KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman, yesterday donated RM100,000 from the Al-Aman Foundation to the victims of war in Palestine. He made the donation at the Hari Raya open house of Minister of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, at Taman Kingfisher Sulaman, near here.
Musa, as chairman of the Al-Aman Foundation, presented the donation to the Palestine Ambassador to Malaysia, Dr. Anwar H. Al Agha.
According to Musa, the people are aware of the conflict and the action Israel has taken towards the Palestinians which gives them a sense of sympathy for the sufferings borne by the people of Palestine.
“It does not matter what type of assistance we offer, we must always be ready to help. I would also like to express my condolences to the family members of the victims on board MH17,” Musa said.
“Even though the Raya celebration by the State Government is not held on a big scale, it still serves the purpose for the people of Sabah to feel the Raya spirit and strengthen the relationship amongst Sabahans,” he added.
Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan also donated RM50,000 from the Datuk Haji Dahlan Harun Family Fund to the Media Prima Palestine Humanitarian Fund.
Rahman said that tragedy in Gaza goes beyond the issues of religion and race.
“Therefore, Malaysians must come together to give undivided support to the Palestinians and for Israel to be punished accordingly for their actions,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ambassador in response expressed his gratitude for the continuous support Malaysia has given to Palestine.
“We always feel and see strong support for Palestine, particularly Gaza, from Malaysia. Malaysia has always stood firmly in brotherly support to the Palestinians in the belief that the Palestinians have the right to live peacefully and to establish the state of Palestine,” he said.
Ambassador Anwar also said that the Prime Minister of Palestine, Rami Hamdallah, and Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Haji Najib Tun Abdul Razak are always in contact with each other, giving examples of Rami calling Najib on the MH17 tragedy to express his condolences, and Najib contacting Rami by phone to enquire on the State of Palestine after the attack.
“This proves the strong bilateral relationship between Palestine and Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the countries that we are grateful to as we receive real support from Malaysia. We count very much on the support from Malaysia because we share many values,” he said, during a press conference held during the Raya open house, yesterday.
Anwar, who has been the Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia for three months, described Israel’s action this time as the most aggressive and brutal, particularly in Gaza, compared to the years 2008 and 2009.
According to him, some 1,280 Palestinians have died and over 7,000 injured from Israel’s action, and most of the people who lost their lives were children and women.
More people are losing their life. We hope the international community will pressure Israel to stop their action immediately.
We feel very sorry that there are always children who have to pay the price for the Israelis’ occupation of Palestine for almost 66 years,” he stressed.
Also attending the open house were Anwar’s wife, Maram Agha, Minister of Special Tasks, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, Minister of Local Government and Housing, Datuk Hajiji Noor, State Assembly Speaker, Datuk Salleh Tun Said, Assistant Minister of Infrastructure, Datuk Bobbey Suan, MIC Sabah chairman, Datuk V Jothi and other guests.