PBNU Chairman Gus Yahya Plans To Fly To Palestine

PBNU General Chairman KH Yahya Cholil Staquf (ANTARA/ Mario Sofia Nasution)

JAKARTA - The Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) delegation will soon visit Palestine to hold further dialogue with policymakers there. The PBNU will also discuss a series of possible collaborations.

"Later, God willing, in a more coordinated visit. Hopefully, we can send an official delegation from NU to visit and meet with the authorities in Palestine to dialogue further cooperation between NU and the Palestinian people," explained the General Chair (Ketum) The Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Yahya Cholil Staquf as seen on the official PBNU website, Monday, March 28.

At that time Gus Yahya was having virtual discussions with the Palestinian Presidential Advisor on religious matters and the Palestinian Supreme Court Justice, Mahmoud Al Habbash. Gus Yahya said that in fact, he had visited Palestine several times.

But the visit was not official or on a personal behalf. For this reason, he hopes that his visit will be doubled and more official.

"God willing, my friends and I in the NU environment will try to find ways and opportunities to be able to visit Palestine," he said. Previously, Mahmoud sent an invitation to PBNU to be able to visit Palestine. "On behalf of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian government, and all Muslims in Palestine, we specially invite KH Yahya Cholil Staquf and also Nahdlatul Ulama to be able to visit Al-Quds through the official door, namely the Palestinian door," said Mahmoud.

Palestine is very wide open to welcome the visit of NU representatives. He also hoped that the NU delegation could meet and discuss directly with the scholars in Palestine in order to send a comprehensive peace treaty to all corners of the world.

"We specifically invite and are waiting for an answer to be able to fulfill our invitation. Even though in the future in the month of Ramadan, we are ready to accept the visit of the kiai," said Mahmoud.

Mahmoud at that time also explained that Israel imposed a time division for Palestinians to visit the Aqsa Mosque, starting at 07.00 a.m. until 12.00 p.m. local time or before Zuhur. After that time, Israelis are allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Palestinians are prohibited from entering the mosque.

For this reason, he emphasized that the conflict in Palestine is not only a problem for Palestinians, but also a problem for all Muslims in the world.