Indonesian Actvists and Journalists to Join Gaza Freedom Flotilla Humanitarian Mission

Jakarta, MINA – Chairman of the Presidium of the humanitarian organization that focuses on defending Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Aqsa Working Group (AWG), Ir. Nur Ikhwan Abadi has returned to join the humanitarian mission for Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC).

FFC will bring around 5,500 tons of aid to the people of Gaza by sea on cargo ships. Nur Ikhwan took part in a similar action in 2010 using the Mavi Marmara ship. He was one of the activists who survived the action, while 16 of his colleagues were martyred as a result of attacks by the Israeli army, according to a report by the Turkiye humanitarian organization, Insani Yardim Fakvi (IHH).

In 2024, activists, journalists and influencers from 12 countries, including Indonesia, will participate in the FCC in 2024. The quota available for Indonesia is 10 people and three of them have flown from Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten to Turkiye in the early hours of Wednesday at 00.55 p.m.

The three are Nur Ikhwan Abadi from AWG, Nurhadis (journalist for MINA News Agency), and Desi Fitriani (senior journalist for Metro TV). After arriving in Turkiye, they will join other FFC activists to move together towards Gaza, Palestine.

“The FFC mission is a big mission, there are 12 countries forming a coalition to join this mission, namely penetrating the Gaza Strip by sea. This mission was attended by at least 1000 activists from various countries and Indonesia received a quota of 10 people, AWG was one of the activists from Indonesia. “When AWG takes part in this mission, it will also hand over aid from the Indonesian people to the people of Gaza directly,” said Nur Ikhwan.

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Apart from handing over aid from the Indonesian people, this mission is also an initial assessment step in the process of building the Indonesian Mother and Child Hospital (RSIA) in Gaza which was initiated by the Maemuna Center (Mae-C). Mae-C is the women’s wing of AWG which focuses on the issues of Palestinian women and children.

“If this mission (FFC) can reach Gaza with Allah’s permission, then we will immediately carry out the construction of RSIA Indonesia in the sense of an initial assessment where we have succeeded in obtaining approximately 5000m² of land in Gaza,” said Nur Ikhwan.

“This is a mission to campaign about how Gaza has been blockaded for almost 17 years and has been fighting very hard for the past six months. We carry out a mission so that humanitarian aid originating from various regions throughout the world can immediately come in because the need is very urgent due to the lack of basic needs of the people of Gaza. “So hopefully this mission can be successful and the goods we bring can be distributed immediately,” he continued.

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Nur Ikhwan hopes that the Indonesian people can provide support for the FFC’s humanitarian mission in various ways, both moral and material support, as well as being active in spreading information and news about the FFC.

“To all Indonesian people, you should always take part in this mission trip. Support from the Indonesian people is urgently needed. We will convey everything that happens, God willing, and report it to the Indonesian people through news on the Minanews.net website. This is our opportunity to support Palestine by broadcasting news which, God willing, we will send directly from the location of the incident. “For this reason, the Indonesian people can continue to support this both morally and materially, then by sharing news that we get directly from the field,” said Nur Ikhwan.

According to its official release, the FFC will sail in mid-April with several ships, carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international human rights monitors to oppose Israel’s ongoing illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.

This is an emergency mission because the situation in Gaza is very bad, with famine occurring in the northern part of Gaza, and famine occurring throughout the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli occupation’s deliberate policy of starving the Palestinian people.

Time is of the essence as experts estimate that famine and disease could claim more lives than the death toll in the bombings.

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“Providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza is urgent, but it is not enough. “We must end Israel’s unlawful and deadly blockade and Israel’s control of Gaza as a whole,” read the official FFC release.

The FFC committee also emphasized that letting Israel control what and how much humanitarian aid it can provide to Palestinians in Gaza is like letting the fox manage the chicken coop.

Yet, this is exactly what the international community of states is allowing by refusing to sanction Israel and opposing its genocidal policies to ensure that sufficient aid can reach the trapped, besieged and bombarded civilian population.

The Cypriot maritime corridor, the US floating dock project, and symbolic food deliveries are a distraction from the fact that these methods of delivering aid are inadequate, and still allow Israel to control what aid can be provided to the Palestinian people, while Israel actively prevents thousands of aid trucks from entering Gaza via land crossing.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) was formed following the 2010 Freedom Flotilla mission, in which Israeli forces killed ten Turkish civilians, and injured 30 others while attacking flotilla ships in international waters.

This coalition brings together organizations working to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza from countries around the world, including Turkey, Canada, the United States, Spain, South Africa and others. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)