Supporting Palestine, Indonesia-Al Azhar Strengthen Humanitarian Cooperation
Jakarta, wapresri.go.id —Apart from discussing wasathiyyah Islam and educational cooperation, Vice President (Wapres) K.H. Ma’ruf Amin also emphasized Indonesia’s commitment to strengthening cross-border cooperation in supporting humanity and development in Palestine. This was conveyed by the Vice President when receiving Grand Sheikh Al Azhar Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad At Tayyeb Al Hassani, at the Vice President’s Palace, Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No.6, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (10/07/2024).
In this meeting, the Vice President highlighted the crisis occurring in Gaza. For this reason, he emphasized the importance of Indonesia and Egypt’s commitment to always support Palestine.
“I am sure that Indonesia and Egypt will continue to solidly support Palestine. “Indonesia’s attention to the crisis situation in Gaza is very great,” he said.
The Vice President also underlined Indonesia’s commitment to continue collaborating with Egypt in distributing humanitarian aid. Apart from that, he noted the potential for cooperation in managing waqf and alms with Al Azhar, with long-term goals that will have a big impact on national development.
“In the long term, the management of waqf and alms can have a big impact on national development. “I hope Bayt Zakat As Sadaqat Al Azhar can work together with BAZNAS and the Indonesian Waqf Board regarding this matter,” said the Vice President optimistically.
Responding to this, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar At Tayyeb Al Hassani, conveyed greetings from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome from Indonesia. He revealed that President Al-Sisi appreciated Indonesia’s important role in helping the people of Gaza, especially after the war which started on October 7 2023.
“We, together with President Al-Sisi, are very concerned about Indonesia’s important role in helping our brothers and sisters in Gaza, especially after the 7 October 2023 War. We hope that Indonesia will continue to support ceasefire efforts in Gaza, help return displaced residents, and increase humanitarian aid,” he said.
For information, as a form of Indonesia’s support for Palestine and Indonesia’s solidarity with Egypt which handles Palestinian refugees, the Indonesian Government sent emergency medical assistance worth USD 1 million (equivalent to IDR 15.7 billion) for Palestinian refugees in Egypt on April 4 2024. The assistance was handed over from Echelon officials 2 National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to Echelon 2 officials of the Egyptian Ministry of Health in Cairo, witnessed by the Head of BNPB. This assistance is the Indonesian Government’s response to the Egyptian Ministry of Health’s request for assistance which was submitted in January 2024. The realization of assistance was delayed due to Israeli bombardment in Rafah between February-March 2024 which caused the flow of aid to be hampered and even stopped.
Present accompanying Grand Sheikh Al Azhar, Egyptian Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia Yasser Elshemy, Secretary General of the Council of Senior Scholars Al-Azhar Abbas Abdallah Abbas Sulaiman, Counselor of the Muslim Council of Elders Mohamed Abdelsalam, Vice President of the International Organization of Alumni Al-Azhar Azhar Mohamed Hussein El Mahrasawy, Secretary General of the Islamic Research Institute Al-Azhar (Majma Al-Buhus Al-Islamiyah) Nazir Mohamed Ayad, and Special Advisor to the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar for Foreign Affairs Abdelrahman Moussa.
Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Religion Saiful Rahmat Dasuki, Head of the Vice President’s Secretariat Ahmad Erani Yustika, Deputy for Human Development Policy Support and Equal Development Suprayoga Hadi, Special Staff of the Vice President for Bureaucratic Reform M. Nasir, Staff of the Vice President for Communications and Information Masduki Baidlowi, Special Staff of the Vice President for General Affairs Masykuri Abdillah, Special Staff of the Vice President for Poverty Alleviation and Regional Autonomy M. Imam Aziz.
(SK/RJP-BPMI, Setwapres)