10-6-2024 (JAKARTA) In a compassionate gesture reflecting Indonesia’s long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian cause, President-elect Prabowo Subianto has announced plans to welcome approximately 1,000 Palestinian refugees from Gaza and provide them with educational opportunities at Islamic boarding schools in East Java. The proposal, initially put forth by the former governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, will be formally submitted to the outgoing President Joko Widodo for consideration.
Prabowo, who currently serves as the defense minister, expressed his commitment to coordinating with the United Nations Secretary-General and other world leaders to facilitate the implementation of this initiative. “It is not yet known how the technical implementation of accepting refugees from Gaza will be, but I would coordinate with the secretary-general of the United Nations and other state leaders regarding the proposal,” he stated, as quoted by the Antara news agency on June 7.
The proposal has garnered support from various public figures and organizations across the archipelago. Mdm Khofifah, who chairs the women’s wing of the influential Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) organization, revealed that she has been coordinating with Islamic boarding schools in East Java to provide care and education for children from the Palestinian territories. NU, regarded as the world’s largest Islamic organization, has a significant presence in Indonesia.
Moreover, several universities in East Java have expressed their readiness to offer scholarships to these refugees. “We have communicated with the Palestinian ambassador, and this university (Universitas Islam Malang/Unisma) is ready to provide 50 undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral scholarships for Palestinian students,” Mdm Khofifah announced on Sunday (Jun 9).
Indonesia has a long-standing tradition of providing educational scholarships to Palestinian students, and in November of the previous year, Prabowo welcomed 22 of them who received scholarships at the Defense University in Jakarta. This initiative is part of the international community’s efforts to support the people of the war-torn region.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also been collaborating with universities in Pakistan, which have pledged to offer 5,000 fellowships for Palestinian students, as reported by Arab News.
In addition to educational assistance, the Indonesian government has expressed its intention to evacuate over 1,000 Palestinians injured by Israeli attacks in Gaza for medical treatment in Indonesian hospitals. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi acknowledged that the evacuation process would be a long-drawn endeavor and might only be realized during the new administration under Prabowo’s presidency.
“Because the first question is how they can get out of Gaza and so on. So maybe at the time of implementation it will be under the administration of the elected president,” Mdm Retno stated, as quoted by Republika media.
Furthermore, Prabowo revealed that Widodo plans to send medical workers to war-torn Gaza and establish a makeshift field hospital to aid Palestinians injured by the ongoing Israeli military campaign.
At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Prabowo reiterated Indonesia’s long-standing position that the two-state solution is the only path to achieving lasting peace and security for both Israel and the Palestinian territories. “Why is this important for us? Because Indonesia is part of the Islamic world. Although physically, we are not of the region, but what happens in the Middle East, in Gaza it affects and concerns … the Indonesian people,” he emphasized.
The devastating war, precipitated by Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, has claimed the lives of at least 36,801 Palestinians, according to an updated tally by the territory’s health ministry on June 8, as reported by Reuters. Israeli authorities have reported 1,200 casualties from the initial Hamas attacks.
