The Jakarta Post, December 24, 2004
Fears of bomb attacks haunt Christmas celebrations
The Jakarta Post, Palu/Medan/Semarang
Ompu Monang, a Christian from Medan, has decided not to attend his church's
Christmas Eve service this year on safety concern.
The string of bloody Christmas Eve bomb attacks on churches nationwide during the
past four years has put him off, he says.
"I generally opt to stay and pray at home on Christmas Eve. I am afraid that my
church will become one of the targets," said the 65-year-old from his Medan home.
Monang is one of a growing number of Christians in the country who now prefer to
avoid churches for safety reasons during Christmas time.
Many have not forgotten the 15 congregation members killed and 96 injured in attacks
on several churches nationwide on Christmas Eve 2000. And more fresh in their minds
are the recent series of attacks on churches in Palu, Central Sulawesi, about two
weeks ago in which three people were injured. Not forgetting the nine homemade
bombs in found last week in Garut, West Java, which police believe were to be used
in attacks on Christians in the area.
This along with the "credible warnings" from Western governments of holiday terror
bombings, have not only stopped people from attending churches, but also forced
some churches to hold Christmas Eve services at hotels, malls or office buildings.
"It puts us at a lower risk for being a target for religious persecution," said Pastor
Steve Lunn, originally from Seattle, Washington, whose International English Service
holds worship for a thousand people in a downtown Jakarta office building.
"People tell me they feel safer," he told the Associated Press. "The facility itself is not
the most important thing. It's just a place to gather. The most important thing is being
together and worshiping God together."
Aiming to protect religious freedoms in the country, the government has responded to
the likely dangers posed to Christians and the National Police have deployed
thousands of officers nationwide to safeguard churches.
Metal detectors are currently being installed in large cathedrals in the country,
especially in the conflict torn-areas of Ambon, Palu and Poso. Police bomb squads
are also set to search some churches before services are held.
"We have talked to church leaders about security arrangements during Christmas Eve
in 26 churches in Ambon, Maluku province," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan,
the chief of Ambon and Lease Islands Police.
Maluku was a center of sectarian conflict between 1999 and 2002 when thousands of
people were killed and many more became refugees after violence between Christians
and Muslims.
In Central Java, armed plainclothes officers will be deployed around some big
churches on Christmas Eve, while 13,000 officers will be deployed to hundreds of
others in the province.
Intelligence agencies are also on the alert.
Earlier, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf had pledged to guard all
priests leading church services on Christmas Eve with officers who would escort them
to and from their homes.
These high-security measures have raised the confidence of some Christians, while
others put on brave faces and hope for the best.
Rev. Hengki Ombi, the leader of Immanuel Church in Palu, Central Sulawesi, said that
his followers were still traumatized after a bomb attack two weeks ago at a church
that left a security guard injured.
"Honestly, we are worried that another bomb attack will happen again. However, our
desire to celebrate Christmas, compounded by the tight security measures taken by
police, have begun to overcome our fears," Hengki said.
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