FUI TO STAGE PRO-PALESTINE RALLY OUTSIDE MERDEKA PALACE

Jakarta, Jan. 14 (ANTARA) - The Forum of Islamic People (FUI) planned to stage a rally in front of the Merdeka Palace here on Wednesday to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been attacked by Israel since December 27, 2008.

The protesters would start their march to the palace from Istiqlal Mosque and from the palace they would go to the UN Building, Shodiq Ramadhan, FUI spokesman, said here on Wednesday.

FUI would urge the Indonesian government to send Indonesian soldiers to the Gaza Strip to end Israeli colonialism in Palestine, he said.

The rally would end in front of the Palestinian embassy, he said.

Meanwhile, another Muslim group called 'Majlis Zikir Habib Hasan' was scheduled to hold an anti-Israeli rally in front of the US embassy here on Wednesday, according to the Jakarta Police's Traffic Management Center.

Since the Israeli military aggression in the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008, pro-Palestine and anti-Israel rallies have taken place in various cities in Indonesia.

The demonstrators burned Israeli flags, and in several cities they even some sealed Western fast-food restaurants to protest US support for the Israeli aggression.

At least 920 Palestinians were killed and more than 4,200 others were injured, including children and women, in the Israeli assaults in Gaza.