Overview
- Meeting minutes reviewed by Reuters show NU’s leadership told Yahya Cholil Staquf to quit within three days or be removed.
- An NU official said the move followed Staquf’s invitation of Peter Berkowitz, described in the minutes as affiliated with an “International Zionism network,” to an internal August event.
- Staquf apologized for the invitation, calling it an oversight for not checking Berkowitz’s background, and said he condemns Israel’s “brutal genocidal acts in Gaza.”
- NU Secretary-General Yusuf Saifullah urged members to remain calm and said senior figures are handling the dispute through internal mechanisms, according to local reporting.
- Berkowitz has written in support of Israel’s Gaza campaign and spoke at NU seminars on Western political thought, a sensitive issue in Indonesia, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel.