Indonesia’s biggest Islamic group asks chief to resign over invitation to pro-Israeli speaker

Audio By Carbonatix

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, has asked its chief to resign for inviting a U.S. scholar known for his support of Israel during the Gaza war to an internal event in August, according to meeting minutes reviewed by Reuters.

The leadership of NU, which is also the world’s biggest Islamic organisation with around 100 million members and affiliates, has given Chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf three days to offer his resignation or be removed from his post, according to the minutes from a meeting on Thursday.

NU cited Staquf’s invitation to a person “affiliated with an International Zionism network” for an internal event and alleged financial mismanagement as reasons for his ouster.

Staquf, who has been NU’s chairman since 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NU official Najib Azca told Reuters the decision was linked to Staquf’s invitation to former U.S. official and scholar Peter Berkowitz for an August training event.

Staquf has apologised for the invitation and called it an oversight as he had not carefully checked Berkowitz’s background, adding that he condemned Israel’s “brutal genocidal acts in Gaza”.

Berkowitz often writes in support of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, according to his website, including a piece in September aiming to refute allegations of genocide against Israel.

Berkowitz spoke at NU seminars about the history of Western political thought in August, his website showed.

Berkowitz did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment that reached him outside of office hours.

Indonesia, the world’s Muslim-majority nation, has routinely condemned Israel’s actions in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza since the war broke out in 2023. It has long advocated for a two-state solution and has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Ananda Teresia and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Tom Hogue)