PT Rekso Nasional Food, the franchise holder for McDonald’s in Indonesia, has donated Rp1.5 billion (US$105,000) to Palestine through the National Alms Agency (Baznas).
Baznas head Noor Achmad received the donation at the Achmad Subianto Hall of the Baznas building on Tuesday.
Noor said humanitarian aid for Palestine was a noble cause and the benefits could be widely felt by the community.
“Helping Palestine is a noble cause to make zakat [alms] a means for international humanitarian diplomacy and a tool for humanitarian diplomacy by the Indonesian Muslim community,” said Noor.
Rekso Nasional Food human resources and general services director Yulianti Hadena expressed deep concerns about the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza and asserted that the company’s assistance demonstrated its commitment to humanitarian values and an initial step to help the Palestinian people.
She emphasized that her company channeled humanitarian aid through established and reputable institutions such as Baznas, which has a proven track record of distributing assistance from the Indonesian community to people living in conflict areas.
Earlier, a call to boycott McDonald’s emerged in Indonesia due to allegations of the chain providing free meals to the Israeli military. This controversy stirred discussions on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, with users accusing McDonald’s franchises in Israel of involvement in the conflict.
Mass organizations the United People Front (FUB) and Islam Defenders Front (FPI) called for a boycott of perceived Israeli products, including McDonald’s, and goods from Israel’s allies. They plan to stage protest on Jl. Margonda in Depok, West Java.
McDonald’s is based in Illinois, in the United States, and operates worldwide on a franchise model. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: The Jakarta Post
