VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir has urged the Indonesian people to not be divided in responding to the conflict and humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine.

"Do not let this nation be divided because of reacting to the Palestinian issue as its position is clear; moreover, it's stated in the national goals. One of them is that we want to participate in (maintaining) world order and lasting peace," Nashir said during a public discussion on the ‘Arab-Israel Conflict, Peace Opportunities and Challenges’, held online on Monday.

As Indonesia was once colonized, all sections of the Indonesian nation must understand the problem and share the same view — that colonialism in any country on earth is the most bitter, dark, and most cruel human tragedy that must be opposed, he remarked.

Muhammadiyah appreciates the right, consistent, and firm position taken by the Indonesian government in support of the independence of the Palestinian people, said Nashir.

"We appreciate the Indonesian government for taking the right and consistent position to support Palestine firmly," he stated.

Even some Arab countries, according to him, have not taken as firm a stance on the issue as Indonesia.

He urged citizens and national elites, who have so far supported the current regime, to also support its stand on Palestine.

The Indonesian nation has responded to the problem of Palestinian occupation within the framework of the Constitutional mandate, he said.

The preamble to the 1945 Constitution (UUD) stipulates that colonialism in the world must be abolished because it is not in accordance with humanity and justice, he pointed out.

He also said he hopes that every party would stop seeing the issue of Palestine solely as an issue of Islam against others.

Nashir, however, did not deny that the problem of Palestine intersects with the issue of Islam when viewed from the historical perspective and the presence of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, held sacred by Muslims after the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Nabawi Mosque in Medina.

"That there is an Islamic context, okay, as far as exclusively Islam is concerned. But when concerning the relationship among nations and humanity, this is a matter of colonialism," he remarked.  (Antaranews)