Anger over US’ Jerusalem move spreads from Jakarta to Rabat

Al Jazeera
December 11, 2017

A wave of anger against a US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital has spread from Asia, through the Middle East, to North Africa, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to denounce the controversial move.

Protesters filled central avenues and squares in a number of major international cities on Sunday, waving the flag of Palestine and shouting slogans to express their solidarity with the Palestinians, who see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

US President Donald Trump's announcement on Wednesday drew near-universal condemnation from world leaders and inflamed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with violence flaring up in the occupied Palestinian territories for a fifth day.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 157 people were injured on Sunday in confrontations with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.  

At least four Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the US declaration.

Clashes also erupted on Sunday at a protest in Beirut, where demonstrators fought with security forces outside the US embassy in the Lebanese capital. 

Demonstrators set fires in the street, torched US and Israeli flags and threw stones at police officers, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.

Adnan Abdullah, a protester in Beirut, said Trump's Jerusalem decision "will not happen as long as there are people like us".

Another demonstrator, whose face was hidden behind a black mask, held up a tear gas canister and condemned Lebanese forces for "defending America".

He went on to add, "There is no one by our side. None of the Arab countries. Oh God, we will raise the Palestinian flag"

Arab foreign ministers, in a resolution on Sunday, urged Trump to rescind the decision and have called for a UN Security Council condemnation of the shift in US policy.

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 Indonesians rallied outside the US embassy in Jakarta to vent their anger for a second day. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners saying "Pray for Palestine".

"We are not satisfied with just official statements," said Nurjannah Nurwani, one of the lead organisers of the gathering. "We need follow-up, international lobbying which could pressure them into withdrawing their decision."

Another female protester in Jakarta urged Trump to "use his brain" and "withdraw from Jerusalem".

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has condemned Trump's decision. On Thursday, he ordered the US ambassador in Jakarta to be summoned over the move.

In Turkey's Istanbul, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets again, transforming the city's Yenikapi Square into a sea of Turkish and Palestinian flags.  

"I feel like I should defend Palestine because I don't know any other way to defend them," said Ananda Sereka, who was at the protest. "So this is what I can do. This is the least I can do."

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the most vocal critics of Trump's move, has called the declaration "null and void" and vowed to fight it.

He has also called a summit of Islamic countries to discuss the move on Wednesday.

In Rabat, Morocco's capital, protesters yelled slurs against Trump and carried banners saying Jerusalem belonged to Palestine.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Rabat, said the protest was "a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people but also an opportunity to express anger" over Trump's decision.

"The protesters came from all walks of life," he said. "Government officials, members of the opposition, seculars and conservatives - all denouncing what they consider to be a decision that could destabilise the region."

Mohamed Boussaid, Morocco's finance minister, said the demonstration was a way "to express our indignation and un-satisfaction" and to show that "we refuse completely the decision taken by the president of the US".

Protester Mohamed Alghram agreed.

"We totally reject the decision that targets the most sacred place for us and we say no," he said. "Jerusalem is a red line."

Jerusalem is home to Islam's third holiest site and its status is deeply sensitive for Muslims.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, protesters took a different approach.

Residents of the capital Srinagar, home to 1.1 million people, closed their shops and abandoned the streets in protest. Salman Khan, a Srinagar resident, told the ANI news agency that Trump's decision was "completely unjust".

Muslim solidarity with Palestine also spread to the war-torn nations of Yemen and Syria.

Further protests were held in Egypt, where students and professors demonstrated at the Al-Azhar university.

In Pakistan's Karachi, hundreds of protesters marched towards the US Consulate in the city, but were turned back by riot police.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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Israeli military siege, hunger, and diseases will soon become the main killer in Gaza, says commissioner- general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, took to X on Wednesday to vent his concern for the growing hunger and spread of diseases as a result of the Israeli siege on the besieged strip.

He said starvation and illness may soon be the main killer in Gaza.

"This fabricated and catastrophic level of hunger can still be reversed by flooding Gaza with food and life-saving assistance," Lazzarini said.

"More than ever humanity requires political will,” the UNRWA chief added.

In a press release on March 19, UNRWA said that “famine is imminent in the Gaza Strip, especially for isolated populations in northern Gaza deprived of humanitarian aid.”

The statement noted that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), in a latest food security outlook, concluded that up to 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

“Nutrition screenings conducted in February by UNICEF and UNRWA show that rates of acute malnutrition among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled since January,” it said.

The Israeli regime has accused UNRWA staff of being involved in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas against the occupied territories, prompting a number of its western allies to suspend funding for the UN agency.

On Wednesday, an agreement was reached by US congressional leaders and the White House on a massive funding bill will continue a ban on US funding for UNRWA until March 2025, Reuters reported.

Earlier this year the US, Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Austria and Romania  decided to cut their funding to the UNRWA, considered a lifeline for the Palestinians in Gaza.

France had also announced that it does not plan a new payment to fund UNRWA in the first quarter of 2024.

Condemning the suspension of funding, Lazzarini had said, “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community…, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region.”

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The high-level committee on simultaneous elections, chaired by Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted its report on 'One Nation, One Election'. The report comprises 18,626 pages.

Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at Rashtrapati Bhawan when Kovind led panel submitted the report.

"Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be held in first step, followed by local body polls within 100 days in second step," reported PTI quoting the panel.

"Synchronised polls for all three tiers of government to improve governance architecture, in line with quest of aspirational India," it added.

The report has been submitted 191 days after the constitution of the panel on September 2, 2023.

It's further reported that the proposal also puts focus on having a singular electoral roll for holding Lok Sabha, state assembly and local body polls.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 15: Former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor at his residence in Bengaluru last month.

Yediyurappa, 81, was booked after a woman lodged a complaint saying that she visited his residence on February 2 seeking justice in a rape case against her daughter and sought that a special investigation team (SIT) be formed to look into the case.

According to the first information report (FIR), Yediyurappa allegedly took the minor to a room, closed the door and sexually assaulted her. The woman further alleged in the FIR that when she confronted Yediyurappa, he said that he was checking if the girl was raped or not. Yediyurappa later allegedly apologised and asked the woman not to reveal the matter to anyone.

The Sadashivanagar police in Bengaluru have registered a case under Section 8 (commit sexual assault) of the Pocso Act and Section 354 (a) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Reacting to the allegations, the former CM said that around one-and-a-half months ago, they (the victim and her mother) had come to his house seeking help and he had taken them inside. 

“After listening to her, I called the city police commissioner B Dayananda over phone seeking to address her problem. Later, they spoke against me and I then suspected that there is some health problem with her. I sent them to city police commissioner’s office. I even gave her some money as they were in distress. I came to know that an FIR has been registered and will look into it. But this is what I get for helping someone,” he added.

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