Indonesia calls to protect freedom of worship at Al Aqsa

Indonesia, during the UN Security Council open debate in New York, on Tuesday, has called on the international society to support and protect Palestinians right to worship, following the crisis at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, Palestine.

"Indonesia cannot accept the use of violence and tolerate the use of any systemic violence and violation of the basic rights of Palestinian people, including their rights to worship," Indonesias Permanent Representative to UN Security Council Triansyah Djani said, as quoted in a release from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received here, on Wednesday.

During his remark on the open debate focusing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, Djani said that Indonesia has condemned the aggression and the violation of the human rights conducted by the Israeli forces that has led to the death of several Palestinians and wounded more than a hundred of them.

Indonesia has also condemned the act of Israeli authority restricting access to Muslim brothers and sisters of Palestine to worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, thus violating the freedom to worship. 

"The international community must find options to make sure that the Al-Aqsa complex receives international supervision and protection from the UN, so that all worshipers could perform their religious activities in harmony and peace," Djani noted.

The message brought by the Indonesian delegation to the UN Security Council was a manifestation of what the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi had earlier stated in a briefing to ambassadors of OIC member states in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"We should not remain silent in response to this situation, and we should do something to prevent further violence at the Al-Aqsa," Marsudi revealed.

She called on the representatives of OIC member states to join hands to respond to the development at the Al-Aqsa complex.

Israel had installed metal detectors and cameras at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound since July 14, after a shooting incident that killed two Israeli policemen at the site.

Israeli has limited the access to the mosque by Palestinian Muslim worshipers in order to prevent further violence.

However, the Israeli measures have angered Palestinians and the Muslim world, which regard them as an attempt by Israel to claim further control over the compound, which is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site for Jews.

Daily clashes have erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security forces since the installation of detectors, resulting in the death of five Palestinians in the past week.

It was reported that the Israeli forces has removed the metal detectors from the entrance of Al-Aqsa.

However, Marsudi has asked the Indonesian ambassador in Amman, Jordan, to follow the development and look for information on barriers of different forms that might restrict Palestine Muslims' access to Al-Aqsa Mosque

Source : ANTARA