Indonesian Antisemitism Watch

Wed, May 14, 2008 at 11:34:08 am PDT

In the showcase “moderate” Islamic state of Indonesia, the speaker of parliament told an audience of Jew-haters today that Israel is committing ‘ethnic cleansing’.

JAKARTA (AFP) - Israel is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, a top Indonesian politician said Wednesday in the lead up to celebrations and protests marking the Jewish state’s 60th anniversary.

“There is nearly no day without the blood of innocent people being spilled in Palestine,” Agung Laksono, the speaker of Indonesia’s parliament, told an international anti-Zionist conference here marking the anniversary. [Why are there no other reports on the news wires about this “anti-Zionist conference?” – ed.]

“Israeli soldiers, in a planned manner, murder and destroy the Palestinians. Villages are bombed, homes are destroyed and their fields and burned,” he said.

“We condemn the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel.”

If Israel is committing “ethnic cleansing,” they’re doing a really poor job of it—since the Palestinian territories have one of the fastest growing populations in the world.