All Indonesians urged to support Palestine
All Indonesians urged to support Palestine
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian people, regardless of their religions, should
support the Palestinian struggle to fight against Israel,
Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Ribbhi Y. Awad said on
Thursday.
"What is happening in Palestine is not a religious war, but a
struggle to fight against Israeli imperialism.
"The victims of the Israeli ferocity are not merely Muslims,
but also other religious followers, including Christians," Awad
told participants of a discussion in Jakarta entitled "The Future
of Palestine".
Other speakers at the discussion, which was held at the
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) headquarters, included chairman of
the Justice Party Hidayat Nurwahid and researcher Riza Sihbudi.
Awad said the majority of Palestinians were Muslims, but there
were also a significant number of followers from other religions,
including Christians.
He welcomed Indonesia's staunch support of the Palestinians as
had been voiced by Muslim organizations here.
It has been refreshing that the support and sympathy for the
Palestinian struggle did not come merely from Muslims but also
from Christian students.
According to Awad, the Central Board of the Association of
Catholic Students in Indonesia (PMKRI) visited him two days
earlier to support the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli
invasion.
PMKRI demanded in its statement that Israel halt its ferocious
attack on the Palestinians. The student association also called
on the Indonesian people to solicit human aid for the people of
Palestine who had became victims of the Israeli invasion.
Meanwhile, Din Syamsuddin, the secretary general of MUI, did
not deny there was an Islamic dimension in the country's Muslim
movements to solicit support for Palestinians.
"The Islamic sentiment could not be avoided since the Muslims
are the majority here.
"However, the whole nation must show its solidarity with the
Palestinians since there is also another human dimension, that
there is gross violation of human rights by Israel," he said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government, represented by
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla handed
over an aid donation of Rp 700 million (US$70,000) to the
Palestinian ambassador on Thursday.
The aid was expected to help Palestine purchase an ambulance
car and medicine.
Hajriyanto Thohari, a legislator from the House Commission I,
hailed the handover of the aid.
"The amount of the aid is small, however, symbolically, this
shows our solidarity with the Palestinian people," he said.