Lions and Rotary Club: They are Zionist!?

Islamic fundamentalists want to ban Rotary and Lions clubs:

they are pro-Israel, and Masonic
Mathias Hariyadi

The accusation is that they finance Israel secretly, and represent Freemasonry in Indonesia, prohibited under Sukarno. Threats also against Muslim members of the two organizations: "they can consider themselves infidels."

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Banning the Lions and Rotary clubs. This is the public request that the Forum of Ulemas and Muslims (FUUI) has addressed to Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Islamic fundamentalist group charges that the two organizations "might have secretly donated funds to Israel." The president of the FUUI, Athian Ali Muhammad Da’i, says that the Rotary and Lions clubs "are not social organizations but are part of the Freemasonry and Zionist movements, which could endanger Islam."

For the president of the FUUI, the Rotary and Lions clubs "have introduced Jewish ideals to their Muslim members," and "seek information from the members, which are prominent figures in Indonesia’s government and society, which can be used for the Zionists’ political and economic agenda."

Dean Boulding, vice president of the Jakarta Rotary Club, calls the request of the FUUI "funny." "One of our co-founders was a Mason and several of the original Rotarians were also Masons, and in the early days meetings were occasionally held in Masonic halls. But that was more than a century ago."

Freemasonry came to Indonesia during the period of Dutch rule, but it was prohibited by former president Sukarno precisely because of its connection with colonialism, and that ban is still in place.

Ma'ruf Amin, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and an advisor to the president on religious affairs, says that "we have not received any complaints from the organizations yet." The MUI has not taken any measures following the statements from the FUUI, and reserves the privilege of carrying out its own investigations before issuing any fatwas or edicts.

According to Raja Juli Antony, executive director of the independent Maarif Institute, the accusation of the FUUI is connected above all to the initiatives that the two organizations are carrying out in favor of young students in Indonesia, an activity that is viewed negatively by Islamic groups.

For Raja, the war in Gaza has sharpened the hostility toward the Rotary and Lions clubs, which have always been considered expressions of the United States.