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Volunteers leave on aid mission
PERILOUS MISSION: People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid (right) leads a prayer for the safety of four Indonesian volunteers — (from left to right, standing) Republika daily photographer Darmawan, Middle East expert Amrozi Z
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PERILOUS MISSION: People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid (right) leads a prayer for the safety of four Indonesian volunteers — (from left to right, standing) Republika daily photographer Darmawan, Middle East expert Amrozi Z. Rais, Indonesian Humanitarian Relief Team logistics coordinator Yayat Supriatna and team coordinator Novariyadi Imam Akbari — in Jakarta on Friday. The volunteers planned to infiltrate Gaza on a humanitarian mission. (JP/J. Adiguna)
Hundreds of people crammed into al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta on Friday to bid farewell to four volunteers of the Indonesian Humanitarian Relief Team (ACT) who were to leave that night on a mission to infiltrate war-torn Palestine and distribute humanitarian aid there.
The antiIsrael atmosphere was obvious in the house of worship, where photos of Israeli soldiers holding Palestinians at gunpoint were pasted to the walls.
Some of the congregation cried “Allahu Akbar [God is Great]” and “long live Palestine”.
As members of the public took turns shaking hands with the volunteers — Novatiyadi Imam Akbari, Yayat Supriyana, Amrozi Rais and Darmawan — others chanted salawat badr (a prayer to Prophet Muhammad), some shedding tears as they spoke.
People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid led the prayer for the safety of the volunteers, who planned to leave for Palestine on Friday.
“We know that no one can guarantee our safety and we don’t know how to get back to Indonesia because we are quite aware of what is happening in Palestine,” said Novariyadi, who is mission coordinator. “We are ready for all possibilities, and so are our families.”
The volunteers will bring with them about Rp 1 billion in cash that was collected over the last eight days at fund-raising events. They plan to use the money to buy food and supplies in Jordan which they will then give to Palestinians.
Amrozi said he and his fellow volunteers planned to team up with the Palestine Solidarity Community — an Amman-based Jordanian organization — as well as several pro-Palestine movements in the region.
“We know Israel has blockaded Palestine. We will try to enter Palestine through Jordan or Syria,” Amrozi said, adding that they would buy visas on arrival in Jordan.
ACT director Ahyuddin said more than 2,000 people had donated money on the condition the team distribute the funds to Palestinians no matter the conditions they faced.
The team is the second to be sent by Indonesia to Palestine. Last week, the largest Muslim country sent 10 volunteers to the besieged Middle-Eastern spot, including journalists.
Some hard-line groups are recruiting and training volunteers to be sent to Palestine as soldiers to resist the Israeli army, despite repeated government warnings against such actions.
Hidayat said Tuesday that sending Indonesian jihadists to the war zone would add to the humanitarian crisis.
“What they need is not fighters, but humanitarian aid, or the public opinion ... that Palestine is not alone, that Israel has committed a war crime. That will give hope to the Palestinians that the war will end,” said Hidayat, who is also co-founder of the Prosperous Justice Party.
Hidayat had just returned from touring Arab and Muslim countries in his capacity as deputy chairman of the Al-Quds Foundation. (naf)
