Celebration of Israeli Independence

A group of people who called themselves the Indonesian Jewish Society, last week announced their plan to celebrate the independence of Israel on 14 May.

This plan is very controversial because the majority people in Indonesia who are Moslems regard Israel as an enemy.  They believed that the land where the state of Israel now is located actually belongs to the Palestine.
For this reason, Palestine and other Arab countries i.e Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have fought wars against Israel since it declared independence on 14 May 1948.

Various Moslem organizations in Indonesia, including political parties, have frequently show their supports to the Palestinian cause i.e. by holding protests demonstrations in various parts of Indonesia.

Moreover, the Indonesian government does not recognize Israel until now, however it maintained diplomatic relationship with Palestine.

As a logical consequence, many people in Indonesia protested against the above celebration plan, and the Police refused to issue a permit.

Considering the above reasons, I felt that the plan to celebrate Israel's independence day was just a sensational effort by its organizer to get popularity.