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.