Moslem leaders condemn Gus Dur for Israeli visit

JAKARTA (JP): Condemnations came hard and fast yesterday against controversial Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid for his recent visit to Israel.

Prominent ulemas including K.H. Hasan Basri and K.H. Ali Yafie from the influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas, and Dr. Anwar Haryono of the Council for the Propagation of Islam protested Abdurrahman's visit, saying it would split Moslem opinion here.

On Sunday, some 5,000 Moslem youths held a noisy rally at the Al Azhar Grand Mosque, brandishing posters and banners calling Abdurrahman "agent of Zionism". Mobilized by the Indonesian Committee for World Moslem Solidarity, the youths told Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, and two other Moslems to "go to hell".

"Be careful, Zionist agents are walking loose in Indonesia," said the youths, mostly students, on one of their banners.

However, leading members of the largest Moslem organization that Abdurrahman chairs, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), refused to comment.

"We can understand if the Israeli government wants to invite Indonesians there," Anwar Haryono told The Jakarta Post. "It's unthinkable, however, that Indonesian Moslems, much less Moslem leaders, would want to take up that invitation."

"The impacts of that visit will be dire," he predicted, calling NU board of executives to take proper action against Abdurrahman. "Indonesian Moslems will find it hard to accept his action," he added.

"I don't know what drove him (Abdurrahman) to make that visit," Ali Yafie said. "He's a very intelligent person, I would assume he knew what he was doing when he accepted Israel's invitation."

"Perhaps he thinks it would help boost his popularity in the coming congress of NU," Ali said, laughing.

"His (Abdurrahman's) visit which we strongly condemn has nothing to do with the interests of the Moslem people in Indonesia," Hasan Basri told Reuters.

"Religious leaders should not cause splits among Moslems. I am against Abdurrahman's statement which said Indonesia does not have any problem with Israel," he added.

Abdurrahman, who heads the 34-million member Nadhlatul Ulama, visited Israel late last month. It was unclear when he returned home.

Diplomatic ties

He was quoted by the official Antara news agency over the weekend as saying it was time for Indonesia, the world's largest Moslem nation, to consider diplomatic ties with Israel.

"Indonesia has never had any problem with Israel and the absence of diplomatic ties with the country has been caused by the global political situation which included Arab-Israeli enmity," Abdurrahman said.

Abdurrahman and the two other Moslem scholars, Djohan Effendi and Habib Chirzin, attended the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan on Oct. 26 at the invitation of the Israeli government.

Both Hasan Basri and Ali Yafie agreed, however, that it was wrong to assume the Palestinian crisis was over.

Basri said President Soeharto made no mention of diplomatic ties when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin paid a surprise visit to Jakarta last year.

"The peace process in the Middle East is by no means a smooth process," Ali Yafie said. "We see how difficult it is, so we should not be too hasty in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel."

"We should learn from history ... Israel has often reneged on its promises," added Yafie who is former deputy chairman of NU. "We should support the government's cautious stance on the issue."

Hasan Basri said that NU had rejected the Abdurrahman's visit while Habib, a scholar from Muhammadiyah, the country's largest Moslem reformist movement, would be reprimanded by his organization.

K.H. Munasir from NU, however, refused to say anything more other than "it was his (Abdurrahman's) personal affair". (swe)