Reporting on the recent brouhaha over Israel’s participation in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, the Associated Press sought to explain why host nation Indonesia is discriminating against the Israeli soccer team.
In short, soccer’s global governing body FIFA this week postponed the official draw for the tournament just days before it was due to take place in Bali after the island’s governor refused to allow the Israeli team entry using the pretext of Jakarta’s diplomatic support for Palestinians.
Quoting Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture’s assertion that Indonesia’s constitution is the justification for singling out the Jewish state, AP in the subsequent paragraph attempts to contextualize the minister’s remarks:
The preamble of Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution states: ‘Whereas Independence is the inalienable right of all nations; therefore, colonialism must be abolished in the world as it is not in conformity with humanity and justice.’
By including this preamble, AP is tacitly suggesting that the Jewish state is a colonialist entity that is also denying Palestinians their “inalienable right” of independence.
While the charge that Israel is a “settler colonialist state” may be fashionable in pro-Palestinian activist circles, the allegation is demonstrably false: it ignores the fact that Jews are indigenous to the land and that Israel is a democratic state that affords equal rights to all citizens.
Additionally, the referencing of the Indonesian constitution may have a kernel of truth to it — but not in the way the Associated Press suggests.
Judaism is not among the six religions that are officially recognized by the Indonesian constitution, although Jewish practices are permitted.
In a country that is home to more than 275 million people, just 500 citizens are Jewish and they face discrimination in the conservative Muslim nation.
With this in mind, perhaps AP could have cited the real reason Indonesia is trying to prevent the Israeli soccer team from competing: antisemitism.
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