MEMBERS of the JAMAAT al-Muslimeen were never going to burn Israel's flag on Thursday, as some expected.

Instead, Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr and three other members of the Jamaat hoisted the flag of Palestine outside the Mucurapo mosque in solidarity with the disputed state and more than 200 people who have been killed in and around Gaza since May 10.

Abu Bakr told Newsday that the message about the flag-burning was merely a rumour.

"We are not followers. We are leaders," he said.

[caption id="attachment_890776" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr speaking about the Israel and Palestine conflict in his Jamaat office on Mucurapo Road in Port of Spain. - Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]

He suggested the burning of a national flag, even Israel's, would be polarising, since decisions made by governments, including acts of aggression, do not necessarily reflect the will of the people.

"There aren't only Jews in Israel. (There are) Muslims and Christians in Israel," he said, adding that people of all denominations are increasingly standing against the actions of Israel's government.

The Jamaat issued a media release on Thursday saying it joins with many others in Trinidad and Tobago and the international community in the condemnation of the "oppression, illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing that started and fuels this conflict."

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