, on July 17, while his children waited in the car. Luckily, he survived.

In March, a harrowing video emerged showing a group of Indonesian soldiers torturing a young West Papuan man later identified as Defianus Kogoya. In the disturbing footage, Kogoya can be seen with his hands tied and shaking as he is submerged in a vat of bloody water while Indonesian soldiers take turns punching, kicking and beating him.

According to the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), as at April, more than 76,000 people have been displaced due to the Indonesian crackdown, which started in 2018.

These displacements, killings, shootings, torture and deaths are just the tip of the iceberg of what is happening in the tightly-controlled military operational areas of West Papua.

These atrocities took place during Prabowo’s presidential campaign this year. Furthermore, despite having visited West Papua more than 18 times, outgoing President Joko Widodo has failed to address these serious issues.

Prabowo seeks advice from PNG on how to ‘respect Indigenous Papuans’

Prabowo stopped in PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, on his way from Canberra to Jakarta. With all the talk of security, trade and business, Prabowo is reported to have asked the PNG government for cultural advice on how to “respect” the indigenous Papuans.

Unfortunately, Prabowo got away with the blood of Papuans on his hands, just as he did in Canberra.

If PM James Marape’s “gang” in Port Morseby’s Waigani precinct had an independent voice, one might expect them to advise Prabowo to stop killing Papuans, at least as a basic gesture of “respect”. However, it is unimaginable that the PNG government would challenge Jakarta’s atrocities without the approval of its imperial masters in Washington, London and Canberra.

Jakarta will soon become another imperial master of PNG if it does not stand on its own two feet soon.

The more the government in Port Moresby condones Jakarta’s genocidal war against the Papuans, the more likely it is that the Papuans in PNG will accept a diminished status reminiscent of the threats they have faced in West Papua for more than 60 years at the hands of Indonesia.

To believe that PNG is entitled to equal respect from Western and Eastern nations, especially Indonesia or ASEAN, because of its uniqueness is an overly simplistic view.

We are Papuans and Blacks — these names and designations alone have justified all kinds of dehumanising names, insults, abuse and mistreatment of Papuans on both sides of the border, whose representatives are received by those in power in Canberra and Jakarta.

BenarNews reported that PNG journalist Harlyne Joku was excluded from a media briefing with Prabowo and Marape during Prabowo’s visit, allegedly at the request of the Indonesian embassy. The PNG Media Council condemned the exclusion as “disturbing” and “shameful” and an attack on PNG’s independent media sector and an affront to PNG’s political sovereignty.

If PNG does not wake up soon, it may be too late for PNG to realise that the fate of West Papua and the fate of PNG are linked, and that what happens to West Papua will determine what happens to PNG.

Prabowo’s request for advice from PNG on how to respect indigenous Papuans is strange, given his history of crimes against humanity in East Timor and West Papua. It is also an insult to ask the PNG government how to respect the Papuans when Prabowo and Jokowi have totally failed to respect and listen to the Papuans.

Whether a genuine sentiment or empty rhetoric, Prabowo’s ambivalence in addressing the killings of Papuans this year alone shows where he stands on the issue of respect for Indigenous Papuans.

Papuan pawns in Prabowo’s international political chess game

Prabowo brought two prominent West Papuan figures with him on his visit to Canberra: Natalius Pigai, a former Indonesian human rights commissioner, and Wempi Wetipo, Indonesia’s deputy home affairs minister.

Prabowo’s intention could have been “image-building”, by showing black Papuan faces at this highest level, or might actually mean something for the Papuan people, or these elites might be just pawns in the settlers’ colonial games.

Whatever the intention, it is irrelevant to Papuans who are dying daily under Prabowo’s rule.

Prabowo’s biggest test will be not only how he leads Indonesia between the two superpower rivalries between the US and Chinese, but also how he deals with Papuan lives.

If he is serious about how to respect the indigenous Papuans, he should be asking these questions to West Papuans, not the PNG government.

[Ali Mirin is a West Papuan from the Kimyal tribe of the highlands bordering the Star Mountain region of Papua New Guinea. He has a Master of Arts in International Relations from Flinders University.]

———————————————————————