ShareTens of thousands rally in Indonesia to support Palestine
JAKARTA: Indonesians attend a protest against US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel, at the US embassy in Jakarta yesterday. — AFPUNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution affirming that any change to the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be reversed, in response to the US decision to recognize the city as Israel's capital. Egypt circulated the draft text on Saturday, and diplomats said the council could vote on the proposed measure as early as today. Breaking with the international consensus, US President Donald Trump this month announced that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, sparking protests and strong condemnation.
The draft resolution obtained by AFP stresses that Jerusalem is an issue "to be resolved through negotiations" and expresses "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem," without specifically mentioning Trump's move. "Any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded," it said. Diplomats said they expected the United States to use its veto power to block the measure while most, if not all, of the 14 other council members were expected to back the draft resolution.
US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Jerusalem on Wednesday, wading into the crisis over one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital. The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon "strongly condemned" the draft, dismissing it as an attempt by the Palestinians "to reinvent history." "No vote or debate will change the clear reality that Jerusalem has and always will be the capital of Israel," Danon said in a statement.
No embassies in Jerusalem
The draft resolution calls on all countries to refrain from opening embassies in Jerusalem, reflecting concerns that other governments could follow the US lead. It demands that all member-states not recognize any actions that are contrary to UN resolutions on the status of the city. Several UN resolutions call on Israel to withdraw from territory seized during the 1967 war and have reaffirmed the need to end the occupation of that land. The Palestinians had sought a toughly-worded draft resolution that would have directly called on the US administration to scrap its decision.
But some US allies on the council such as Britain, France, Egypt, Japan and Ukraine were reluctant to be too hard-hitting and insisted that the proposed measure should reaffirm the position enshrined in current resolutions, diplomats said. Backed by Muslim countries, the Palestinians are expected to turn to the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution rejecting the US decision, if, as expected, the measure is vetoed by the United States at the council. Aside from the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia can veto any resolution presented at the council, which requires nine votes for adoption.
Rally in Indonesia
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Indonesians protested yesterday against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the latest show of support for the Palestinians in the country with the world's largest Muslim population. The rally was organized by the top Islamic authority the Indonesian Ulema Council and supported by the government as well as several other Islamic organizations. Police said 80,000 protesters gathered at the National Monument, a tower that looms over central Jakarta, waving the Palestine flag and banners reading "Free Palestine" as they chanted "God is greatest!"
"This is my solidarity as a Muslim to my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine... the Al-Aqsa mosque, a historical mosque for Muslims, is there (in Jerusalem)," said Hermawati, from the nearby city of Bogor, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Dressed mostly in white, the demonstrators urged the US to change its decision. Indonesia's religious affairs minister and Jakarta's governor were among those at the protest site just a few meters from the US embassy, which was cordoned off behind coils of razor wire.
"Isn't it the government's job to work on the aspiration of the majority of Indonesians? And the government has tried its best so Palestine can achieve its rights and independence," Religious Affairs minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin told the crowd. Indonesia has condemned President Donald Trump's decision, with President Joko Widodo joining other world Islamic leaders last Wednesday in an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul. - Agencies
