“Dear Indonesia […]It is with a heavy heart I announce that I am denied from visiting your country.”
So begins the sad viral letter posted recently by one of Facebook’s most popular “vloggers”, the Muslim Palestinian Nuseir “Nas Daily” Yassin, who posts daily one-minute videos on his world travels. A multilingual Harvard alumnus, Nas has been warmly welcomed into most countries, has no criminal record — and he holds an Israeli passport.
Indonesia has rejected Nas’ special visa application.
“I wanted to show the world the beauty of Indonesia in the most apolitical, pure way possible,” he wrote. Nas’ letter to Indonesians instantly raised an uproar, racking up tens of thousands of expressions of support nationwide.
I first emailed Nas months ago, asking him to visit Indonesia as a gift to my wife, one of his most loyal Indonesian fans....