Jakarta: After US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Muslim and Arab countries across the world to protest against the decision.
According to the report published by Al Jazeera, now, Malaysian Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein said that the Trump’s Jerusalem move was a slap in the face of the Muslim world. He also said that his country’s armed forces are ready to play the role if their services are required. “Armed forces are ready and are waiting for top leadership’s instruction”, he added.
He further asked to pray that this issue does not lead to chaos.
It may be mentioned that Trump’s announcement prompted an almost universal diplomatic backlash, including warnings from Turkey, the European Union and Russia over the risks of new violence in the Middle East. Protests were held in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and other countries of the world.
In Jakarta on Sunday, around 10,000 Indonesians protested in solidarity with the Palestinians, gathering outside the US embassy in the world’s most-populous Muslim country. They were carrying banners reading “US Embassy, Gets Out from Al Quds”, ”Free Jerusalem and Palestinians” and “We are with the Palestinians”.
The Islamist Prosperous Justice Party which organised the rally slammed Trump’s decision as a declaration of “hostility to Muslims throughout the world”. Sunday’s protest was the second since Trump’s Jerusalem move.
Earlier, Indonesian president Joko Widodo said that he “condemned” Trump’s Jerusalem move and ordered the US ambassador in Jakarta to be summoned over the move.
It may be noted that East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel in 1967 war. However, no country in the world recognises it. Since then, Palestine wants East Jerusalem to be declared as their capital whereas Israel says that the city cannot be divided.