Jakarta – Education and Cultural Minister Muhadjir Effendy has apologized for what he admitted was an error made in sixth-grade social science textbooks, which referred to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The issue recently sparked controversy in Indonesia, particularly as the global debate on Jerusalem's status continues to heat up after it was recognized by Unites President Donald Trump as Israel's capital city.
The ministry has taken down the electronic version of the social science textbooks from its website, pending an investigation on how the error could have slipped by the publisher's attention.
"The ministry will find out how this mistake could have happen. We will also investigate whether it was made deliberately," Muhadjir said in a press release on Thursday.
The ministry, he said, will also start revising its social science e-textbooks on Wednesday, promising that the correct version would be published shortly. He called on publishing companies Intan Pariwara and Yudhistira to retract the books.
The government and a number of organizations, including the country's two largest Islamic groups, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, have condemned both Trump's controversial acknowledgement and his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (nmn/ipa)