Protesters stepped on a large Israeli flag before burning it. -- PHOTO: AP JAKARTA - AT LEAST 20,000 Indonesian Muslims staged a peaceful rally on Sunday in the capital to call for an end to Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Protesters from the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) gathered at the national monument in Jakarta and marched through the streets.
The demonstrators, accompanied by their families and children, waved Palestinian flags and carried banners reading 'Save Palestine', 'Israel, back off from Palestine territories!' and 'Boycott Israel's products and Free Palestine'.
At the national monument, parliamentary chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid, who is a senior PKS member, urged the United Nations Security Council to press Israel to end its strikes.
'This is a serious human tragedy. We urge the UN Security Council to put more pressure on Israel for an immediate halt of its strikes on the Gaza Strip,' Mr Nur Wahid said in a speech during the rally.
Protesters stepped on a large Israeli flag before burning it.
As a show of support, protest organisers also collected money to help the Palestinian people.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation of 234 million people, is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and does not recognise Israel.
Israel pressed ahead with its air and ground assault in Gaza on Sunday as the death toll in the 16-day-old war passed 850 and Hamas vowed it would never negotiate a ceasefire while 'under fire'. -- AFP
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