Indonesia’s top Islamic body urges chairman to resign for inviting pro‑Israel scholar
Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has demanded its chairman, Yahya Cholil Staquf, resign after inviting a US scholar known for defending Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
The organization, which has around 100 million members and affiliates, gave Staquf three days to step down or face removal, according to minutes of a Thursday leadership meeting reviewed by Reuters.
NU official Najib Azca said the decision was linked to Staquf’s invitation of former US State Department official and scholar Peter Berkowitz to an internal training event in August.
“Affiliating with an international Zionist network is unacceptable and against our values,” Azca said.
Berkowitz has repeatedly defended Israel’s military campaigns in the Palestinian territories and denied that the regime committed genocide against Palestinians.
In an October opinion piece, he argued that recognizing a Palestinian state “sets back security, stability and peace” and “panders to the growing Muslim populations in Western democracies.”
NU officials say Staquf’s invitation gave a platform to US-backed pro-Israel propaganda, undermining Indonesia’s longstanding support for Palestinian rights.
Staquf has apologized for the invitation and called it an oversight due to not carefully checking the scholar’s background, according to Reuters.
A week after the event, the University of Indonesia, the country’s oldest higher education institution, apologized for inviting Berkowitz.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has consistently condemned Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and supports a two-state solution.
Deputy Foreign Minister Anis Matta said earlier this month that Jakarta’s unwavering support for Palestine reflects a “historical debt,” since Palestine was among the first countries to recognize Indonesia’s independence.
The country was among the first to support South Africa in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), though it has not joined the genocide case as it is not a party to the Genocide Convention.
Indonesia has, however, filed its own ICJ lawsuit over Israel’s violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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