After the Indonesian Ulema Council boycotted Israeli products, many people stopped buying Israeli and Jewish products, including McDonald’s restaurants, Coca-Cola, clothing and perfume companies, and lipstick companies with Israeli brands. As a result, many companies, including small businesses, suffered losses, leading to layoffs and unemployment among employees of these companies and McDonald’s restaurants.
For example, Coca-Cola, which is an Israeli and Jewish product, had no buyers, resulting in the closure of the company, even though many of its employees, both men and women, were Muslims. This led to unilateral termination of employment because the company was unable to pay their salaries.
Most of these companies are owned by Indonesian citizens, but the brands have been bought through franchise systems, causing significant losses for the owners and affecting the country’s revenue, which is needed to finance development projects, especially the construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in Kalimantan and development projects throughout the country.
It is incomprehensible that Israel, which is at war with Palestine and has no direct influence on Indonesia, is being boycotted by the Indonesian Ulema Council, causing suffering to Muslim communities in Indonesia.
After seeing the risks faced by employees and the difficulties they face in meeting their daily needs, if they are unable to earn money, they may resort to committing crimes such as theft and robbery of other people’s property, which can disrupt security and order in society.
After the Indonesian Ulema Council boycotted Israeli products, many people, including religious figures such as Qurais Shihab and others, protested, causing difficulties for Muslim communities in meeting their needs. The Indonesian Ulema Council should quickly find a way out of this situation, rather than prolonging it and causing further hardship for the unemployed.
If there is a sense of injustice in the war between Israel and Hamas, it is enough to support Hamas and lift the economic boycott of Israel. This will allow the employees who were laid off to return to their previous jobs, resulting in a decrease in unemployment and a return to normalcy in their daily lives, including the ability to go out without fear of criminals.
The existence of the Indonesian Ulema Council has caused suffering for both Muslim and Christian communities, as seen in the closure of churches and the dispersal of Christian congregations while praying. Many people have commented that the Indonesian Ulema Council should be disbanded as it is not very useful and only adds to the country’s expenses.
The author hopes that the Indonesian Ulema Council will remain neutral in dealing with disputes between countries and not harm its own nation, while always creating a harmonious life among people of different religions based on the philosophy of Pancasila as the ideology and foundation of the Indonesian state.
