Muslim clerics yesterday called for a boycott of US products in Indonesia’s largest protest against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Wearing white robes and carrying banners reading “Indonesia unites for Palestine” and “Save our Palestine,” an estimated 80,000 people rallied in the capital of the world’s largest Muslim nation in the 10th straight day of protests.
Anwar Abbas, a top cleric from the Indonesian Council of Ulema, read a petition calling on Indonesians to stop buying US products until Trump revoked his move.
“Don’t rely on their products,” he said, as the crowd including men, women and children responded by waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and shouting “boycott.”
Previous anti-US protests have unsuccessfully lobbied for a boycott of US goods.
The protesters marched peacefully about 3km from the National Monument Park to the US embassy, Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said.
Some local media reported the number of the demonstrators was double the police estimate.
About 20,000 security forces were deployed to secure the rally.
In the petition, the clerics urged Trump to immediately revoke his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because it has hurt international justice, violated human rights of the Palestinians and undermined peace efforts.
It also demanded nations not follow the US in moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss Trump’s declaration.
“Let’s fight together with the government and the world for the freedom of Palestine through political, diplomatic and economic ways,” council chairman Ma’ruf Amin said.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has strongly condemned Trump’s move as a violation of UN resolutions.
Indonesia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel and has long been a strong supporter of Palestinian aspirations for statehood.
Trump’s announcement overturned decades of US policy, and a long-standing international consensus, that the fate of Jerusalem be decided as a part of a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
Israeli and Palestinian claims to the city’s eastern sector form the core of their conflict.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was