MUI Criticizes Donald Trump's Idea to Relocate Gaza Residents to Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Anwar Abbas, spoke out regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to relocate the Palestinians in  to Indonesia. He mentioned that there is something questionable behind Trump's humanitarian idea.

"Is Trump's plan worthy of support or not? I don't think so, because there's 'something fishy' behind this plan that cannot be accepted," said Anwar in a written statement on Thursday, January 23, 2025.

Anwar suspected that Trump intends to weaken the power of Hamas and other resistance groups in Palestine. Gaza's population decline would interrupt these resistance groups from recruiting members. As a result, the U.S. and Israel could gain more control over the existing resistance groups in Palestine. Furthermore, Anwar believes the U.S. and Israel would not return the Gaza residents to Palestine after their relocation. He thinks the presence of Gaza residents is a threat to both the U.S. and Israel.

"With the Gaza region emptied, Israel will be even more eager to realize the Greater Israel they have dreamed of, as they will be able to control the territory of Palestine," he said.

Therefore, Anwar urged the Indonesian government to reject Trump's plan. "Because behind the humanitarian mask he (Trump) is using, there is a bad plan that we cannot accept, which is to strengthen and expand the state of Israel while sacrificing the independence and interests of the Palestinian people," he stated.

Earlier, the Spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu), Rolliansyah Soemirat, mentioned that Indonesia had never received any proposal from any party regarding the large-scale relocation of Gaza residents to Indonesia.

"Indonesia has never received any information regarding this matter," said Rolliansyah on January 20, 2025.

This means the plan does not exist, it has not been officially discussed with the Indonesian government. So far, the Indonesian government has been actively sending various forms of aid to Palestine, but none of them is about relocating the residents.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono claimed that Indonesia is ready to support the reconstruction of Gaza, increase humanitarian aid shipments, and send peacekeeping forces to Palestine if requested by the United Nations, as he said on Friday, January 17, 2025.

In a written statement, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also asserted relocating residents is unacceptable. In an official statement received by Tempo, the Ministry claimed various attempts to reduce the Palestinian population in Gaza could lead to the expansion of Israel's illegal occupation.

"A ceasefire in Gaza must be a moment to begin dialogue and negotiations to achieve a two-state solution, following international law and the international parameters that have been agreed upon," the statement read.

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