"I, as Deputy Chairman of Commission I of DPR RI, condemn the barbarity and cruelty of the Israeli apartheid state which has tarnished the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan and the Al Aqsa Mosque as the first kiblah (direction that is prayed to) of Muslims," Kharis Almasyhari said in a statement here on Saturday.
He said the brutal attack carried out by the Israeli police into the Al Aqsa Mosque resulted in hundreds of Palestinians including journalists, medics, and female worshipers of the Al Aqsa mosque, being injured.
He said Israel's cruel actions so far cannot be justified, including the attacks on Palestinians at the Al Aqsa Mosque.
The legislator also condemned Israel's systematic efforts to continue to displace Palestinians by destroying their homes in the West Bank and thousands of other crimes during the occupation of Palestine by Israel.
In this regard, he urged the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to file a protest with the United Nations (UN) regarding the Israeli provocation.
He cited the DPR's records on 15 resolutions of the UN Security Council on the status of Jerusalem.
One of the important resolutions is the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 181 of 1947 which establishes Jerusalem as an area under international authority and given separate legal and political status.
However, more than five decades, the resolutions were completely ignored by Israel.
"Indonesia as a member state of the UN and other countries having Muslim majority population and holding non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, can send notes of protest. Indonesia can ask the United Nations to protect the Palestinian people from Israeli Zionist arbitrariness," he said.
Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem with medics reporting at least 158 Palestinians injured in the ensuing violence as hundreds were detained.
The Islamic endowment that runs the site said Israeli police entered in force before dawn on Friday, as thousands of worshippers were gathered at the mosque for early morning prayers.
