KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — All donations channelled by Malaysians to Palestine through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in this country all this while were for the needs of the Palestinians and not for the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Refuting claims that donations raised by Malaysian NGOs had failed to reach the Al Aqsa Mosque, Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE) chairman Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor said the donations collected for the past 17 years were for targeted recipients in Palestine including those living near Al-Aqsa Mosque and Baitulmuqaddis (Jerusalem).
He said the claims had originally surfaced last year but had recently re-emerged.
Dr Hafidzi clarified that the maintenance of the mosque was managed by the Jerusalem Wakaf Department under Jordan’s Wakaf Ministry.
“The funds we raised are for Palestinians’ education, transportation, medical, healthcare and also food. We never raised funds for the mosque (Al-Aqsa),” he told Bernama when contacted today.
Hafidzi described the news report which quoted Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia Walid Abu Ali last year as confusing and misleading.
Last year, Walid claimed donations raised by Malaysian NGOs had failed to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque fund for years and the news report that carried his claims has been going viral in the past few days.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Culture Organisation Malaysia (PICOM) chairman, Muslim Imran believed that the Malaysian humanitarian contribution to Palestine has been very important in strengthening and uplifting Palestinians’ spirits.
He said Malaysia was one of the leading members of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) who had continuously contributed to Palestinian civil society and the education and health sectors.
“If the Malaysian NGOs stop their efforts, Palestinians will be affected heavily in the Gaza strip,” he added.
Muslim stressed that the allegation that donations raised by Malaysian NGOs had failed to reach Palestine was a false claim which had already been refuted by the Malaysian authorities, NGOs and financial monitoring bodies last year. — Bernama.
