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.