INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO HELP STOP ISRAELI ATTACKS ON AL-AQSA by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 25, 2015 (Antara) - Tensions around Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third Islamic holiest site, have been high since Sunday (Sept. 13) when Israeli forces met Palestinians in the compound with tear gas and stun grenades.

        The Israeli attacks were aimed at preventing worshipers from performing prayers in the mosque, where the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself had urged Muslims to pray in Al-Aqsa.

        Israel has been enforcing a unilateral temporal division on the mosque; banning Palestinians from entering the compound during specific hours, while settlers are provided with a police escort into the Islamic holy site.

        The Israeli brutality has triggered strong reactions from Muslims all over the world including in Indonesia.

        hundreds of university students of Aceh Darussalam Province on Sept. 19 staged two separate rallies condemning the Israeli Zionist brutalities in Al-Aqsa.

        "We demand the international community to bring the Israeli Zionists to the International Court. We also urge the Aceh people to support the Palestinian struggle for independence and to free Al-Aqsa mosque," Iqbal, the coordinator of the rally in Langsa, stated as reported by a local media.

        The protestors include students of the universities of Syiahkuala, ARRANIRY, AL-Muslim, Gajah Putih, Kuta Cane, Malikussaleh, and Samudera Langsa.

          At the Al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta, on Sept. 18, activists from some Muslim organizations and the Swift Response Action (ACT) gathered after Friday prayers to voice their protest against incursions by Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers in Al-Aqsa.

          They affirmed that preventing worshipers from praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque and illegally closing the mosque are against human rights and international laws.

         Further more, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged the Indonesian government to denounce Israel's brutal actions against Muslim worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Palestine.

         MUI Chairman Ma'aruf Amin emphasized that the government should play a more active role in stopping Israeli aggression through diplomacy in the UN.

         Indonesia should push the UN to take stern actions against Israel, for instance, by imposing sanctions and boycotting products in illegal Israeli-occupied territory, he noted.

         "This has been going on because Israel has been allowed to do it for too long. The world should stop Israel. Israel should be sanctioned, so that it would not repeat it again," Amin, who is also chairman of the advisory council of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, informed Republika daily on Sept. 20.

        The MUI chairman stated that Israeli cruelties were not only religious concerns but also grave human rights violations.  
   A similar view has been expressed by President of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Mohammad Sohibul, who urged the Indonesian government to play a greater role in halting Israeli attacks against Palestinians.

      "Indonesia can play a greater role in stopping Israel's assault on the Al-Aqsa mosque," Sohibul emphasized recently.

       According to Sohibul, Indonesian leaders can utilize the country's position and influence in the international community to apply pressure on Israel to stop the assault by Israeli Zionist Jews on the Al-Aqsa compound.

         "It is a violation of human rights and an attack on the freedom of a nation," he affirmed.

        Indonesia should be proactive in amassing support of Islamic countries to apply pressure on Israel as Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world.

        Sohibul also warned that Indonesia had a history that cannot be overlooked, taking into account its relations with the Palestinians.

        "Indonesia must support and assist the Palestinians, both politically and materially. We share an emotional bond with the Palestinians," he stated.

         Sohibul urged Indonesia to boycott all Israeli products as part of its efforts to suppress the country.

          "We do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, but there is a trade relationship. We must suppress Israel through the termination of trade relations," he affirmed.

        Besides, Haedar Nashir, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, has urged the government to take a clear stand regarding the Israeli aggression against Al Aqsa. 
  "The Foreign Affairs Ministry should issue an official statement spelling out Indonesia's stance in response to the attacks, and should call on other countries to exert pressure on Israel," he said on Sept. 23, 2015.

        The Foreign Ministry should be responsive and alert to such international issues which could disturb stability and trigger conflict, he stated.

       Moreover, since President Joko Widodo had once pledged to support Palestine, the Foreign Ministry should follow it up and live up to the president's statement, he remarked.

        There is a double standard being followed when it comes to human rights. If a certain party attacks a place of worship or a civilian, it is labeled as a human rights violator.

        "But, when Israel attacks Palestine, and now Masjidil Aqsa, which is one of the holiest sites, the same human rights principle is not applied," the Muhammadiyah chairman remarked.

         In the meantime, the Indonesian government has welcomed the ratification of the United Nations (U.N.) resolution to raise the Palestinian flag at the U.N. headquarters in New York as a symbol of Palestinian aspirations for a statehood. 
   The U.N. General Assembly had voted on the resolution draft. The resolution was ratified after 119 countries voted in favor, 45 countries abstained, and eight countries refused.      
   The eight countries, which rejected the resolution, included the United States, Israel, Australia, and Canada.

       Nasir remarked that politically the flag-raising resolution was a step towards strengthening the Palestinian struggle to become a full member of the U.N., which means being a country that is recognized internationally.

           He further said that Indonesia, at various international forums, had always supported the Palestinian independence.

            "One of our supportive measures for the independence of Palestine is through the establishment of an honorary consul. Currently, we are managing the opening of the honorary consul of Indonesia in Ramallah, Palestine," he said.

      
(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 25-09-2015 12:31:28