World seems helpless about the suffering in Gaza: Indonesian President

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News Website
13 Nov 2023 09:53
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in a video message ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo inspects the troops during a parade marking the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesian Armed Forces in Cilegon, Banten, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 (AP)

Before his scheduled meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington, Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for a ceasefire in Gaza and implored the acceleration of humanitarian aid.

“A ceasefire must be implemented soon, we also must accelerate and increase the amount of humanitarian aid, and we must begin peace negotiations,” President Joko Widodo said in a video message after he took part in the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh. He added that the world seems "helpless" about the suffering of Palestinians.

Last week, Indonesia rejected Israeli claims that a hospital constructed in Gaza with Indonesian funds is positioned above a network of Resistance tunnels and close to a rocket launchpad.

The hospital, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip near the heavily fortified separation barrier, was constructed with donations from Indonesian charitable organizations.

"The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza is a facility built by the Indonesian people entirely for humanitarian purposes and to serve the medical needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza," Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

The Israeli occupation forces commit yet another horrible massacre against the #Palestinian people.#Gaza's Interior Ministry announced that around 400 Palestinians were victims of a brutal Israeli airstrike targeting the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital.

The Interior… pic.twitter.com/xnEi7RNYNb
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 31, 2023

On Saturday, Indonesian-based media outlet Republik reported that Indonesian advocates are calling for a boycott of Israeli-linked products due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The list reportedly includes companies such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Nestle and IBM.

"We in the House of Representatives encourage this boycott movement of Israeli products to become the official stance of the Indonesian government to be followed by all businesses and society," a member of the country’s parliament, Amin Ak, told Republika on Wednesday.

Advocates of the boycott are urging individuals to opt for locally-made products over Israeli-linked ones.

"That would be a good moment to strengthen the tightening of the flow of imported goods, especially imports of some products," said a senior official at the Indonesian Industry Ministry, Putu Juli Ardika.