'Indonesians may visit Jerusalem'

'Indonesians may visit Jerusalem'

JAKARTA (JP): The government has declared that it will not prevent citizens from making religious pilgrimages to holy sites in Jerusalem.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher made the statement on Monday during his meeting with members of the House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees education and religious affairs. "This is an agreement drawn up between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice and me," he said, without saying when the agreement was drawn up.

Indonesia does not recognize the state of Israel and in the past, anyone who visited Israel was scorned by the government.

"Mind you, the government is not saying that it condones visits to Israel, but it does not object to them," Tarmizi said.

Malaysia decided last October to allow interested citizens to make pilgrimages to the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Moslem citizens visit one of the religion's holiest sites, Masjidil Aqsa, while Christians go to Bethlehem, both in Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital.

Tarmizi pointed out that for years Indonesian citizens were in doubt as to whether they could go to Palestine, or Jerusalem, due Israel's claim on those holy sites.

"With this ministerial agreement, Indonesian citizens can go with peace of mind," Tarmizi said.

The government has been treading carefully on the issue of visits to Israel so much that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's visit here in October 1993 was treated as a personal visit with the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, Soeharto, instead of with the Indonesian head of state.

Last February, a group of journalists visited Israel at the invitation of the Israeli government. They were bombarded with criticism from Moslem groups upon their return.

A similar uproar occurred when Moslem leaders, including the controversial chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, Abdurrahman Wahid, visited and met with an Israeli government official last October. (swe)