JakartaPost-Feb 4
The government on Tuesday looks to have won over Muslim groups that have been criticizing Indonesia’s involvement in the United States-led Board of Peace, following a “routine” meeting of high-ranking ulema at the Palace convened amid attempts to fundamentally shift public opinion on Gaza’s reconstruction and Palestinian statehood under Israeli occupation. Close to 50 Islamic leaders were summoned to the Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday by President Prabowo Subianto, including representatives from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, two of the biggest Islamic organizations in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Also invited were leaders from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the country’s top Islamic scholarship circle, as well as clerics representing Islamic boarding schools from various regions. State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said before the meeting that one of the main issues the President wanted to discuss was Indonesia’s involvement in the Board of Peace, which has been roundly criticized over its exclusion of Palestinian representatives despite its aim to rebuild Gaza. Among the project’s biggest critics were groups such as Muhammadiyah and the MUI, the latter having previously urged Indonesia to step down from the board considering Israel’s outsized role, which it said could prove contradictory to Indonesians’ support of the Palestinian struggle. Read more at:
