West Java's HTI Urges Government To Send Troops To Palestine

Bandung, W Java, Nov 21 (ANTARA) - Several members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) staged a rally on Wednesday, denouncing the Israeli aggression. They also urged the Indonesian government to send troops to Gaza, Palestine. "Our country has around 45,000 soldiers. Therefore, we urge the government to take concrete actions to stop the (Israeli) attacks. The most effective way is by sending troops to the Gaza Strip," said Luthfi Afandi, spokesman of the West Java HTI chapter, on Wednesday. According to him, only by sending troops to Gaza can the Israeli attacks be stopped. He also believes that sending troops to Gaza will protect Palestinians. Since the beginning of the Israeli air strikes, until the sixth day of the attacks (Nov 19), around 100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 800 have been injured, he said. "Most of the victims are women and children," he added. He urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to initiate the mission of sending troops from Muslim countries to Gaza. Since Indonesia (as a country) has the highest number of Muslims in the world, it can encourage other Muslim countries to send troops to Gaza, he said. He also urged the Muslims in Indonesia to show solidarity towards Palestine. In Bandung, students from the Alliance of Youths and Students for Palestine, staged a rally to condemn the Israeli aggression in Gaza. "We condemn the Israeli aggression on the people of Palestine. These acts of violence are committed by Zionists and criminals," said Arif Gunawan, coordinator of the rally. He urged the government to push the United Nations and other countries in the world, to take concrete actions to stop the Israeli aggression. "Besides, we also denounce the US, for providing direct support to Israel, a state which has committed crimes against humanity," he stated. The students have collected money, which will be donated to the people of Palestine.