Indonesian Parliament And Morocco Agree That Palestine's Independence Must Continue To Fight

Photo by Ahmed Abu Hameda on Unsplash

JAKARTA - ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly has not forgotten the Palestinian struggle. On the sidelines of this trial, efforts continue to inflame the Palestinian independence struggle.

This is a conclusion from the meeting of the President of the Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) 2023, Puan Maharani with the Chairman of the Royal Morocco House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi El Alami in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 44th AIPA General Assembly.

"Palestinian independence is still a historical debt that we need to continue to fight for," said Puan at a meeting held at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday, August 8.

During the bilateral meeting with the Morocco Delegation which was the observer country at the 44th General Assembly, Puan was accompanied by Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives Charles Honoris, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) of the Indonesian House of Representatives Gilang Dhilafararez and Member of Commission IV DPR RI Ravindra Airlangga.

Meanwhile, Rachid was accompanied by the Director of the Parliamentary Cabinet Morocco Chaqri Ahmed, Member of the Parliamentary Cabinet Anas Ben Abdelkrim El Filali and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Marokko in Indonesia, Ouadimen Benabdellah.

Puan also considered this meeting an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Indonesia and Morocco, which has been established since the opening of diplomatic relations in 1960. Moroko himself is Indonesia's strategic partner since the two countries attempted to escape colonial colonialism.

"President Soekarno's visit to Rabat on May 2, 1960, as the visit of the world's first head of state to Morocco after independence. Then the existence of Jalan Soekarno, as one of the main roads in Rabat, is a testament to the close ties between Indonesia and Morocco," explained Puan.

Regarding economic cooperation, the first woman to serve as Chair of the Indonesian House of Representatives hopes that Indonesia and Morocco can increase the value of her trade, which had decreased due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. According to Puan, the cooperation between the two countries in the economic sector must bounce back.

"The two countries also need to encourage business actors to develop mutually beneficial cooperation opportunities, especially in MSMEs," said the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

In addition, Puan appreciated the opening of the Trading House or the Indonesian Trade Representative Office in Morocco and the establishment of the Morocco-Indonesia Business Council, as well as the initiation of government to government (G to G) cooperation in the field of halal products.

"I hope that the existence of this institution can increase trade and hope that the process of making the Halal Certificate MoU initiated by the Government can be completed soon," explained Puan.

Furthermore, as an active country in the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) forum, Puan also hopes that Indonesia and Morocco can continue to work together in promoting peace among Islamic countries, especially those in the Middle East region.

"Indonesia and Morocco want the Middle East to become a peaceful, stable, and prosperous region. And jointly promote moderate, tolerant, and peaceful Islam," he said.

In cooperation in the field of education, Puan appreciated the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation for providing scholarships to a number of Indonesian students who wanted to gain knowledge in Morocco.

"In the future, I hope this program can continue to be improved so as to bring mutual benefits. The existence of Indonesian students in Morocco, which is quite large, is proof that Morocco is one of the options to gain Islamic knowledge," said Puan.

Regarding Palestinian independence, this became a discussion in this meeting because of Puan's commitment to Palestinian independence.

"Earlier at Mrs. Puan's meeting we talked about how we hope that Morocco will remain consistent with Indonesia in supporting Palestinian independence," said Charles Honoris, who took part in the meeting.

On that occasion, Rachid also invited Puan and the Indonesian House of Representatives delegation to come to Morocco before holding the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Angola. Charles said Morocco claimed Indonesia was one of the important countries for them.

According to them, Indonesia is an important country for Morocco, especially Bung Karno. They also want to increase cooperation in the fields of trade and investment in more cooperation between Indonesia and Morocco, especially in the field of fertilizer," he explained.