No, this image does not show a recent protest by Indonesia's largest Islamic group against Saudi Arabia

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 12, 2018 at 13:00
2 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A Facebook post shares an image it claims shows members of Indonesia’s largest Islamic group, Nahdlatul Ulama, protesting against Saudi Arabia in Jakarta on December 5, 2018. The photo is actually a stock image that has been used repeatedly as far back as 2011.

The image, which was posted to Facebook on December 5, has a caption saying:

“Today, around 20 people claiming to be representing the conservative faction of BANSER NU staged a rally in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy building on Jl HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Masses from NU say in their speech that they demanded the embassy to stay away from Indonesia’s domestic affairs, and ask Saudi’s ambassador to leave Indonesia. Organisers of this protest are very dumb because they asked Saudi envoy to leave Indonesia. Mr. SAID AGIL SIRADJ, are you not ashamed? Saudi Arabia has greatly contributed to Indonesia. What if Saudi Arabia cut bilateral ties with Indonesia???”

Snapshot of the misleading post.

BANSER is the paramilitary wing of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

“SAID AGIL SIRADJ” is a reference to NU’s chairman Said Aqil Siroj.

A banner saying “Saudi Arabia is cruel” can be seen in the image, which had been shared more than 1,700 times.

The image is a stock photo from Indonesian news outlet Tempo.

Tempo has repeatedly used the exact same photo to illustrate reports about Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

AFP found at least four Tempo articles with the photo, such as this one dated March 5, 2011, which is headlined: “Figures of Indonesian migrant workers going to Saudi Arabia plunged significantly”.

Screenshot of original image

The photo is captioned: “Hundreds of people from the Indonesian Workers Association (ATKI) stage a rally in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy building in Jakarta”.

It was taken by Tempo photographer Eko Siswono Toyudho.

Multiple other Tempo articles have used the image, for example here in November, 2010, here in December 2010, and here in April 2011.

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