"Israel, out": Muslims in Indonesia protested against the under-20 team - voila! sport

2023-03-20T13:03:10.825Z

Hundreds blocked roads in Jakarta and called not to let the Israeli national team into the country that will host the World Cup: "a long history of oppression of Palestine"

Dozens of protesters in Indonesia against the participation of the Israeli soccer team in the World Youth Championship (Reuters)

Dozens of Muslims in Indonesia held a protest march today (Monday) against the participation of the Israeli national team under the age of 20 in the World Championship that will be held in the country from June 11.

As we know, the Muslim community in Indonesia is the largest in the world, and although it has no international relations with Israel, it is considered a distinctly pro-Palestinian country, and the authorities have promised that Israel will not be denied participation in the tournament.

More than 100 people blocked a central thoroughfare in Jakarta, waving white flags on which the Shahada appeared and chanting "Allah is great" and "Israel, leave the U20 World Championship."

The access roads to the royal palace were blocked to the protesters.

Many Muslim organizations joined the protest against the participation of the Israeli national team in the "Mondialito", including the second largest organization in the country, "Muhammadiya", which has over 60 million members.

"Israel's long history of oppressing the Palestinian people motivates us to strongly oppose any Israeli presence in Indonesia," one of the protesters told the Associated Press.

The spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry stated: "Despite being the host country in the tournament, our country's position in relation to Palestine will not affect even a little bit."