The Jakarta Post, May 11, 2004
Arsonists did not spare Ambon 'reconciliation school' in clash
M. Azis Tunny, Ambon
The torching of a school on April 28 that served as a symbol of reconciliation appears
to have put paid to the efforts to restore peace in Ambon through education -- for the
time being at any rate.
Two months ago on March 2, students resumed their studies at the Muhammadiyah
senior high school after it was rebuilt following an arson attack during the previous
fighting. Now, the school has had to be abandoned again following the latest attack.
The institution was once a model school for reconciliation between warring Muslims
and Christians. It was built by the Ambon municipal administration in cooperation with
the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) at a cost of some Rp 1.160 billion
(US$133,333).
The school, located on Jl. Ot Pattymaipau in Tanah Lapang Kecil (Talake), Nusaniwe
subdistrict, was almost completely destroyed during the latest attack. Talake is on
the demarcation line between the Muslim and Christian communities that were
involved in clashes between April 25 and April 28.
After the 1999-2001 sectarian fighting ended with the signing of a peace accord, the
SMU Muhammadiyah senior high school was made a model "reconciliation school"
for students from different religions.
It was intended to provide education for both Christian and Muslim students at the
school.
The local administration then merged the management of the Muhammadiyah school
with that of the SMU Negeri 9 senior high school, whose teachers and students were
mostly Christians.
The SMU Muhammadiyah later established a joint class for 40 students -- 20 Muslims
and 20 Christians -- who were granted scholarships in view of the outstanding grades
they had achieved.
"We call the joint Muslim-Christian class a reconciliation class. Those in the class
have all been specially selected," the SMU Muhammadiyah's deputy head of
curriculum development, Ona Husein, told The Jakarta Post in Ambon.
However, Ona along with 42 teachers and 245 students had to return to their previous
refugee camps after the fresh violence that has killed at least 38 people in Ambon
since April 25, the 54th anniversary of the South Maluku Republic separatist group.
It was the sixth time Ona has had to flee to safety since the end of the previous
conflict, during which she had to move around from one shelter to another for more
than two years.
"Every time I imagine this experience, I always start crying," Ona said in tears.
Despite the repeated attacks, the SMU Muhammadiyah administrators have pledged
to activate the reconciliation class again after the security situation has returned to
normal.
"Hopefully, our hopes will not be diminished. We consider this disaster as a brief
interlude in the search for true reconciliation through education," Ona said.
She recalled that a sense of togetherness and of brotherhood had once prevailed in
Talake when students and teachers from both the SMU Muhammadiyah and SMU
Negeri 9 had been jointly involved in education activities before April 25, even though
they were of different faiths.
Yet, the peace and calm only lasted for a short period following the April 25 violence,
which has been blamed on the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) for commemorating
the RMS' anniversary.
Nur Lubis, the SMU Muhammadiyah deputy head of infrastructure division, was also
upset by the arson attack.
"Education must not be attacked as it has nothing to do with politics. We have high
hopes that Maluku will in the future be able to create generations of people capable of
competing with other regions in the sciences and technology. If our schools are set
on fire, how can we compete," he said.
Apart from the SMU Muhammadiyah, six other senior high, junior high and elementary
schools have been selected to provide examples of reconciliation. They are the
Kartika Chandra VIII-1 Ambon senior high school, state junior high school 2, and the
Latihan SPG 1 state elementary school, Latihan SPG 2 state elementary school,
state elementary school 72 and state elementary school 73.
The latest four elementary schools located in the Airmata Cina area, which is
dominated by Christians.
The six model schools were selected based on their strategic locations. The Kartika
Chandra senior high school and state elementary school 2 are located in a mainly
Muslim area on Jl. Dr. Latumetten, which serves as the border with a Christian
community.
"The schools play significant roles in developing the reconciliation process through
education. We will rebuild those that have been destroyed in the conflict," Ambon
education and sports agency director AB Tabalessy said.
During the previous fighting, at least 129 state and private school buildings were
burned down, as well as Pattimura University and the Maluku Indonesian Christian
University (UKIM).
The local government has rebuilt at least 55 of the buildings, including the SMU
Muhammadiyah and Al-Hilal elementary school 1, both of which were set ablaze
again for the second time last month.
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