CNN Indonesia
Thursday, 19 Oct 2023 14:33 IWST
Indonesian President Jokowi meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) at the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka. (Doc. Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
A number of heads of Muslim states and Muslim-majority countries made statements after the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza Strip, Palestine attacked on Tuesday (17/10).
Not long after the incident, President Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed criticism. However, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had not made an official statement to the public until October 19.
Erdogan strongly condemns attack on hospital
Erdogan said the bombing of the hospital was the latest example of an Israeli attack.
“Attacking a hospital filled with women, children and civilians not praying is the latest example of an Israeli attack that has no attack,” he said on X on Wednesday (18/10) at 14.40.
He then asked all parties to take steps to stop the brutal actions in Gaza.
On the same day at 22.30, Erdogan appreciated the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which held an emergency meeting at the Foreign Minister level in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This meeting was to respond to the attitude of Muslim countries after Al Ahli Hospital was bombarded by rockets.
In the tweet, Erdogan repeated his criticism.
“Yesterday, the massacre in Gaza was taken to another dimension with the attack on Al Ahli Baptist Hospital,” Erdogan said.
He later said, “I condemn the perpetrators of this attack, which is a crime and amounts to genocide.”
In another tweet, Erdogan also announced that Turkey was declaring three days of mourning after the attack on the hospital as a form of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
“As a form of our concern for thousands of martyrs, many of them children and innocent civilians, three days of mourning have been declared in our country,” Erdogan said at X on Wednesday.
Malaysian PM calls hospital attack crazy
Meanwhile, Anwar Ibrahim retweeted a tweet by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres condemning the attack on the hospital.
He also reposted a tweet from a netizen who supported Palestine by including a picture.
“Israel bombed the hospital [Presiden AS Joe] Biden paid for it,” said the phrase in the picture.
On X, Anwar often seems to repost posts showing their support for Palestine.
When asked by media crew, Anwar also condemned the attack on the hospital. He even called the action inhumane.
“This has reached the level of insanity and dehumanization,” he said.
Anwar also criticized the West for claiming to care about human rights, but still applies double standards and classifies people “in the categories of first class and slaves”.
“We strongly object to this,” said Anwar.
Jokowi still silent?
On social media X, Jokowi did not upload anything about the attack on the hospital in Gaza. He only uploaded his agenda to attend the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum in Beijing, China.
The forum will be held on 17-18 October 2023. After leaving Beijing, Jokowi went straight to Saudi Arabia to attend the ASEAN meeting and the Arab Cooperation Council in the Gulf (GCC). He will only return to Indonesia on October 21.
“Departing from Beijing Capital International Airport, this evening, we will head to Riyadh to continue our state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” wrote Jokowi in X on Wednesday, at 19.15.
Middle East Studies observer from the University of Indonesia, Yon Machmudi, said that Jokowi should have made a statement, especially since Indonesia supports Palestine.
“We should have conveyed our condemnation of the Israeli attack which deliberately targeted a hospital because it was related to serious violations. Moreover, Indonesia’s position is that it is a country that defends Palestine,” Yon told CNNIndonesia.com Thursday.
International relations observer from the Muhammadiyah University of Riau, Fahmi Salsabila, expressed a similar assessment.
“The Palestinian issue should be a serious concern for our government because the conflict has been going on for more than 10 days and Israeli brutality is getting worse,” he said.
(one/bac)
2023-10-19 07:33:16
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