The conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to this day.  The conflict between the two countries started happening again on May 10, 2021.  The escalating tension between Palestine and Israel stems from the plan to evict residents in Sheikh Jarrah.  The Palestinians who live there refuse to move because they believe Sheikh Jarrah is part of Palestine.  The citizens' opposition was then responded by Israel harshly.  When residents protested against the planned eviction at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound on May 7, 2021, Israeli authorities attacked them.  Reporting from Kompas.com citing vox, the background of the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts is that each party wants to establish a state on the same land. Even though it looks simple, in reality the conflict that occurred between Palestine and Israel caused many complicated problems.  The conflict resolution process that has been going on for decades has actually resulted in another overlapping conflict.  Palestinian and Israeli relations are always hostile, even though they are side by side.  Israel undertakes a military occupation that makes Palestinians suffer.

The occurrence of conflict between the two countries has certainly reaped various pros and cons from various circles of society.  Those who are pro-Israel said that Israel has the right to live in peace and have its own territory. In addition, they also said that everything that Israel did was a form of their self-defense efforts. In the other hand, those who oppose it said that what Israel has done to Palestine is unnatural and outrageous. What is done by Israel is included as  colonialism and is a very cruel crime and this is also a gross violation of human rights.

We as humans cannot seem like we are closing our eyes about what is happening to Palestine at this time.  Israel's crimes against Palestine are very real in front of our eyes. Destruction, expulsion, coercion, plunder, violence and even terror are very visible at this time in Palestine. We as humans, especially Muslims, should defend Palestine, which is clearly being colonized at this time. So, why do we have to stand on the Palestinian side?  The following below are the reasons.

The first reason is that the Al-Aqsa mosque is the first qibla for Muslims to be located in Palestine.  The Al-Aqsa Mosque has an important history for Muslims. Reporting from Hidayatullah.com, this mosque became a Qibla for 14 or 17 months after the migration of Muslims to Medina in 624 AD. Then came the verse which ordered the movement of the Qibla of Muslims from the Al-Aqsa mosque to the Ka'bah in Makkah, which has become the Qibla of Muslims to this time.  Masjid Al Aqsa is also a historical place, where the prophet Muhammad stopped on his Isra 'and Mi'raj journey.  In addition, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is also the second mosque that was first built on this earth after the Al-Haram Mosque in Makkah. From this we can see how special the Al-Aqsa Mosque is for Muslims.  However, what is happening with the Al-Aqsa Mosque right now should be the concern of all Muslims in the world, therefore it would be nice for us to help and support our brothers there who are risking their lives in protecting this blessing place.

The second reason is that what Israel has done is a gross human rights violation.  As the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia is obliged to take part in cases of gross human rights violations in Palestine.  Because the actions carried out by Indonesia are a representation of the Muslim concern for the suffering experienced by the Palestinian people.  The colonial crimes committed by Israel against Palestine should open the eyes of all of our hearts that these crimes have harmed human values. Colonialism, imperialism, or other forms of colonialism that are taking place today cannot be justified regardless of their form.  Without pity, Israel could slaughter innocent people.  From women, the elderly, even children to babies.  Of course, this is no longer a form of self-defense but is a crime that must be stopped.  So, helping the Palestinians and supporting their independence is something that must be done together to bring about justice in the name of humanity.

And the last is, Indonesia and Palestine have a very close relationship.  Apart from all that, the Indonesian people should not forget that at the beginning of the independence period, Palestine was one of the countries that recognized and supported Indonesia's independence as a sovereign state. The closeness between Indonesia and Palestine has been going on for decades.  Palestine through mufti Amin Al Husayni became the initial state that supported and recognized Indonesia's independence.  Therefore, Palestinian independence is the most important thing that must continue to be voiced by the Indonesian people.

So, all elements should unite to support the Palestinian people and stop all human rights violations that occur there.  Indonesia and other countries must continue to support and help voice in handling cases of international disputes and crimes, so that Israel will stop aggression against Palestine. What we should be aware of and must always remember is that we don't have to be a Muslim to help Palestine, we just need to be human beings who have a sense of humanity towards others.

References:

“Mengapa Palestina dan Israel Berperang?”. (2020). Kompasiana.com. Retrieved on May 27, 2021 from https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2020/07/18/203605869/mengapa-palestina-dan-israel-berperang

“Tiga Alasan Mengapa Umat Islam harus Memerdekakan Masjid Al-Aqsha?” .(2021). Hidayatullah.com. Retrieved on May 27, 2021 from https://www.hidayatullah.com/spesial/ragam/read/2021/05/11/83347/tiga-alasan-mengapa-umat-islam-harus-memerdekakan-masjid-al-aqsha-1.html

Three ministers, namely the Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, and Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas issued a Joint Decree (Surat Keputusan Bersama / SKB) regarding the use of uniforms and attributes in the school environment. In this SKB 3 Menteri stated that students, educators and education personnel in the school environment have the right to choose to wear uniforms and attributes without specific religious characteristics in accordance with statutory regulations. However, the Supreme Court canceled this Joint Decree because it was considered contrary to higher laws and regulations.

The existence of the SKB 3 Menteri also reaps pros and cons by the public and officials in Indonesia. On the pro side, they agree with the SKB 3 Ministers because they think that the SKB 3 Menteri can stop the discriminatory intolerance that has occurred so far in Indonesian schools. Meanwhile, those who are contra do not agree with the SKB 3 of the Menteri because they think this policy is against Islamic teachings which oblige wearing the veil for women Muslims.

If we look at the purpose of this policy, it is quite good because the SKB 3 Menteri can stop discrimination against certain religions. Because as we know, students, teachers and education personnel in public schools come from various ethnicities and different religions. So, it feels inappropriate for public schools to regulate the provisions on the use of uniforms based on a certain religion. However, it would be better if the SKB 3 Menteri policy was for non-Muslim students only.

What needs to be underlined in this policy is that the government gives freedom to all students in wearing school uniforms.This is what raises the cons to this policy. If the government just gives freedom to all students this will create new problems. As we know, the majority of the population in Indonesia is Muslim, so Muslim students are taught from an early age to cover up and wear a veil from school so that students are accustomed to continuing to wear the veil in accordance with Islamic teachings which require women to wear the veil.

If the government just gives freedom to students, this will make students think about wearing the uniform as they like. If there is only one Muslim student who takes off the hijab and wears tight clothes, this will definitely trigger other students to imitate this because we know that the age of the students is still very unstable and easy to be influenced by things around them. Of course this is very unethical if this happens.

 In addition, if the SKB 3 Menteri simply gives freedom to students in school uniforms, this is very likely to cause social inequality among students. At this time there are still a lot of social inequality in school, especially if students are given freedom just like that, there will be groups of 'the rich students' and the groups of 'the poor students'. If students wear the same uniform so that no one feels superior and using uniforms also train students to be more disciplined, especially in clothes.

Therefore, this SKB 3 Menteri still really needs to be reconsidered. So far, there is nothing wrong with wearing school uniforms, especially the use of the veil for Muslim students. With this uniformity will avoid the existence of social inequality. It would be better if the policy of the SKB 3 Menteri is focuses more on students who are not Muslim and the government should follow up and even impose strict sanctions for schools that force non-Muslim students to wear the veil instead of giving students freedom because this will actually be a boomerang in the future.

Who doesn't know the application that hits nowadays? Yaps, exactly! TikTok! The application, which was blocked by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in 2018, has finally been reopened and has actually been increasingly booming since the existence of Covid-19. TikTok itself is an application to make short videos that provide unique and dancing effects and a lot of songs in it that users can use easily with great results. Therefore, this application has its own appeal from all ages to express their hobbies and work through this application. But who would have thought that along with its development, the sophistication of this application not only had a positive impact such as sharpening children's creativity in making short videos, but this application also had a negative impact on its users, especially for children who were underage. At this time, we can see that there are still a lot of videos uploaded by teenagers or children that contain content that is unnatural and not according to their age. What are the dangers of the TikTok application?  The following are the negative impacts of the TikTok application on children.

Currently, Indonesia is in grief again. Various disasters seem to constantly shake our country. After in early January the Sriwijaya plane crashed in the kepulauan Seribu, floods in several areas, earthquakes in Malang and its surroundings, and now the submarine belonging to the Indonesian Navy, KRI Nanggala 402, sank.  KRI Nanggala 402 was initially reported to have lost contact on April 21, 2021. The last time KRI Nanggala was able to communicate at 04.30 WIB. After that the KRI Nanggala could not be contacted again and was declared drowned. Many people believe that the cause of this sinking was due to the many defects in the submarine's old engine. Therefore, there are three main reasons why Indonesia needs to modernize and improve the Main Tool of the Defense System (Alat Utama Sistem Pertahanan or Alutsista).

The first reason is that a country that has wide water areas like Indonesia really needs a modern and strong defense system. As reported by Kompas.com, according to military observer from the University of Indonesia Connie Rahakundini Bakrie, a defense budget revolution needs to be carried out using either a capability or threat basis - unlike now which uses a budget basis. The KRI Nanggala accident was a "hard blow" for a defense budget revolution to be carried out immediately. If it is not done and is still using the budget basis, it will be difficult to avoid future calamities. Connie gave an example, Indonesia should have at least 12 submarines, but in fact there are only 5 units and one has sunk. Meanwhile, Indonesia also has 282 warships consisting of 7 frigates, 24 types of corvettes, 5 submarines, 156 patrol boats and 10 minesweepers.

On the other hand, the area of ​​Indonesian waters is more than 5.8 million square kilometers while the land area is only 2 million square kilometers spread over 17,499 islands. This is very unbalanced. Indonesia's military strength, including its navy, which was the best under President Soekarno, is now teetering to protect the 5.8 million square kilometer sea or 71 percent of Indonesia's total territory. Therefore, the government must immediately consider this.  Lack of weapons under the sea will seriously endanger the underwater areas of Indonesia. Indonesian seas would be easily infiltrated by the enemy and attacked so that this would threaten Indonesia's sovereignty.

Another reason is that the Alutsista owned by Indonesia tends to be old and even used from other countries which are always being updated, so that the defense equipment often experiences technical problems. Purchasing used Alutsista is also a problem because it has bigger potential problems, it will not only burden the budget for maintenance, but will also risk accidents that threaten the safety and security of soldiers. Alutsista conditions that are below readiness standards will increase the risk of accidents. Tragically, the late Marine Lieutenant Colonel (P) Heri Oktavian, who was also a victim in the KRI Nanggala-402 accident, had expressed concern about the safety of used Alutsista when interviewed by Kompas.

Reporting from Vice.com, According to Heri, the Navy needs qualified equipment, but what has happened so far is the opposite, with the policy taken more inclined towards rejuvenating old weapons of war.  Heri, at that time, reminded policy makers to think about the safety of TNI soldiers. Heri also died in his duty with 52 colleagues at KRI Nanggala-402. His warning before his death was a momentum for the government to be more serious in thinking about the safety of soldiers while on duty. Especially if it is proven that the root of the problem is due to technical matters and old equipment, which can be avoided.

And the last reason is that apart from modernizing Alutsista, Indonesia must also have a submarine support and rescue vessel. Currently, Indonesia does not  have equipment for emergency situations, such as a submarine rescue ship. Reflecting on the search for KRI Nanggala-402, the existence of a rescue ship is very necessary. Reporting from IDNTIMES.Com, marine expert from the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology, Wisnu Wardhana, said that to evacuate the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402 ship, a small emergency submarine was needed. The deployed emergency submarine must have the capability of diving to a depth of more than 850 meters.

But the problem is, Indonesia does not have emergency submarine technology.  According to him, it is unusual to operate a submarine, but it does not have an emergency submarine to deal with accidents under the sea.  Therefore, Indonesia depends on assistance from neighboring countries in the evacuation process.  In addition, the encouragement for the procurement of submarine rescue ships also came from former TNI-AL senior Rear Admiral Soleman Ponto. He firmly stated that the submarine rescue ship was needed by the TNI-AL. He stressed that every submarine fleet must be strengthened with rescue ships.

The sinking of the submarine KRI Nanggala 402 is a tragic event and deeply concerns all of us. We should be sad and mourned for this incident. The TNI soldiers died in the middle of the ongoing training process. In the midst of this concern and grief, of course this incident needs to be seen and assessed in a bigger picture regarding the problem of modernizing defense equipment that is happening in Indonesia. Alutsista accident in Indonesia is not the first time has happened. There have been several accidents. This is a warning to the government to focus more on Indonesia's Alutsista so that no more of our soldiers become victims.  The procurement of defense equipment as part of efforts to modernize and strengthen Indonesia's defense is indeed very important and necessary. 

References:

Dewi, Santi. (2021). Pakar ITS: RI Tak Punya Alat untuk Evakuasi ABK KRI Nanggala-402. Retrieved on April 28, 2021 from https://www.idntimes.com/news/indonesia/santi-dewi/pakar-its-ri-tak-punya-alat-untuk-evakuasi-abk-kri-nanggala

Folia, Rosa. (2021). Kecelakaan Alutsista Berulang Kali Terjadi, Kebijakan Kemenhan Jadi Sorotan. Retrieved on April 28, 2021 from https://www.vice.com/id/article/g5gbbm/tenggelamnya-kri-nanggala-harus-jadi-momen-perubahan-kebijakan-pembelian-alutsista-bekas-kemenhan

Kompas.com. (2021). Setelah KRI Nanggal 402 “On Eternal Patrol”, Gerakan Membeli Kapal Selam hingga Desakan Revolusi Modernisasi Alutsista. Retrieved on April 28, 2021 from https://amp.kompas.com/regional/read/2021/04/30/061600578/setelah-kri-nanggala-402-on-eternal-patrol-gerakan-membeli-kapal-selam