P

alestine, despite being in a tight spot after the slashing of international funding, is donating supplies to the victims of a devastating string of disasters in Central Sulawesi — all in the name of solidarity.

A strong earthquake that hit parts of Central Sulawesi on Sept. 28 was followed by a tsunami and soil liquefaction, claiming more than 2,000 lives and displacing tens of thousands of people.

Inundated by pledges of international assistance, Indonesia chose to carefully manage the inflow of aid packages and volunteers.

Earlier this week, Palestine became the latest nation to pledge assistance, with President Mahmoud Abbas ordering the Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA) to go to Indonesia with supplies and contribute to ongoing relief efforts.

As Palestine’s main tool for public diplomacy, PICA is ready to donate tents, portable electric generators and rice, as well as water and baby products to help the displaced people of Palu, Sigi and Donggala.

“We implemented the instruction immediately. We mobilized all of our resources and here we are today,” said PICA director general Imad Al-Zuhairi in Jakarta on Thursday. “We finalized everything within 48 hours.”

Al-Zuhairi refused to disclose the amount his country was pledging, but said it came from of a principled position vis-à-vis the government and people of Indonesia

“We’ll deliver and contribute, within our capacity, some relief [and] material that we think will be very useful to the displaced people,” he said.

Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair SM Al Shun said the donation was a way for Palestine to show its gratitude to everything Indonesia had done for the country. “We do not want to call it assistance from Palestine; instead it is a form of cooperation and [a gesture of] responsibility from the people based on the brotherhood between the two countries.”

Indonesia is a strong proponent of Palestinian statehood, drawing from the spirit of decolonization that defined the Non-Aligned Movement in the mid-20th century.

As one of the few countries still struggling for independence, Palestine is facing an uphill battle for legitimacy, thrown into disarray by United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Conditions became worse when Washington decided to slash funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides housing, health care, education and social services to 5.3 million Palestinian refugees.

Jakarta doubled its contributions to the UNRWA to US$200,000 this year in hopes of alleviating Palestine’s burden.

Al-Zuhairi said Palestine can still manage to help. “We have to show solidarity, Sister. […] When we received the appeal by the Indonesian government we immediately moved and here we are today. Yes, it is complicated but when we want to do good things, God facilitates everything.”

— JP intern Tadeo Bernice Nahumury contributed to the story.