Three Christian High School Girls Beheaded ¶ Sulawesi Indonesia

7 Comments

1. 

   Dean Pajevic on October 30, 2005 at 3:16 pm

   Good god.  I hate extremists of all stripes.  It’s incredibly sad that extremist Muslims are sweeping through countries like Indonesia.

   Well, if they keep this up, they’ll either terrorize local populations into submission and abject lack of rights, or they’ll alienate the populace.

   • 

     myriad on October 31, 2005 at 8:53 pm

     It’s really important as we try and understand the spread of “terrorism” (or fundamentalist extremism, as I prefer to call it) that we realise that

     1)in each country there are many intersecting forces, and usually a long history

     2)there is no “one size fits all” to explain recent developments, and so

     3) it will result in dangerously shallow understanding and commensurate policies & approaches from other countries & NGOs if we allow this.

     Indonesia and this story is a case in point. Saudi etc. money may well now be flowing into to promote Al-Qaeda -style terrorism, but there is a long history it is tapping into, and it is an enabler, not the cause (and there’s not a single one of those either).

     Indonesia is the third most populous nation in the world, stretching across a vast archipeligo of several thousand islands. Historically Asiatic people from SE and Northern Asia conquered these islands, bringing Islam with them, as well as Buddhism etc. These people (the Javanese) are ethnically very different from the many different groups that originally populated the islands, particularly the Melanesian and Polynesian groups. These groups also tend to be Christian rather than Muslim due to the work of Dutch missionaries etc. The Javanese dominate the western part of the archipelago, Melanesians and Polynesians are found in significant numbers to the east, particularly that Maluku (Moluccas) group. There are of course also other strong pockets of different groups, such as the Papuans of Irian Jaya and the Achinese. A final significant group are Chinese, who came and established themselves as traders, and still bear the brunt of racial tensions given their perceived wealth – rather like “Jewish Ursers” in Europe. And of course, the Javanese, as the dominant ethnic group with control of government, are generally far better off than the other ethnic groups.

     So already we have at least three intersecting facets: ethnicity, with a strong link to religion, and a secondary tie to wealth.

     Javanese domination of Indonesia has been reinforced with forcible migration programs; this has principally consisted of moving Javanese of the very crowded central islands, particularly Java, out to the minority-ethnically dominated islands, to 1) ease the population burden on key islands and 2) internally annex other islands with non-Javanese populations. This has been accompanied by strong outpostings of the military, and situations where regional governments – eg of the Maluku group – are entirely dominated by imported Javanese, with little or no ‘native’ representation. On top of this, the summary allocation of land and resources to those forcibly migrated has resulted in dramatic increases of pressure on natural resources, exaggerated societal inequities, and great tensions, with an inevitable explosion of violence.

     So in sum – Muslim Javanese being forcibly migrated (and not happy about it), inserted into minority largely Christian populations, who are not happy about it, with a large, Javanese Muslim-dominated military presence.

     The Maluku group exhibited this tragically post-1996, as forced migration increased markedly in the mid-1990s. Up until that point, the indigenous population was about 60% Christian, 40% Muslim, and there were mosques and churches side by side everywhere. It was overall a very harmonious community, despite having a ‘foreign’ Javanese government. Increased migration put tremendous pressure on resources, and resulted in an increased military presence which of course sided brutally with settlers. Tragically, it is believed that an argument between a group of Indigenous Muslims and Christians that finally sparked what was to be a blood-bath. The military silently cooperated, and Christians were driven into the hills and starved, murdered etc.

     This is a story that has been repeated at various scales across the Indonesian archipelago for many years, without any ‘terrorist’ funding. What I think we are seeing now is international groups providing resources to further increase that level of conflict, particularly at a time when the Javanese dominance of Indonesia has been softening, and the government becoming more democratic. Hence efforts are being stepped up by extremists to stop this, as it is the largest Muslim nation on earth.

     However, the root causes that this extremist funding is feeding on are not at all solely religious, and to focus on that element only will never result in a satisfactory resolution. There are long-term issues of ethnic inequities, whether certain distinct groups and their traditional islands belong in Indonesia and if so, in what form (eg the Achinese push for autonomy), wealth distribution, democratic representation, and severe population pressures.

     • 

       DuctapeFatwa on October 31, 2005 at 9:37 pm

       and you should get huge props for tackling it and giving insight into this incident.

       While beheading of schoolgirls is a horrific and inexcusable thing, it is not unique or a recent phenomenon within the context of the history of Indonesian ethnic rivalries, and not likely to have any relation to the Arabian or even the Indonesian Resistance.

       This is not to say that Indonesia has not received its share of US interference, but simply that it is such a very large and complex country, that there are many things that go on there that have nothing to do with the US.

       • 

         myriad on October 31, 2005 at 11:11 pm

         Thanks for the compliment. 🙂

         I had the pleasure of living on Ambon (island & capital of Maluku) for 2 months while completing my Honour’s research there, looking at models for implementing better coastal zone management. I had a wonderful time, and as it was 1996, unbenknownst to me, I was witnessing the final chapter of ethnic and religious harmony in the island group before violence erupted on Ambon in 1997. I still don’t know to this day if everyone I cared about there made it out ok – I was staying with a christian family.

         An interesting fact that reflects beautifully how stark the cultural differences are: Polynesian and Melanesian people can of course naturally sing in absolutely wonderful and complex harmonies; the Javanese cannot at all. So because the Javanse dominate, all Indonesians are specifically banned from singing the national anthem with harmonies, the pretext being “it’s our anthem of unification” – and that ban is there of course to deny an integral part of polynesian/melanesian culture.

         • 

           DuctapeFatwa on October 31, 2005 at 11:22 pm

           General Wiranto is the best singer of all genocidal maniacs in history.  If you like the old standards, done the old way, he is your Indonesian Michael Buble.

           Forget that “Feelings” fiasco. His album is perfect for entertaining elders whose musical tastes stayed stuck on Al Martino and roses and moonlight and you dear.

           It is available for download from any of the usual places. “Flamboyan” is my favorite track.

2. 

   anarchronarchist on November 1, 2005 at 2:42 am

   I enjoyed your comments very much and agree in general with your characterization of the major forces that destabilize Indonesia. From my time on Sulawesi (N. of Poso), Java, Bali and Nusa Tengarra, I can say that while those same factors are at work in those places I observed a very prominent theme behind much of it: The old rulers are still wealthy and organized and using ethnic and religious divisions to destabilize certain regions to spread their influence. These happen to be the drug producing regions (Aceh), the Oil shipping and production regions (Jakarta, Irian Jaya, Bali/Lombok, Maluccas and Sulawesi), and the Tourist centers (Java, Bali). In short the economic engines of the nation.

   Often parts of the extremely shady military seem to act under the direction of these former powers as much as the elected gov’t’s. I wouldn’t say that this is necessarily more or less of a root cause as the movement of money, but it is often the trigger mechanism of violence.

   One silver lining is that I don’t believe that the perpetrators of these types of attacks are necessarily as religiously motivated as economically. I call that a silver lining, because economic situations can change more easily than dogma.

   One sad truth is that does not take a lot of money to organize a group of hired goons to do just about anything there, in the name of whatever conflict or side you chose. There are a lot of folks who are desperate enough to kill for a living. Haves and Have Nots has a more literal meaning there. Fix that and you can fix a lot of other problems.

   Please keep writing on Indonesia, Americans have to educated about this essential country before history has played it’s trump card. I go back as often as I can, and I feel our Nation’s fall in the esteem of Indonesians is an unspoken tragedy that will predictably create the next generation of ‘blowback’ in the same cycle of Bush-ish policies that has brought us the Theocracy in Iran, Saddam, Osama and the problem of American Oil Consumption feeding the militarization of those disenfranchised by the inequities of the American dominated world financial system. We have not lost Indonesia yet, but we are currently losing it, and will unless the country is put squarely on ‘radar’.

   Perhaps one of the most complex and intruiging episodes in Indonesian history surrounds the postage stamp of East Timor and is horrific path through oppression, genocide, revolt and ‘independence’. It’s one of those stories that is in turn tragic, impossibly inhuman, phyrric, triumphant and devastatingly sad, yet a new nation has arisen. Like Indonesia itself, there are so many confounding layers and interpretations, it is almost impossible to tell the tale from any objective perspective or even to know what that would be.

   Thanks again..

   • 

     Oui on November 1, 2005 at 6:26 am

     .
     Beheadings are not part of Indonesian culture, thank you for excellent contribution to overview of Indonesian politics. This addition is also a reply and a thank you to great insight provided by myriad in thread above.

     In Indonesia, Songs Against Terrorism
     By Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid and C. Holland Taylor

     (Washington Post) Oct. 7 — Abdurrahman Wahid, was Indonesia’s president when tragic violence inundated the eastern region of Ambon and the Malukus six years ago. A seemingly trivial argument between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim passenger in early 1999 triggered a bloody religious war that eventually claimed 10,000 lives and drove a half-million Christian and Muslim inhabitants from their homes. Radical Muslims from throughout Indonesia flocked to the region to wage jihad on Indonesian Christians, backed by powerful Islamist generals and plenty of money.

     The largest such group was Laskar Jihad (“Warriors of Jihad”), led by an Indonesian of Arab descent whose ancestors came from the same province in Yemen as those of Osama bin Laden. Jafar Umar Thalib is a veteran of the Afghan jihad and knows bin Laden personally. Backed by spiteful generals close to the disgraced Suharto regime, Thalib sounded the call to jihad, and thousands of young Muslims flocked to his green banner to slaughter Indonesian Christians in the name of God.

     Enjoying powerful clandestine support, Laskar Jihad had actually established a military training camp less than 60 miles from the capital, Jakarta. When national police broke up the camp, Thalib promptly announced that Laskar Jihad would sail for Ambon and wage jihad there.

     
     Jafar Umar Thalib led the now-disbanded Laskar Jihad

     I (Wahid) ordered the army generals in East Java to prevent them from sailing and ordered the navy to intercept them if they did. I also ordered the governor of East Java to guard the docks and prevent Laskar Jihad from boarding. But these presidential orders were ignored by a military that refused to accept civilian control in the newly democratic Indonesia. An unholy alliance of fundamentalist jihadists, Islamist generals and people close to the Suharto family ensured that thousands of Laskar Jihadists poured into Ambon and the Malukus.

      

     • Laskar Jihad and the Conflict in Ambon
       By Kirsten E. Schulze – Int’l History London School of Economics – Spring 2002 (pdf file)
     • Bali Bombings – Hambali Mastermind plus Abu Bakar Bashir, religious leader of madrasses.
     • Hambali – Al Qaeda – Plot 911
     • Jihad In The Netherlands – Radical Teachings and Saudi Funds » Hofstad Group Link

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