The Jakarta Post, December 24, 2004
Lonesome in Bethlehem, living dangerously here
Kornelius Purba, Jakarta
A Bethlehem resident recently asked his Jakartan friends to pray for peace in his city,
while his friends here worried whether it would be safe to go to church to celebrate
Christmas. While the Palestinian friend hoped that more tourists would come to his
city so he could feed his family, his friends in Jakarta could only hope there would be
no repeat of the Christmas Eve bombings of 2000.
Police in Indonesia have promised to deploy officers to guard holiday celebrations
throughout the country, and hopefully the terrorists or those who want to disrupt the
celebrations will allow their compatriots to carry out their religious duties in peace.
But why should citizens require massive police protection just to exercise their
freedom of religion as guaranteed in the Constitution? It is ridiculous that going to
church has become a luxury.
Yousef Mansour, our tour bus driver during our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in October,
sent me and some other friends a Christmas greeting last week. In the letter, he said
he and his family had to move to Jerusalem in November because life was becoming
too difficult in Bethlehem.
"Please pray for peace in Bethlehem," Yousef, a Christian Palestinian, wrote in the
letter. He was extremely helpful during our tour, especially assisting a
wheelchair-bound pilgrim during our stay.
Although a minority in the predominantly Muslim Palestine, Yousef said he never had
trouble with his Muslim compatriots. Christmas is a national celebration there, and
Christians and Muslims visit each other on Christmas and Idul Fitri.
Bethlehem, about 11 kilometers from Jerusalem, is where, according to the Bible, the
Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. The Israeli military has erected 10 checkpoints
and 78 physical obstructions around the town. According to a recent United Nations
report, only 7,249 tourists visited the Palestinian city this year, compared to more
than one million in 2000 before the intifida erupted in September of that year. Two
years later Israeli troops besieged the Church of the Nativity when hundreds of
Palestinians sought refuge there.
Yousef is expecting a prayer from his Indonesian friends that peace will return to his
city, which would mean more tourists for the tourism-dependent city. Maybe the
world's prayers, especially from the United States and Israel, will help Yousef and all
Palestinians regain their sovereign rights.
Indonesia has suffered mightily over the last six years from so many different kinds of
problems, including religious conflict. Muslims and Christians butchered each other in
Maluku for years. While the situation there is improving, the desire to kill each other
has not completely subsided and outsiders still hope to provoke violence there.
Many Christians have been killed in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and violence there
continues as outsiders stir hatred between Christians and Muslims in the province. It
is also difficult for many Papuans to celebrate Christmas because of economic
hardship and the sharp increase in the number of Papuans living with HIV/AIDS.
Muslims in war-torn Aceh are still not able to liberate themselves from the oppression
of their own government, which thinks bullets and the problematic Scorpion tanks
alone can force the Acehnese people to stop demanding the restoration of their
human rights and the return of missing relatives and friends.
It is wrong to assume that Christians here have become the innocent victims of
Muslims, who form the majority of the nation. The entire nation is suffering from severe
and prolonged economic hardship, and poverty, hunger and even starvation have
become constant companions in the country.
However, a recent poll indicated that Muslims have become more intolerant of their
Christian neighbors. If this tendency is in fact true, the root of the problem must be
found. Simply portraying Muslims as intolerant based on a poll is ridiculous. We
should not make hasty conclusions, although we also shouldn't just deny it without
trying to understand whatever truths the poll communicates.
Islam also tends to be portrayed in the West as tolerant of terrorism. Islam has
nothing to do with the increasing number of terrorist acts, although many of the
terrorists happen to be Muslims. Can Christians claim that none of their followers have
ever committed acts of terrorism?
On Christmas Eve, millions of Christians will go to churches across the country to
celebrate the birth of Christ, who they believe is the savior of the world. Worshipers at
St. Joseph's Church in Matraman, East Jakarta, hope no bombs explode, as
happened four years ago. Worshipers at St. Anna Church, which was bombed two
years ago, hopefully will be able to enjoy a peaceful service.
We hope Malaysian terror suspect Azahari, who is still at large, will stop killing
people. Why should he bomb people who celebrate the birth of Christ, who is also
recognized in Islam as a great prophet, although not as the son of God? And by the
way, why doesn't he just go back to his own country?
Only time will tell whether Christmas this year will be peaceful. We can only hope that
no horrifying pictures of carnage and death will be broadcast on TV stations, as
happened four years ago.
The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post. He can be reached at
purba@thejakartapost.com
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