Moslem leaders condemn Gus Dur for Israeli visit

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)