Students rally against Israel

Students rally against Israel

SEMARANG, Central Java: Some 1,500 students claiming to
support the Justice Party (PK) rallied at the provincial
legislative council on Saturday to condemn Israel's attack on
Palestinians.

The protesters, mostly women, gathered at state Diponegoro
University's mosque before marching through the city. The march
ended at the City Council compound.

In his speech, student leader Muhammad Arifin said Indonesians
should give both moral and financial support to their Palestinian
brethren.

"We also urge President Abdurrahman Wahid not to formalize
diplomatic or trade relations with the Israelis," he said.

Several councillors, including Sutoyo Abadi of the Golkar
Party, Djawahir Muhammad of the United Development Party, Hadi
Pranoto of the National Mandate Party and several others from the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, were seen among the
protesters. (har/lup)