MCC: Holocaust Museum In Minahasa Must Close

Member of Commission I DPR RI Sukamta (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I DPR RI from the PKS Faction, Sukamta assessed that the Holocaust Museum, which had just been inaugurated in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, should be closed. This museum was built by the Jewish community in Tondano, Minahasa.

"The Holocaust Museum in Tondano must be closed. Indonesia has always not recognized Israel because of its behavior that continues to colonize Palestinian land. Israel has annexed the Palestinian territories until now," Sukamta said in a statement, Friday, February 4. Nazi Germany. But the museum makers (Israel Jews) are currently committing atrocities to the Palestinian people every day," continued Sukamta.

On the other hand, said the Chairman of the PKS DPP for Overseas Development and Development, the establishment of the Holocaust Museum in Indonesia is also not in line with President Joko Widodo's policy. Namely rejecting Israeli products. "President Jokowi some time ago declared a boycott of Israeli products," said Sukamta. Previously, the Jewish Rabbi at the Shaar Hasyamayim Synagogue, Yaakov Baruch, explained the purpose of establishing the Holocaust Museum in Tondano, Minahasa, North Sulawesi. remembering my grandma's family or my grandmother who died in the Holocaust. Then the second is to educate the general public about the dangers of racism and hatred," Yaakov said, Thursday, February 3.

"From this Holocaust incident, we can see that racism and hatred, if not resisted, can result in badness, can give birth to a Holocaust, so it is very, very dangerous," he continued.

Rabbi Yaakov said the work on the Holocaust Museum took nearly three months. The initial construction of this museum was carried out in October 2021 and was inaugurated on Thursday, January 27.

"We are indeed pursuing the target that it must be completed and inaugurated on January 27. Because that day has been designated by the United Nations (UN) as Holocaust Remembrance Day," he said. He hopes that with this museum, young people can learn that from now on they must fight hatred or racism against certain ethnic groups or groups.

"So what we are fighting now is not only anti-Semitism or anti-Jews, but also Islamophobia, anti-Christian or anti-Buddhist, Hinduism, all of which must be fought from an early age," he said.

According to him, such things should not be allowed to happen, because the holocaust could happen again in the future to other ethnic groups.

"This is what we're trying to avoid, and in particular we're also trying to avoid it not happening to the Jewish Community of course," he said.

Regarding Indonesia's diplomatic relations with Israel, Rabbi Yaakov Baruch did not comment long. He emphasized that his party had nothing to do with politics with this issue.

"Because this museum building is purely our own, only to remember what happened to our nation, our family," he explained.