Taufiq Syarifudin, Jakarta – A number of people held a Defend Palestine action at the Horse Statue in Central Jakarta on Sunday October 12. They continue to call for Palestinian independence through these actions.
Based on Detik's monitoring at the location at 9.15 am, the protesters appeared to be crowding around the Horse Statue area towards Gambir train station or on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan. They were busy singing the song "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson.
Meanwhile the main stage near the entrance to the National Monument (Monas) began playing music. The crowd then gathered together and sang while clenching their fists in the air and waving flags.
In addition to this, they brought posters calling for Palestinian independence. Some of the posters just had written messages, while others had pictures of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Then, there were also cyclists carrying posters that read "Falastin Hurrah" in Arabic script, which means "Free Palestine". Other messages read "Abolish apartheid from the river to the sea".
There were also those who brought posters with the words "For as long as Palestinian independence has not been granted, Indonesia will stands against the Israeli colonialists". Other posters had a similar tone.
The Defend Palestine action was not only held at the Horse Statue, but some of the crowd moved to the front of the nearby United States Embassy.
They moved while shouting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". They also carried Palestinian and red and white Indonesian flags.
Meanwhile, road closures around the area were also carried out starting from Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan to Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, which was closed in both directions. (dwr/dwr)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Massa Kompak Nyanyi 'Heal The World' di Aksi Bela Palestina Patung Kuda".]