Pro-Palestine rally calls for boycott and review of us business

A major pro-Palestine rally held in the National Monument (Monas) area, here, Sunday, issued a petition calling for boycott of US and Israel products and review of US business an investment in Indonesia if President Donald Trump does not revoke his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital.

Anwar Abbas, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) read out the 10-point petition that will be presented to the US ambassador to Indonesia on Monday.

Dubbed "Indonesia United for Palestine", the rally demanded Trump to cancel and revoke his unilateral and illegal decision on Jerusalem because it has violated human rights, hurt justice, and jeopardized peace efforts.

If Trump does not immediately revoke his policy, the US will lose legitimacy as a peace broker, Anwar Abbas said.

The Indonesian protesters in the petition call on the world community to reject Trump`s move and urge member nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) particularly those having diplomatic relations with Israel, to cut the ties.

They call on the United Nations (UN) to hold an extraordinary meeting to freeze the US` UN memberships or to relocate the UN Headquarters out of the US, if the US administration does not cancel its Jerusalem decision.

The Indonesian House of Representatives should form a special committee to review the US businesses and investment in Indonesia, Abbas said while reading out the seventh point of the petition.

Besides, they also call on Indonesia and other countries in the world to increase assistance for Palestine, particularly in the fields of education, health and development.

In the tenth or final point, they pray for the freedom of Palestine.

Several hundreds of thousands of Indonesians joined the rally in support of Palestine following the US Administration`s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The rally was attended by many Muslim mass organizations, a number of prominent figures such as Ma`ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Zulkifli Hasan, chairman of the People`s Consultative Assembly, former sports and youth affairs minister Adhyaksa Dault, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, politicians like Hidayat Nur Wahid, Fadli Zon and Fachri Hamzah, and prominent ulemas like Bachtiar Nasir, AA Gymnastiar and Zaitun Rasmin.

The Jakarta Police said that some 20 thousand police officers were deployed to guard the pro-Palestine rally

Source: ANTARA