The Australian, December 06, 2004
Anti-Western feeling grows in Indonesia
Jakarta correspondent Sian Powell
USUALLY trumpeted as a largely tolerant and syncretic brand of the religion, Islam in
Indonesia has had some bad press in the past few months.
A recent survey found that a disturbingly large proportion of the Indonesian population
backed terrorism to some degree; Muslim militants have repeatedly blockaded a
Catholic school in Jakarta with little or no action from the authorities; and there has
been a spate of Christian murders in the troubled district of Poso in the far east of the
archipelago.
Most experts agree Muslim attitudes towards the West, and therefore towards
Christianity, have hardened in recent years. Many Indonesian Muslims resent the US
military crackdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, and militant leaders have seized on this
simmering resentment.
The Bali bombers and other Islamic militants often cite US intervention in Muslim
nations as one of their prime motivations in attacking Western targets. There is a
continuing battle for millions of Indonesian Muslim hearts and minds, one that the
forces of tolerance seem to be losing.
Today, an Australian-sponsored religious "dialogue" will begin in Yogyakarta in Java,
with religious leaders from Australia, Indonesia and other nations in the region
meeting for two days in an attempt to promote amity and peace between religions,
and to erode support for terrorism
The conference ran into trouble even before it began, with hard questions asked about
why Australia had included the famously conservative Catholic archbishop George
Pell among its delegates, but excluded the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj el-Din al
Hilaly.
Others have asked how such a conference can possibly affect the attitudes of the
teeming millions of Indonesians who see their Muslim brothers and sisters torn and
bleeding in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, courtesy of the televisions now in most
villages.
One sampling of Indonesian opinion has provided hard evidence for those who fear
militants are on the march. The apparently reputable survey commissioned by the
US-backed Freedom Institute found 16 per cent of Indonesians backed the terrorist
attacks of extremists like the Bali bombers if they were done in order to defend Islam.
In results released last month, of the 52 per cent of respondents who said they knew
of the terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah, 13per cent agreed with its aims.
The survey of 1200 Indonesians also found solid support for sharia law, with
punishments like whipping for adulterers and hand-lopping for thieves. Half the
respondents opposed allowing churches to be built in Muslim districts.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Indonesian constitution, but the practicalities
can often be difficult. A Catholic school near Jakarta was closed for three weeks in
October when a Muslim group built a 2m-high wall blocking its front gate.
Little was done until one of Indonesia's champions of tolerance, former president
Abdurrahman Wahid, arrived at the school and demanded action. Nearly blind, and
brandishing his walking-stick, the Muslim leader said the school would be defended
from militancy.
More than 85per cent of Indonesia's 230million people are Muslims, with solid
minorities of other religions. Christians comprise 8per cent, Hindus 2per cent and
Buddhists less than 1per cent.
Much of the violence in Indonesia in recent years has been in regions with mixed
populations of Christians and Muslims, such as Ambon in Maluku, where nearly three
years of conflict left thousands dead and a city bitterly divided, and Poso in Sulawesi,
where sporadic violence has again erupted this year.
Five people were killed last month when a bomb exploded in a minibus heading to a
Christian village, the latest in a series of killings. JI militants have in the past travelled
to Poso and Ambon to wage jihad against the Christian menace.
On a nationwide scale, Christians often complain they feel hemmed in and powerless.
The nation's new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to review one
of the Christian community's greatest grievances: the requirement for neighbourhood
permission to build a church.
Permission is usually denied in Muslim districts, and illegal churches have sprouted
across Indonesia, above supermarkets and in office towers, vulnerable to all sorts of
pressures. Yet any move to change the regulations will almost certainly stir up
Islamic fears of Christian proselytisation.
Opening the 14th congress of the Indonesian Communion of Churches last week,
Yudhoyono said differences in ethnicity or religion could never justify conflict.
Addressing business leaders at APEC last month, he spoke of a restless world where
religion and ethnicity were becoming more prominent.
"Many problems of security can be traced to ignorance and a lack of tolerance," the
President said. "A more tolerant society is often more secure, and thereby more free
and able to pursue its development goals."
© The Australian
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