U.S. urged to end Israeli attack
U.S. urged to end Israeli attack
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
The Indonesian government urged the United States on Sunday to be
consistent regarding the current Middle East crisis by forcing
Israel to immediately halt its attacks on Palestine.
Speaking in a meeting with U.S. trade representative Robert
Zoellick on Sunday, Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda
insisted that the U.S. take firmer measures in bringing peace
back to the Middle East.
"We informed them of the increasing rejection of Israel's
military aggression and we urged the U.S. to keep their word and
use all their influence to force Israel to pull out their troops
from Palestine," Hassan said after the meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will arrive in Ramallah
on Monday for a meeting with President Arafat, as part of U.S.
efforts to restore peace in the Middle East and to make Israel
comply with the UN resolutions on the issue.
"We highlighted the importance of the U.S. helping to enforce
UN resolution 1402. We expect the U.S. to take more concrete
actions to convince Israel to abide by the resolution," Hassan
said, referring to the resolution issued recently in New York
demanding "meaningful cease-fire" in the Middle East.
However, Hassan said that in the meeting, Zoellick, who had
once met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, expressed doubts
over the prospect of peace negotiations, saying it would be
difficult to persuade Sharon to stop the attacks.
Israel's incursion into Palestinian land and the isolation of
President Arafat at his compound in Ramallah has provoked anti-
Israel and anti-America demonstrations worldwide.
There have been continual rallies of solidarity for the
Palestinian people here and the government has repeatedly
condemned the Israeli attacks.
Hassan said Indonesia will continue to join the UN in finding
other measures to uphold peace in the Middle East, through a
series of meetings in UN headquarters in New York and Geneva.
"On Friday, in Geneva, the UN issued another resolution to
send a human rights team to Palestine to keep track of the human
rights abuses that have happened in the disputed area," Hassan
remarked.
Commenting on the widespread rallies across Indonesia, Hassan
said that the movement expressed the common stance shared between
the government and people in supporting the Palestinian cause.
"The strong widespread support from both the people and the
government will let the world know that we are solid in our
support for the Palestinian people and such a fact should be
taken seriously," he said.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, was among
the first countries to acknowledge Palestine as an independent
state. Jakarta has no diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.
Hassan said unlike several other Arab countries, Indonesia
will never acknowledge Israel until it recognizes an independent
Palestinian state.
Some 1,000 supporters of the Muslim-based Justice Party (PK)
gathered at the National Monument (Monas) square on Sunday to
express their support for the Palestinian people's fight against
Israel.
Some Muslim figures, including chairman of the Indonesian
Committee for World Muslim Solidarity (KISDI) Abdul Rasyid
Abdullah Syafi'i, secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulemas
Council (MUI) Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the Association of
Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) Adi Sasono, secretary-
general of the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII)
Husein Umar, attended the mass prayer led by PK chairman Hidayat
Nurwahid.
Clad in white Muslim clothes and waving the national flags of
Indonesia and Palestine, the crowd called on the Palestinian
people to continue their struggle, popularly called intifadah.
Some of the participants burnt an Israeli flag, but speakers
on the podium managed to persuade them to restore order.
After the mass prayer, the PK supporters braved the rain to
march through the main streets around the square.