JAKARTA — Representing Retno Marsudi as the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs who was unable to attend, Muhsin Syihab as the Expert Staff of Inter-Institutional Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave an appreciation speech to Dompet Dhuafa in the theater event “Land of the Imprisoned: Lantangkan Suara untuk Palestina” which took place at the Jakarta Arts Building, Thursday (03/10/2024) evening. The event is a collaboration between Dompet Dhuafa and Titimangsa, which aims to voice humanitarian issues through cultural solidarity over the genocide that occurred in the State of Palestine.
In his speech, Muhsin emphasized the importance of synergy between the humanitarian efforts made by Dompet Dhuafa and the work of the Indonesian government to help the State of Palestine. He invited all attendees to raise their voices through prayer, in support of the Palestinians’ struggle for independence.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may, I would like to emphasize three things from what we have seen in the “Land of the Imprisoned” theater. If it was mentioned earlier to raise our voices for Palestine, even if we cannot raise our voices, at least, let’s raise our hearts in every prayer. That is the least we can do. Let us not pray for the Palestinians in our prayers,” he said.
Muhsin explained three important dimensions of the struggle: the domestic dimension, the international forum dimension, and the dimension in the State of Palestine. He highlighted the need to maintain an understanding of Palestinian history at home, given the many campaigns on social media that obscure historical facts and perceive the people of the State of Palestine as terrorists. He proposed that this understanding be included in the basic education curriculum.
He also criticized the attitude of countries in international forums, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, which did not mention the word Palestine. According to him, this is a signal that there is an attempt to erase Palestine from history. Therefore, Muhsin called for a push to encourage the State of Palestine to be recognized as a sovereign nation.
“We cannot remain silent and we must also encourage to keep pressing strongly to all parties so that Palestine can sit equally with other nations, as a sovereign, independent nation and build its own country,” he said firmly.
Muhsin concluded his speech by reminding the importance of collaboration between humanitarian organizations in fighting for the fate of the Palestinian people. Synergistic cooperation, according to him, will have a greater impact in achieving this goal.
According to him, Dompet Dhuafa has proven it. Together with various stakeholders and donors, Dompet Dhuafa not only voices, but has distributed a lot of aid to the people in Palestine.
The theater event, which was attended by 400 visitors, became one of the important steps in raising support and awareness of the humanitarian conditions in the State of Palestine, as well as showing the commitment of the Indonesian people to the issue.
Read also: From the Land of the Imprisoned: An Unquenchable Call for the Struggle of the Palestinian People
Dompet Dhuafa continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine who are experiencing humanitarian crimes. Dompet Dhuafa also strongly condemns the aggression carried out by the Israeli Zionists.
Throughout the past year since the Israeli military aggression on October 7, 2023, Dompet Dhuafa has realized various forms of assistance, including the delivery of logistical assistance, mobility support in the form of ambulances, health and medical facility services, and food security programs.
Dompet Dhuafa is also committed to continue to voice its solidarity and struggle with the people of Palestine in achieving their independence, both through prayers and concrete actions. Donations for Palestine are always open at any time for anyone. Let’s lend a hand, unite steps, together with Dompet Dhuafa for the State of Palestine through digital.dompetdhuafa.org/donate/jagapalestina. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Riza Muthohar
Editor: Dhika Prabowo