SBY praised for joining Arafat's funeral
SBY praised for joining Arafat's funeral
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Scholars hailed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's attendance
of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's funeral service in Cairo,
Egypt, on Friday, but lamented that he brought only Muslim
leaders in his entourage.
Azyumardi Azra of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic
University said that the exclusion of non-Muslim leaders from the
delegation sent out a wrong signal that the conflict in Palestine
was only the concern of Muslims.
Susilo left for Cairo on Thursday night on a special flight to
attend the funeral of Arafat. Susilo was accompanied by, among
others, Minister for Religious Affairs M. Maftuh Basyuni, House
of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono, People's Consultative
Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman
Hasyim Muzadi, deputy Muhammadiyah chairman Amin Abdullah and
Indonesian Ulema Council secretary-general Din Syamsuddin.
"The President has sent a wrong signal, as if the conflict in
Palestine is between Muslims and non-Muslims and Muslims in the
country don't show enough solidarity," he said, adding that the
President should have asked leaders of the Indonesian Bishops
Conference (KWI) and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI)
to join.
Azyumardi said that Palestine's liberation movement was
nationalistic in nature and was supported both by Muslims and
Christians who lived in the occupied territory.
He said that Muslim-based groups such as Hamas were but one
component that made up the resistance movement.
"Susilo may have gotten the wrong advice about the whole
Palestinian liberation movement before he made the decision to
leave for Cairo," he told The Jakarta Post
Separately, Middle Eastern political analyst of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Riza Sihbudi said that the visit was
the realization of Susilo's pledge to one of the political
parties that brought him to power, which demanded a strong
commitment toward the Palestinian cause.
"Susilo must fulfill his commitment he made to parties like
the Prosperous Justice Party which staunchly supports the
Palestine Liberation Movement," Riza told the Post.
Azyumardi said Susilo's visit to Cairo to pay his respects to
Arafat constituted the highest expression of the country's
support for the Palestinians' struggle against the Israeli
occupation.
"Indonesia has supported the Palestinian struggle all along
and the visit to Cairo for Yasser Arafat's funeral is an
important symbol of that support," he said.
He said that relations between Indonesia and Palestine were
quite close as indicated by Arafat's four visits to the country
and Indonesia's unswerving support for Palestine's independence.