Antiwar rallies tempered with pleas for peac

Antiwar rallies tempered with pleas for peac

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A rally calling for peace by hundreds of students in Jakarta
on Friday was in marked contrast to a number of other rowdier
rallies around the country against the United States-led attack
on Iraq.

More than 1,000 high school and university students staged a
solemn protest in front of the Al Azhar Mosque on Jl. Pattimura,
South Jakarta. The demonstration was highlighted by the release
of dozens of white balloons with banners reading "Peace", along
with a pair of white doves as a symbol of peace.

The demonstrators, who came from the Indonesian Al Azhar
Students for Peace (Gempar) group, also performed a street play
depicting the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which has resulted in
much suffering and grief.

The students wore black armbands to express their deep
sympathy for the Iraqi people during the rally, which ended with
a fund raising effort for the victims of the war in Iraq.

In other towns, the rallies were marked by displays of
resentment against the U.S. and its allies, and calls for a
boycott of these countries' products. As usual, franchised
American fast-food restaurants McDonald's and Kentucky Fried
Chicken were targeted by the protesters.

In the Central Java capital of Semarang, nearly 200 students
took to the streets in front of a local McDonald's outlet in the
Ciputra Mall in Simpang Lima to call for a boycott of U.S.
products.

Some employees of the restaurant distributed fliers explaining
that the American franchise restaurant employed Indonesians and
uses domestic products as the raw materials for its products. But
the protesters were unswayed by the fast-food chain's assertion
that its local outlets have benefited Indonesians, and
immediately threw the fliers away.

"The products sold by places like McDonald's all benefit U.S.
interests," the protesters shouted.

They argued that every cent of profit realized by the sale of
these products would be used to finance the U.S.-led attack on
Iraq.

In Serang square in Banten, over 1,000 protesters from a
number of Islamic political parties and mass organizations urged
the public to stop consuming U.S. beverages and foodstuffs.

"Purchasing U.S. products means providing support for the U.S.
in its attack on the Iraqi people," a protester shouted.

Similar calls to boycott U.S. products were also heard in
several other cities, including Bandar Lampung, Yogyakarta and
Jakarta.

Muhammad Afifudin, who led a large rally by students from the
Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University in front of the McDonald's
outlet at the Sarinah building in Central Jakarta, said the main
objective of the rally was to stop the war.

"The call for a boycott is only one of the strategic efforts
we will be undertaking." he told The Jakarta Post.

Afifudin failed to comment, however, on the possibility that
such a boycott could backfire on Indonesian businesses that were
mostly owned by Indonesian people and employed mainly
Indonesians.

Despite the rowdy rallies across the country, the U.S.
government announced on Friday it would reopen its Surabaya
Consulate General for services to the public on Monday.

All services will be by prior appointment, and the public
should phone the consulate to request an appointment before
arriving at the consulate building, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta
said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the immigration office said there had been no
exodus of expatriates from the country so far, despite the wave
of protests against the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.

Immigration spokesman Ade Endang Dahlan said on Friday that
after a week of military action in Iraq, the number of overseas
citizens arriving in and departing from the country was normal.

Ade was referring to the results of a survey on the inflow and
outflow of non-nationals through Soekarno-Hatta Airport in
Jakarta and Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali.

"According to the figures we have obtained from the two
airports, there has been no significant rise in the number of
foreigners leaving or coming into Indonesia," he said.

Quoting the figures, he disclosed that between March 19 and
March 26, some 8,095 foreign citizens entered and 8,157 exited
through Ngurah Rai Airport.

A statement by the Oil and Gas Executive Board (BP Migas) also
revealed that there had been no exodus of U.S. expatriates from
Riau. It said that a number of non-nationals had left Indonesia
for their "spring break" and would return to Riau early in April.