“Papuan Lives Matter”: On Indonesian Hypocrisy and Global Double Standards

'Papuan lives matter' icon by Ambrosius Mulait.

“Papuan Lives Matter”: On Indonesian Hypocrisy and Global Double Standards

Indonesia is reportedly preparing a legal case against Israel for "blatant violations of international law."

Indonesia defends Palestine—what for?

After South Africa, Indonesia has become the second country to bring Israel to court over its actions in Gaza. A bold move, at least on paper. But let’s be honest: will this change anything on the ground in Palestine? Will it stop the massacres in Gaza? Highly unlikely. This is less about justice and more about optics—another image stunt by the administration of Joko Widodo.

Jokowi knows how to play the crowd. In a country of over 200 million Muslims, pro-Palestinian gestures pay off politically. This move isn’t about peace or principle—it’s about consolidating domestic support, building legacy, and whitewashing a regime increasingly criticized for its democratic decline and military complicity.

Remember Myanmar? Ukraine? Jokowi also posed as a peace-seeker there. But peace abroad is a convenient distraction from violence at home—particularly in West Papua, where state repression is not a historical footnote, but an ongoing reality. In 2023 alone, there were at least 69 documented cases of violence against Papuans. This is not an aberration—it is policy.

Indonesia or Zionist Israel: which is worse?

When it comes to hypocrisy, Indonesia sets a new bar. The government cries foul over Palestine, while it continues to deny, silence, and brutalize West Papuans, Acehnese, and—lest we forget—East Timorese.

The numbers are staggering. While Zionism is rightly condemned for its crimes since 1948, Indonesia’s own toll is comparable, if not greater. Between 1965–66 alone, over 500,000 people were massacred in Indonesia’s anti-communist purges. A similar number of indigenous West Papuans have been displaced, tortured, or killed in the six decades since Indonesia annexed the region. During Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor (1975–1999), an estimated 180,000 people—nearly a third of the population—died from violence, hunger, or displacement.

And still—no justice, no trials, not even a genuine apology. Just Jokowi’s well-rehearsed national amnesia.

“What a joke! Before Israel, it’s Indonesia that should stand trial at The Hague,” said one anonymous Papuan activist.

“The right to independence doesn’t belong to Palestine alone. West Papua was a UN-recognized non-self-governing territory under Article XI of the UN Charter. UN Resolution 1514 of 1960 gave us the legal right to decolonization. We declared independence on 1 December 1961. But Indonesia declared war. In 1969, they staged the ‘Act of No Choice,’ a fake referendum under threat of guns. Since then, we’ve been erased. The world calls us a tribe, not a nation. We’re ‘separatists,’ even ‘terrorists,’ just for wanting to be free.”

Palestine and West Papua: the world’s double standard

The saddest irony? The world buys into this double narrative. Palestine is a liberation struggle. West Papua is framed as a separatist problem. Gaza’s suffering is (rightfully) broadcast daily. But the slow genocide in West Papua remains invisible.

Why? Both peoples are colonized. Both resist racist regimes. Both demand dignity, land, and life. But one is amplified. The other is silenced. Are Papuan lives less valuable?

How many more West Papuans must die before the world finally dares to look?