There is something profoundly disturbing about the way Indonesia’s Cabinet Secretary, Teddy Indra Wijaya, chose to defend President Prabowo Subianto’s diplomacy on Palestine. The problem is not that he defended his president; that is, after all, part of his job. The problem is that in trying to elevate Prabowo into a heroic statesman, Teddy ended up revealing a far more troubling reality: the extent to which Indonesian officials have begun mistaking the management of catastrophe for the achievement of justice.

Responding to criticism over Prabowo’s remarkably frequent overseas trips, Teddy offered a list of accomplishments that he apparently believed would silence critics. Indonesia had conducted humanitarian airdrops into Gaza. Indonesia had deployed a hospital ship. Indonesia had provided scholarships for Palestinian students. Indonesia had successfully secured the return of Indonesian citizens detained by Israel. These, according to Teddy, were evidence of Prabowo’s active role in supporting Palestine.

But this is precisely where his argument collapses.

The flaw in Teddy’s reasoning is not merely political. It is moral. It is intellectual. And it is deeply revealing of a dangerous way of thinking about Palestine.

Take his proud assertion that Indonesia is among the few countries capable of conducting humanitarian airdrops into Gaza because such operations require extensive diplomatic coordination and overflight permissions. He presents this as though it were a geopolitical triumph—a testament to Indonesia’s diplomatic prowess under Prabowo.

But why should anyone celebrate this?

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Why should Indonesians applaud the fact that food must be dropped from military aircraft into one of the most densely populated territories on earth?

Humanitarian airdrops are not symbols of success. They are symbols of........

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