Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has asked the Indonesian people to not tire of defending truth and justice for the Palestinian people, who are still fighting for their independence.She made the appeal after receiving the Diplomacy Mujahidah Award from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for fighting for peace, human rights, and independence, especially for the Palestinian people.
"I am very proud to see fellow Indonesian community organizations, activists, and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to provide support to Palestine. May the good deeds of the ladies and gentlemen be a blessing and good deed," she remarked here on Thursday.
She described the award as a reminder that the struggle of Palestine is a shared struggle and expressed the hope it would motivate more people to do good.
She said that the journey of the Palestinian people to secure their rights is still long.
"Palestinian independence and efforts to defend truth and justice require the support of countries like Indonesia that consistently dare to say that right is right and wrong is wrong," Marsudi emphasized.
Indonesia is also continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine. The minister noted that over the past decade, the Indonesian government and society have provided a significantly large amount of humanitarian aid to Palestinians
Indonesia has distributed 189 capacity-building grants to more than 2 thousand Palestinian beneficiaries and constructed an Indonesian hospital in Gaza, in addition to committing to provide assistance through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Although Indonesia's diplomatic struggle for Palestine has received great support from the Indonesian people and community organizations, she urged the public to not be careless. Israel is trying to change the narrative of the struggle to paint a negative picture of Palestine on social media in a structured manner, she cautioned.
According to Marsudi, Israel is trying to eliminate Palestinian rights and crush the hope of Palestinian independence. This was reflected in the absence of any reference to Palestine in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the UN General Assembly last week.
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Meanwhile, most UN member states, including Indonesia, raised the Palestinian issue while delivering their national statement. According to Marsudi, the situation in Palestine is very worrying, with more than 41.7 thousand people dead, including 15 thousand children. Many humanitarian workers have also lost their lives in the ongoing conflict.
"More than 10 thousand people are buried, more than 90 thousand people are injured, and 70 percent of housing in Gaza is destroyed. Not only civilians are targeted, humanitarian workers are also targeted with 220 humanitarian workers having lost their lives," she pointed out.
She also emphasized that Indonesia has chosen to defend justice and humanity. One of the main things that Indonesia fought for during the UN General Assembly was to continue to rally countries to recognize the state of Palestine.
Indonesia, she added, is also continuing to push the implementation of the UN General Assembly Resolution Number ES-10/24 asking Israel to end its illegal activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, in keeping with the legal fatwa of the International Court of Justice.
