Rights groups have condemned Indonesia’s top Islamic clerical body after it called for the demolition of a Jewish community’s newly opened Holocaust museum.
The museum in Minahasa, North Sulawesi province, violates the constitution and is provocative, according to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
The Shaar HaShamayim Holocaust Museum is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and was built by the local Jewish community. It was officially opened by German ambassador Ina Lepel on Jan. 27 to coincide with International Holocaust Day.
“The museum aims to fight racism, anti-Semitism and all intolerance,” Lepel said during the opening
Her words did not hold sway with the Ulema Council.
“The Indonesian government should act decisively and immediately demolish the museum because it is provocative and its presence is not welcomed among many in this country,” Muhyiddin Junaidi, deputy chairman of the MUI’s advisory board, said in a statement.
The museum is important for the young generation to warn them that cruelty to others can result in the killing of millions of people
He said the museum does not benefit Indonesian people and hurts the feeling of Palestinians.
He also accused the Minahasa Jewish community of trying to convince the Indonesian government to open diplomatic ties with Israel.
Indonesia, like many Muslim nations, refuses to acknowledge Israel as a state.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, accused the MUI of failing to understand history and what the museum symbolizes.
Thank you. You are now signed up to Daily newsletter
“The museum sends a message that a tragedy against humanity occurred and millions of people fell victim,” he told UCA News on Feb. 2.
He said the MUI call was more about religious intolerance when it should be “taking lessons from the tragedy so that it doesn’t happen again.”
Calling something that actually happened “provocative” is strange, he said, adding: “The museum is important for the young generation to warn them that cruelty to others can result in the killing of millions of people.”
Indonesia’s Jewish population is believed to be about 5,000 strong and most Jews arrived in the country during the Portuguese and Dutch colonial periods.
In North Sulawesi, which has a large Christian population, the local government allowed the local Jewish community to build a synagogue in 2004 and later the Holocaust museum.
Support UCA News…
….As we enter the first months of 2022, we are asking readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.
For the last 40 years, UCA News has remained the most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service from Asia. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news reports, feature stories, commentaries, podcasts and video broadcasts that are exclusive and in-depth, and developed from a view of the world and the Church through informed Catholic eyes.
Our journalistic standards are as high as any in the quality press; our focus is particularly on a fast-growing part of the world – Asia – where, in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can respond to – South Korea, Vietnam and India to name just three.
And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters who cover 23 countries in south, southeast, and east Asia. We report the stories of local people and their experiences in a way that Western news outlets simply don’t have the resources to reach. And we report on the emerging life of new Churches in old lands where being a Catholic can at times be very dangerous.
With dwindling support from funding partners in Europe and the USA, we need to call on the support of those who benefit from our work.
Click here to find out the ways you can support UCA News. You can make a difference for as little as US$5…
Credit: Source link
