JAKARTA, Indonesia: About 10,000 people rallied Sunday outside the US Embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to denounce President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Similar protests, mostly organized by the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, also were held in many other cities in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.
The protests were the third and biggest in Indonesia since Trump’s decision on Thursday.
In the capital, protesters carried banners reading “US Embassy, Get Out from Al Quds,” “Free Jerusalem and Palestinians” and “We are with the Palestinians.” Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
Wearing traditional Islamic white robes, the protesters also unfurled Indonesian and Palestinian flags.
A written statement from PKS described Trump’s decision as “a form of humiliation and provocation against Muslims all over the world.”
It said similar and simultaneous protests also were held Sunday in at least 10 provincial capitals and cities across Indonesia.
Earlier in the day, another group, calling itself Indonesia’s Volunteers Society, held a similar rally in Jakarta, hundreds of meters (yards) from the embassy.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has strongly condemned Trump’s move, which he described as a violation of UN resolutions.
Indonesia has long been a strong supporter of Palestinians and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Thousands of Indonesians rally at US embassy over Jerusalem
Thousands of Indonesians rally at US embassy over Jerusalem
Kremlin says issue of territory is not the only one holding up a potential Ukraine peace deal
- Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the roughly 20 percent of Donetsk region
- Kyiv has said it does not want to gift Moscow territory
MOSCOW: Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that the issue of who gets what territory was not the only one holding up a potential deal to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the roughly 20 percent of Donetsk region which the Russian army does not control. Kyiv has said it does not want to gift Moscow territory which Russia has not won on the battlefield.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that active work was under way to reconcile the issue at US-mediated talks. He described the disagreement as a key remaining issue that was “very difficult” to resolve.
When asked on Thursday whether he agreed that the territorial question was the only outstanding one, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said: “I don’t think so.”
He did not name the other key issues yet to be resolved.
