Jakarta – Amnesty International and Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, have called for the end of human rights violations in Palestine in light of the Israeli government's 50-year occupation of the territory.

"Over the last 50 years, Israel has uprooted thousands of Palestinians from their land, which they in turn occupied and created settlements reserved for Israeli citizens," said Rumadi, head of Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU) research unit Lakpesdam, in Jakarta on Wednesday (07/06).

Meanwhile, Amnesty International's Indonesia country director, Usman Hamid, urged the international community to ban imported goods from Israeli-occupied lands in Palestine.

"One of the highlights of this campaign is our insistence that the international community take steps to ban all imported goods produced from illegally occupied territories on Palestinian land," Usman said.

The country director also said the struggle to stop human rights abuses in Palestine should continue unabated to create better living standards for Palestinians.

"This campaign is aimed to give voice to civilians who have suffered human rights violations in Palestine [...] many of them have become refugees in their own territory."

In order for Indonesia to contribute greater support to the Palestinian cause, Usman said, the Southeast Asian country needs to play a greater role in global political affairs. "Indonesia needs to assert itself on the global political map."

Usman also urged other countries and private businesses to sever ties with Israeli companies who manufacture goods on Palestinian land.

Makarim Wibisono, a former United Nations special monitor for human rights abuses in Palestine, said businesses must be thorough in determining if products they trade for are made on occupied territory.

"They maneuver by changing brands of products," Makarim said. "If we get together and put economic pressure on Israel, hopefully it will have an impact."

Amnesty International Indonesia called on the government to stop enabling the Israeli violation of Palestinian territory by signing an online petition to boycott goods manufactured on occupied land.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/amnesty-international-nu-call-boycott-israeli-settlement-products/