RI can only provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians: Envoy

RI can only provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians: Envoy

Claire Harvey, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia should provide immediate financial and humanitarian aid
to the Palestinians after the destruction of their institutions
and infrastructure by the Israelis, Egyptian Ambassador to
Indonesia Ezzat Saad El Sayed has said.

"Apart from the financial, humanitarian and moral support, I
don't think Indonesia alone, or any other country, can do much
more than has been done," El Sayed told The Jakarta Post in an
interview late last week.

"We are all requested to support the Palestinians after the
destruction of their institutions and infrastructure by the
Israeli forces," he added.

Following the incursion by Israeli troops into Palestinian
cities late last March, hundreds of Indonesian youths belonging
to militant Muslim groups signed up as volunteers to fight
against advancing Israeli troops in war-torn Palestinian
territory.

The government, which has neither banned nor encouraged the
volunteers, announced earlier that it would donate humanitarian
assistance worth Rp 1 billion (US$104,000) to Palestinians. Vice
President Hamzah Haz also promised that the Indonesian Red Cross
(PMI) would send them assistance, but specific details of the
timing and amount of aid had yet to be finalized.

Egypt, one of the few Middle Eastern countries that recognizes
the existence of an Israeli state, withdrew its ambassador to
Israel in November 2000 in protest at the Israeli government's
refusal to implement previous peace agreements. At the end of
March this year, Egypt suspended all government-to-government
contacts with Israel, except talks on the welfare of the
Palestinians.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been among the most vocal
Arab leaders in criticizing Israel. President Mubarak said last
Wednesday that Israel's "barbaric aggression" would fuel hatred
of Israel in the Arab world.

According to El Sayed, Indonesia and all Muslim nations had to
apply political pressure to the United States, as well as
providing financial and humanitarian assistance to the
Palestinian people.

"I believe that the role of Egypt and other peace-loving
countries, including Indonesia, is to convince the states that
accord a biased treatment to Israel -- particularly the United
States -- to ensure the respect and implementation of
international legitimacy."

"Israel must immediately cease hostilities and fully withdraw
its forces from the West Bank before any talks can begin," said
El Sayed, who holds a PhD in international human rights law.

He applauded the actions of Indonesian legislators in passing
a five-point condemnation of Israeli aggression earlier this
month.

"The world has never witnessed a situation as desperate as is
occurring in the Middle East now," El Sayed said.

"The response of both Indonesia's legislature and government
is almost identical to that of the Arab countries, and I find it
sufficient, taking into account the realities on the ground."

He also said that Indonesia's efforts to help the United
States' war on terrorism were being undermined by the U.S.'
failure to rein-in Israeli "terrorism" against the Palestinians.

Continued U.S. support of Israel made it difficult for nations
like Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, to maintain
support for the antiterrorism drive, El Sayed said.

"Unless the Americans can convince the Middle East to do
something, the Arab and Muslim countries might reconsider their
contribution to this international cooperation to counter
terrorism," he said.

"What is needed now is a collective, coordinated effort to
convince the American administration that it would be very
difficult to talk seriously and credibly about an effective
coalition against terrorism while the Israeli government
continues its defiance of the entire international community," he
said.