Tens of thousands of Muslims marched from the main mosque in Indonesia’s capital to a square in Jakarta on Sunday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
It was the biggest protest in Indonesia since Trump’s controversial move earlier this month to reverse decades of US policy. Police estimated the number attending the rally, organized by various Muslim groups, at about 80,000.
The protest was peaceful but rows of police behind coils of barbed wire held back the crowd outside the US embassy in Jakarta. A police spokesman said 20,000 police and members of the military were deployed to ensure security.
Tens of thousands of Indonesians marched through the capital Jakarta to protest against US President Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision https://t.co/lPNdG12FCE
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) December 17, 2017
“We urge all countries to reject the unilateral and illegal decision of President Donald Trump to make Jerusalem Israel’s capital,” Anwar Abbas, the secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, told the crowd.
“We call on all Indonesian people to boycott US and Israel products in this country” if Trump does not revoked his action, Abbas said, reading from a petition due to be handed to the US ambassador in Indonesia.
Many of the protesters were clad in white and waved Palestinian flags and held up placards, some reading: “Peace, love and free Palestine”. There have been a series of protests in Indonesia over the issue, including some where hardliners burned US and Israeli flags.
China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia condemned Trump's recognition of illegally occupied Jerusalem as Israel's supposed capital.
This comes while US-backed Wahhabi Gulf regimes like Saudi Arabia likely secretly greenlighted the embassy movehttps://t.co/l2ti182YGs
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 13, 2017
While the international community has almost unanimously disagreed with Donald Trump’s announcement, reports suggest that the announcement was done with the pre-agreement of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Arabia going as far as, allegedly, stating to the Palestinian President to accept a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem as the alternative Palestinian capital.
Following Trump’s announcement, several Chinese and Japanese tech companies have cancelled delegations to Israel.
BDS in action: Several Chinese and Japanese companies have cancelled delegations to Israel following US President Donald Trump’s announcement recognising Jerusalem as its capital. https://t.co/dStjzFj1g7
— BDS South Africa (@BDSsouthafrica) December 14, 2017
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
