[Kabar-indonesia] update: Thousands of Indonesians protest against Israeli attacks on Lebanon

[Joyo at aol.com]

Associated Press 
Sunday, August 6, 2006

Thousands of Indonesians protest against Israeli attacks on Lebanon

JAKARTA (AP): Thousands of protesters demonstrated Sunday in at least four 
Indonesian cities against Israel's attacks on Lebanon, calling Israel a 
terrorist state and urging it to stop.

At least 1,500 people in the capital, Jakarta, gathered at the city's main 
traffic circle, with some carrying large banners reading "Give a chance to 
peace." Others shouted "God is Great."

"The United Nations has to stop, not support Israel's actions in Lebanon," 
said Muhammad Amidhan, a Muslim cleric from the Indonesian Ulemas Council.

The council and other Muslim organizations in Indonesia have called the U.S. 
and UN to stop Israel's campaign in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has had near-daily 
rallies against Israel since its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon began more than three 
weeks ago.

The protesters in Jakarta said they planned to march later Sunday to the U.S. 
Embassy, where barbed wire encircled the building and hundreds of policemen 
stood guard with two water canons parked nearby.

Most of the protesters in Jakarta were Muslims, but the gathering also 
included Christians and Buddhists.

At least 500 protesters, most wearing white Muslim tunics, held an 
anti-Israel demonstration in Surabaya, the East Java provincial capital.

"The U.S. has to stop the brutality of Israel troops in Gaza and Lebanon," 
Rita Cecirapanin, a woman preacher wearing a head scarf, told the gathering.

"How many more children will have to die by Israel bombings?" she asked.

Some protesters set Israeli and U.S. flags on fire as others shouted their 
condemnation of Israel's attacks, yelling: "U.S. supports Israel the terrorist."

U.S. blindly supports the Zionist regime by providing all war machines and 
weapons for the attacks against Lebanon and Palestine.

Another 300 protesters held a similar rally in Yogyakarta, while 500 
protested in Medan, Indonesia's third largest city.

Israel has said it has a right to defend itself from repeated rocket attacks 
by Hezbollah militants based across its northern border in southern Lebanon. 
Israel's ongoing military campaign in the region has claimed more than 550 
Lebanese lives, mostly civilians. About 30 Israelis have been killed by 
Hezbollah's rocket attacks.

The Indonesian government has accused Israel of violating international law 
and called for an immediate cease-fire backed by a UN-led peacekeeping force.

Indonesia has no diplomatic ties with Israel and has traditionally supported 
the Palestinian cause for an independent state.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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