As a form of support to Indonesia’s diplomatic stance, conglomerate owner and philanthropist Tahir has announced that he will donate Rp 20 billion (US$1.31 million) to the United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees.

Tahir said he made the decision after hearing Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi speak last week about Indonesia’s foreign policy stance as an ardent supporter of the Palestinian cause.

“So, [Indonesia is] committed to that, and one way to show our commitment is through a donation,” he said.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East suffered a serious deficit after United States President Donald Trump decided to cut off all funding from the US, who had been a donor for 70 years.

The UNRWA was established in 1948 to help Palestinians who were forcibly expelled from their towns and villages. It now employs more than 30,000 people, mostly in the education field, and ensures around 5 million Palestinian refugees have access to housing, health care, education and social services.

Earlier this year, Indonesia donated $1.36 million, mostly from non-governmental sources such as non-profit organizations, universities and philanthropists.

Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan Andy Rachmianto said the government would have to calculate the latest figure, because in addition to Tahir’s donation, Indonesia also held a number of fundraising events in universities, NGOs and other communities during the recent Solidarity Week to Palestine.

Tahir has pledged donations to several UN agencies in Africa and the Middle East, such as to UNICEF and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as to the government of Jordan, which hosts millions of refugees from Palestine and Syria.

UNRWA director of planning Abdirahman Aynte said his agency would work with the Tahir Foundation and the government to ensure that all the agreements were in place.

“Once the agreements are in place, the funds will come from the Tahir Foundation to our agency. Obviously the donor has a choice to earmark the funds to a specific area or project, […] or we can decide,” he said.

Aynte said the UNRWA started this year with a $446 million deficit, “and after nine months of campaigning all around the world, […] we have reduced our deficit to around $60 million.”

However, he said his agency’s challenge would be how to budget for next year as the US would no longer provide $360 million.

Separately, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian conflict may turn into a religious one between Muslims and Jews, calling on Indonesian Muslims to fight for a free Palestine.

He said Palestine did not have other resources but its religion to help in its fight against Israel.

Religion was the reason why so many people come to Palestine for religious tourism, the foreign minister said in a question-and-answer session of a public lecture organized by the University of Indonesia’s (UI) Strategic and Global Studies School in Salemba, Central Jakarta.

When asked how Indonesians could help, al-Maliki said it could be done through such public events to raise awareness about the conditions in Palestine.

In his lecture, al-Maliki said Palestine rejected the US as the sole broker in the peace process as the US was biased toward Israel by providing unconditional support, including economic and military aid.

Earlier in the morning, al-Maliki met President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace.

Intern Tadeo Nahumury contributed to the article

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