A recent cooperation agreement between Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second biggest Muslim organisation, and an Israeli state-run organisation is sending shockwaves across Indonesia. Last October, the Muhammadiyah-run Rescue and Emergency Organisation signed a $200,000 medical cooperation agreement with Israel’s national emergency medical service organisation Magen David Adom (MDA). A high-profile delegation of Muhammadiyah, the oldest and second largest Islamic social welfare organisation in the world, visited Tel Aviv to sign the agreement.
But the deal is infuriating many Indonesians who vehemently oppose any ties with an entity which has oppressed the Palestinian people for decades. Angry Muslim students stormed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in protest against Israel’s onslaught against the Gaza Strip. About 300 protesters gathered outside the US fast food outlet in Palu, Central Sulawesi, waving Palestinian flags, burning US and Israeli emblems and carrying banners condemning Israel as a “terrorist and criminal” state.