Israel-Gaza war: Jews in Indonesia hide in ‘religious closet’ as antisemitism flares
- In Muslim-majority Indonesia, opposition towards Israel has segued into wider anti-Jewish sentiment, leading the tiny community fearing they could face ‘acts of hatred’
- Amid pro-Palestinian marches, however, some Muslims say a fatwa to boycott Israel-linked brands is ‘poorly thought-out’ and turning ‘a political movement into a religious one’
Enoch, an Indonesian who calls Surabaya home, no longer wants to be openly identified as a Jew, explaining “Gaza changed all that” for him in a Southeast Asian country where a conflict 9,000km away has stirred protests and even a fatwa on Israeli goods.
That is seeding fear among the nation’s small Jewish minority, many the descendants of Ashkenazi Dutch Jews and other Europeans who settled in the then Dutch Indies in the early 19th century.
Sadly, anti-Israel usually means anti-Jewish as well
“Sadly, anti-Israel usually means anti-Jewish as well,” Enoch, in his early 30s, who requested to use an alias fearing a backlash, told This Week In Asia.
On the other side of the island in Depok, near Jakarta, Dian Apriani said she had heard anti-Jewish slogans chanted by some among the demonstrators at a massive November 5 pro-Palestine rally at Jakarta’s National Monument.