VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Australia through Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday (18/10) said that her country was withdrawing the previous government's decision to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.

During the 2018 government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia had decided to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, following in the footsteps of former US President Donald Trump.

Australia's bold decision has received support and praise from various countries, including Palestine. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that the decision was in accordance with international law. Australia's stance shows that the world does not accept Israel's annexation of the Palestinian territories. According to PM Mohammad Shtayyeh, it also proves Australia's respect and alignment with the values of truth, justice and freedom, and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Support also came from Indonesia. On Tuesday (18/10), the  government  said it welcomed Australia's decision to revoke the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Indonesia also appreciates Australia's assertion that it supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with "internationally recognized boundaries."

The Israeli government is certainly disappointed with Canberra's decision. Political Director of Israeli Foreign Ministry, Aliza Bin-Noun when speaking with Australian Ambassador Paul Griffiths, Tuesday (18/10) local time expressed her disappointment. She called the Anthony Albanese Government move a "bad decision". According to Aliza, the decision risks encouraging extremist elements in the West Bank to keep fueling violence and destabilizing the region. Disappointment also came from Israel's Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, who called the decision a "hasty response to false reports in the media".

What has been done by Australia  deserves appreciation. It is hoped that the United States under the Joe Biden administration will follow Australia's lead and change the policies taken by former president Donald Trump. The decision to support West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a unilateral move that comes out of the stance taken by the majority of the international community.

Hopefully, this Australian decision will be a step that "can contribute positively to efforts to peacefully resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict" and support a "two-state solution", as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.

The Indonesian Embassy in Berlin and the Indonesian Community Forum in Dresden, Germany held the 2022 Indonesischer Abend (Indonesian Night) at the Dresden City Museum, Dresden, on Saturday (15/10). It’s a cultural performance that brought some Indonesian artists, dancers and musicians, and it was also attended by at least 200 people, including Dresden Deputy Mayor for Education and Youth, Jan Donhauser. Indonesian Ambassador to Germany,  Arif Havas Oegroseno explained that  he welcomed the Indonesischer Abend activity in Dresden as one of the highlights of the celebration of 70 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Germany. He underlined the beauty of diversity and tolerance of culture and religion in Indonesia as the world's largest Muslim country.

Meanwhile,  Jan Donhauser conveyed  that the presence of the Indonesian community and diaspora in Dresden has contributed to cultural diversity and local harmony and  Indonesia's Abend is a good opportunity to introduce Indonesian diversity to the people of Dresden. Moreover,,Indonesischer Abend presents lots of Indonesian cultural arts, such as ethnic Papuan dances, West Java bajidor kahot, Balinese dances with Sinrilik music, vocal groups and traditional Maluku dances, West Sumatra wax dances, and West Kalimantan ruai dances.

According to the Indonesian Embassy, the event was welcomed by the people and the Indonesian diaspora in Dresden, as well as being a sense of longing for many Indonesian diaspora in the city and its surroundings. Since, they have not had the opportunity to return to their own country, indonesia. The Dresden City Museum was also enlivened by Indonesian Day which provided a number of outlets to introduce various aspects of Indonesian culture, such as batik, wayang, and various Indonesian traditional snacks.

The traditional relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, which are known to be close and have been existing since the end of World War II, began to drift apart. On October 5, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other OPEC members agreed to reduce oil production by 2 million barrels per day, equivalent to 2 percent of current global oil production, effective as of  November.

Saudi Arabia's decision along with other oil producing countries, including Russia, known as OPEC+, is seen as hindering Washington's efforts to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. Related to  the domestic politics of the United States, the decision was announced ahead of the November mid-term elections. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to maintain their control of the House of Representatives and the US Senate.

The OPEC+ decision has angered the United States. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday (11/10), President Joe Biden said that he  would retaliate against Saudi Arabia. The United States accuses Saudi Arabia of following Russia's will against Washington and Western plans to reduce Moscow's revenue.

In the US  Congress, voices calling for the severance of all cooperative relations with Saudi Arabia are also growing. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairperson, Bob Menendez said that he would reject arms sales to Saudi Arabia and all forms of cooperation with Riyadh. Meanwhile, Democratic Senator, Dick Durbin called Saudi Arabia a traitor. Durbin also asked the US Congress to immediately pass the Oil Production and Exports Anticartel Act (NOPEC) which authorizes the US Department of Justice to bring OPEC+ members to US courts on charges of unfair business competition. In addition, several members of the US House of Representatives from the Democratic camp also proposed a bill that would force the withdrawal of all US troops and weapons from Saudi Arabia.

In response to the anger of the United States, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan told Saudi Arabian television, Al Arabiya that the OPEC+ decision was based on economic considerations and was taken unanimously by its members.

OPEC in its monthly report issued last Wednesday (12/10) said that the world economy had entered a period of increasing uncertainty and challenges. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund -IMF the day before had cut its global growth forecast for 2023 and warned of an increased risk of a global recession.

Hopefully, the estrangement of relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia will not worsen the global economic conditions that have started becoming difficult lately.

Papuans have traditional religious beliefs integrated into all aspects of life. Their worldviews are related to each other between the material and spiritual, the secular and the sacred. All function simultaneously. Related to its relationship with art, Musyoh Dance is one of the dances found in Papuan culture that most manifests their belief system. Musyoh dance is a type of ritual dance as an effort to expel the spirits of people who died in accidents.

When one of the Papuan tribesmen dies due to an accident, the Papuan people generally believe that the spirit is not calm. Through this belief, Musyoh Dance was born as a way to calm the spirits. In practice, this dance is also like most traditional Papuan dances which are generally accompanied by their traditional musical instrument, Tifa. However, this dance does not use spears, but generally the dancers carry arrows and shields as symbols of expulsion. This dance is performed by a group of male dancers with agile and energetic movements. To exorcise the spirits, the dance movements are accompanied by typical Papuan shouts or cheers.

By performing this Musyoh dance, it is hoped that it can drive away unnatural spirits. Thus, the spirit will not disturb the living. This dance has long been known by the tribal communities in Papua. Until now, the function of this dance is still the same, namely a sacred dance to ward off spirits, people who died unnaturally, such as accidents and others. Many people think that this dance is to welcome guests. The welcome dance is accompanied by rhythmic music with dynamic dance movement patterns that show the joy of the people's hearts in welcoming respected guests.