D

ozens of Christians staged a protest on Sunday to denounce the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims, saying that free speech should not be used as an argument to insult a faith held by others.

Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) and the Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) Filadelfia held the protest in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta in conjunction with International World Peace Day, which fell on Sunday.

“We, Christians, denounce the film because Innocence of Muslims has denigrated Muslims. That should not have not happened,” GKI Yasmin spokesman, Bona Sigalingging, said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Bona said that by insulting the faith of Muslims, the Innocence of Muslims producers had insulted the faiths of all believers around the world.

Separately, members of the GKI Yasmin congregation have staged weekly protests, calling on the Bogor municipal government to uphold the Supreme Court ruling to reopen their church, which was shut down following complaints from locals.

Members of the HKBP have also organized protests to air their grievances over the frequent harassment of their parishioners.

On Saturday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a press conference prior to his departure to speak at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York that he would propose the drafting of an international protocol banning blasphemy.

“Indonesia has the moral obligation to make such a call, to propose an international protocol that will prevent any action or initiative that could be categorized as blasphemy,” Yudhoyono said.

Yudhoyono will join with other world leaders to address the 67th session of the UNGA at UN headquarters in New York.

Yudhoyono will share the podium with other eminent leaders, such as US President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that another item on Yudhoyono’s agenda would be “a proposal to reach a peaceful resolution following the heightening tensions in the Middle East”.

In anticipation of protests from Muslim groups in the country, the United States closed all its diplomatic missions in Indonesia on Friday, citing security reasons.

The missions are located in several cities around the country: the US Embassy in Jakarta, the US Consulate General in Surabaya, the American Presence Post in Medan, the US Consular Agency in Bali and the US Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), also in Jakarta.

In a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, the US cited “… the potential for significant demonstrations that might be held in front of these facilities”. Earlier last week, around 200 people from various Islamic groups torched an American flag and tires outside the US Consulate in the country’s third-largest city, Medan. Some unfurled banners saying, “Go to hell, America”, while others trampled on dozens of paper US flags.

On Tuesday last week, about 100 Muslim students in Makassar, a city in central Indonesia, called for the death penalty against the Innocence of Muslims director, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.