Muslim clerics called for a boycott of American products on Sunday in Indonesia's largest protest against United States President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Wearing
white robes and carrying banners reading “Indonesia unites for
Palestine” and “Save our Palestine,” an estimated 80,000 people rallied
in the capital of the world's largest Muslim nation in the 10th straight
day of protests.
Anwar Abbas, a top cleric from the
Indonesian Council of Ulema, read a petition calling on Indonesians to
stop buying American products until Trump revoked his move.
“Don't
rely on their products,” he said, as the crowd including men, women and
children responded by waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and
shouting “boycott!” Previous anti-American protests have unsuccessfully
lobbied for a boycott of US goods.
Jakarta police
spokesman Argo Yuwono said the protesters marched peacefully about 3
kilometres from the National Monument Park to the US Embassy. Some local
media reported the number of the demonstrators was double the police
estimate.
About 20,000 security forces were deployed to secure the rally.
In
the petition, the clerics urged Trump to immediately revoke his
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital because it has hurt
international justice, violated human rights of the Palestinians and
undermined peace efforts.
It also demanded nations not
follow the US in moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and
urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss
Trump's declaration.
The chairman of the clerics council,
Ma'ruf Amin, said “let's fight together with the government and the
world for the freedom of Palestine through political, diplomatic and
economic ways.”
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has strongly condemned Trump's move as a violation of UN resolutions.
Indonesia
does not have diplomatic ties with Israel and has long been a strong
supporter of Palestinian aspirations for a statehood.
Trump's
announcement overturned decades of US policy, and a longstanding
international consensus, that the fate of Jerusalem be decided as a part
of a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
Israeli
and Palestinian claims to the city's eastern sector form the core of
their conflict, and Trump's announcement was seen as siding with the
Israelis.
