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.
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