Indonesia Should Help Gaza People

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The chairman of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), Dr Jose Rizal Jurnalis, has urged the government to actively assist the Palestinian people in Gaza because of Indonesia's strong presence in the Islamic world.

"Indonesia is a country that has great influence in the Islamic world. So I asked the government to be more aggressive in defending the Palestinians in Gaza," he said here on Monday.

Jurnalis stated that the Indonesian government could help Gaza's people by, among other things, providing humanitarian aid and defending their rights and interests at international forums.

"Israeli control over the border between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah is relatively weaker, so it is easier to provide outside support in the form of volunteers, food and medicines for Gaza people," he explained.

Jurnalis also called on the Indonesian government to send its officials on a visit to the Gaza Strip to express political support for the Palestinians.

"The current tension between Palestine and Israel is different to that of 2009, when almost no leaders or state officials intervened. But now we can see that Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil and Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem visited Gaza to show support for the Palestinians,he pointed out.(*DWA)