TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is conducting diplomatic efforts that can be mobilized to liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque compound from Israeli control.
"We will take all efforts to stop violence by the Israeli forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque grounds. Any restriction on Muslims entering the mosque is unacceptable," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said Thursday, July 27.
The Indonesian government rejected any form of violence and violation of human rights, including the killing of congregation members who were seeking to exercise their right to conduct religious duties at the mosque.
Israel has decided to remove metal detectors that it had placed at the entrance to the mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and replace them with more advanced surveillance cameras.
Read: Religious Affairs Minister Urges OIC to Convene over Al Aqsa
Israel is yet to revoke restrictions on the entry of Palestinians into the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, as restrictions trigger tensions.
Indonesia has also urged the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the Al Aqsa Mosque compound crisis.
The OIC General Secretariat will hold an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on August 1, to discuss the latest developments in Al-Quds Al-Sharif and the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque.
"Indonesia urges the OIC to immediately conduct a special session to discuss the crisis," the minister pointed out.
In addition, Minister Retno on Wednesday communicated with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss the Al Aqsa crisis for approximately 35 minutes.
Read: Indonesia Urges Granting of Worship Rights in Al Aqsa
China has become the chairman of the U.N. Security Council. "During China's presidency of the Security Council, I hope the UN Security Council can do something for the mosque," she said.
Indonesia, during the UN Security Council open debate in New York, on Tuesday, had earlier called on the international society to support and protect the Palestinians right to worship following the crisis at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, Palestine.
"Indonesia cannot accept the use of violence and tolerate any systemic violence and violation of the basic rights of the Palestinian people, including their rights to worship," Indonesia's Permanent Representative to UN Security Council Triansyah Djani said, as quoted in a Foreign Affairs Ministry's press release received on Wednesday.
In his statement during an open debate focusing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, Djani remarked that Indonesia had condemned the aggression and the violation of human rights by the Israeli forces that had led to the deaths of several Palestinians and injuries to more than a hundred.
Indonesia has also condemned the Israeli authority for restricting access to Muslim brothers and sisters of Palestine to worship at Al Aqsa Mosque, thereby violating the freedom to worship.
"The international community must find options to ensure that the mosque complex comes under international supervision and protection of the U.N. so that all worshipers will be able to perform their religious activities in harmony and peace," Djani noted.
ANTARA
