"The President`s visit to Gaza would help strengthen our relationship with Palestine."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The chairman of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), Dr Jose Rizal Jurnalis, has expressed hope that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would visit North Gaza, Palestine.
"In the past, during a time of conflict, the then president Suharto had visited Bosnia. Now, we hope President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would visit Gaza," he said at a press conference held here on Monday.
"The President`s visit to Gaza would help strengthen our relationship with Palestine. Israel knows it very well that Indonesia is the world`s largest Muslim country," Jurnalis added.
Twenty-eight MER-C volunteers have been deployed in Bayt Lahiya, North Gaza, to help build an Indonesian hospital for Palestinians.
As tension escalated in Gaza after the recent Israeli aggression, Jurnalis instructed the MER-C volunteers to take shelter in the hospital.
Meanwhile, Al Fatah Muhyiddin Islamic boarding school chairman Hamidy, who was also present at the press conference, said the Indonesian volunteers remained calm in the face of bombings taking place just 100 meters away from the hospital.
"They want to continue being involved in the hospital`s construction because for them it`s a sacred mission," he explained.
"The volunteers` families in Indonesia are very proud of them because they are carrying out a noble task in Gaza," Hamidy added.
(T.D018/F001/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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