Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged President Prabowo Subianto to reassess his plan to evacuate Gaza residents to Indonesia, saying that the plan should be reviewed thoroughly.
"It requires an in-depth and comprehensive study so that Indonesia is truly prepared," MUI secretary-general Amirsyah Tambunan said in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by tempo.co.
The President has proposed bringing 1,000 Gaza residents to Indonesia for temporary recovery and is visiting the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan to seek support for this plan, amid the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
"[The Gaza residents] will only be here temporarily until they are well again, and once they recover and conditions in Gaza allow, they must return to their homeland.
I believe this is the stance of the Indonesian government," Prabowo said in Jakarta before departing for the UAE on April 9.
Amirsyah said Prabowo had also previously proposed evacuating around 1,000 women, children and orphans from Gaza while serving as the defense minister. However, the renewed proposal has sparked fierce public debate.
"Because it aligns with the relocation idea previously proposed by United States President Donald Trump," he said.
The MUI strongly rejects Trump's plan to relocate residents of Gaza to other countries, as it constitutes an international crime and is even more brutal than ethnic cleansing.
Amirsyah urged Indonesians to remain united in their stance and advocacy for the Palestinian cause.
The MUI is also ready to participate in seeking the best path of supporting Palestine, both in terms of humanitarian aid and the struggle for independence.
"We hope there will be strong synergy between the government and society in defending Palestine," Amirsyah said.
The governments of Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE as well as the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have all rejected Trump's plan of removing the Palestinians from Gaza to be replaced by Israeli settlers.
Should the proposal go as planned, the Palestinians would suffer a repetition of the Nakba, when European Jewish settlers drove indigenous Palestinians out of their homes and lands in 1948.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Fadhli, a political analyst from Trust Indonesia, said that Palestine is in more urgent need of medical aid and health facilities.
"In the face of increasingly brutal Israeli attacks, which continue to claim more victims, the Palestinian people are in dire need of medical support and healthcare facilities," Fadhli said on Sunday.
He also suggested that Indonesia could expand scholarship opportunities for Palestinian youth.
"Finally, as a leader of a Muslim-majority country, Prabowo could take a more radical stance by campaigning for a boycott of products affiliated with Israel as a pressure tactic," Fadhli said.