 |
  |
  |
 |
||
      |
 the ABC's Religion And Ethics Gateway The Ark Encounter The Spirit of Things The Religion Report |
 |
On Wednesday 2/4/2003  Listen to this program |
Help listening in RealAudio
Indonesia and the war Summary: Hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Indonesia demonstrated against the Iraq war on the weekend - but the demonstrations were generally peaceful, and contrasted strongly with the angry protests that greeted the US attack on the Taliban. Details or Transcript: Stephen Crittenden: At the commencement of the American-led campaign in Iraq, there were some nervous warnings that our nearest neighbour, Indonesia, could be a dangerous tinderbox ready to explode with Muslim anger at what Muslims around the world are calling a war against Islam. As we’ve seen, there have been angry demonstrations right across the Muslim world, and last Sunday 100,000 people came out to protest on the streets of Jakarta, the largest anti-war demonstration yet seen in Indonesia. But rather surprisingly, perhaps, it was a peaceful march, with something of a family atmosphere – dominated by Islamic groups, but also featuring Christians, Buddhists, women’s groups and NGOs. It stood in stark contrast to the violent demonstrations that greeted the US bombing of Afghanistan in October, 2001. Well Dadi Darmadi and Najahan Musyfak are two young Islamic academics visiting Australia at the moment. Dadi Darmadi is a Lecturer in Comparative Religion at Jakarta’s State Institute of Islamic Studies, and Najahan Musyfak is Deputy Secretary to the Executive Board of NU, or Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation, once run by former Indonesian President Wahid. We invited them into the studio to tell us about the complexity of the Indonesian response to this war. Dadi Darmadi: Generally, we can divide it into two perspectives. The first one, some people perceive that this is religious. But another perspective says that this is not a religious issue but a humanitarian issue. Stephen Crittenden: Yes, a lot of people in the Muslim world have seen it as an attack on Islam. President Megawati a few weeks assured our Prime Minister John Howard that she didn’t see it as an attack on Islam. Is that view shared more widely, do you think, among Indonesians? Dadi Darmadi: I would say yes, there is a major shift since September 11 and the US retaliation against Afghanistan, which most Muslims in Indonesia perceived as a US war against Islam. And the street demonstrations during the war against Afghanistan was joined mostly by the Muslims. But now, we see in the streets of Jakarta and other major cities, they’re not only Muslims who held the protest in the street. Stephen Crittenden: The protests last weekend in Jakarta, they crossed religious lines, there were Buddhists, there were Christians, there were Muslims. Dadi Darmadi: Yes, although we have to acknowledge still that there are a small number of people – like the leader of the Front Pembela Islam, Habib Rizieq Shihab, in the first couple of days of the war against Iraq – saying that “we will send some, a number of Muslim people, going for jihad to Baghdad”. But then a few days later, some other Muslim leaders criticised this decision, saying “this is ridiculous to do that, because we know Saddam Hussein is not a representation of a Muslim country”. But many Muslims still feel that Baghdad is traditionally the symbol of the greatness of Islam in the past, and the war against Iraq now can be considered as the Second Fall of Baghdad. But for many, I think, who rejected the idea of war against Iraq, it is because many civilians will be the victims, and from the very beginning, many people ask if war really is required for this, I mean just to topple down Saddam Hussein from power. Stephen Crittenden: And Najahan Musyfak, how is Saddam Hussein seen by Indonesians, do you think? Najahan Musyfak: In Indonesia, the majority of Muslims feel that Saddam Hussein is a Muslim symbol in the Middle East. That Islamic leader has announced that Iraq is not a Muslim country, but yes, we agree that Baghdad is a symbol of Islamic civilisation in the past. And why Islamic leaders, a couple of weeks ago, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order to build up a good relationship between Islamic community and the government, how to deal with the problem of Iraq in Indonesia. And they said that it is better for Muslims in Indonesia not to go to Iraq for jihad. But jihad doesn’t mean by sword or by gun, jihad also can be done by giving funds, money, and other things, that can be used in Iraq. This is what the Islamic leaders said, and we agree about that. Stephen Crittenden: Do you think, Dadi, that perhaps there isn’t the level of anti-Americanism in Indonesia that we maybe see in the Middle East? I hear that in Jakarta there are still big crowds of people queuing up to see Chicago with Rene Zellweger, that that’s all still happening as normal. Dadi Darmadi: Right. This is what we see every hour in our television, all of them are American programs. But yes, in the first couple of days of the war against Iraq, there were protests in Bandung for example, and in Macassar in south Sulawesi; people got together in front of Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example, McDonald’s and they put up a big paper saying that we prohibit Indonesians to buy foods in this place, because it’s considered haram, or something like that. It’s prohibited. But again, the attitude of anti-Americanism has been growing steadily in many places in Indonesia since September 11. I think America is mostly perceived by many Muslims in Indonesia as having close ties with Israel, and is always mishandling the problems in the Middle East, for example. Stephen Crittenden: And what about Australia? There’s certainly a view here that Australia’s involvement in this war with Iraq has done us a lot of damage in the region. Is that how you see us or not? Dadi Darmadi: The latest development of the protest demonstrations that I see in Indonesia also shows a much more clear message given by many community leaders, saying “it’s not that we are against the people of America, or the people of Australia, or the people of Britain – but more towards the Bush Administration or the Australian government”. Stephen Crittenden: I mean, Dadi, for example, is there an awareness among Indonesians that so many Australians have been out protesting on the streets against the war? Dadi Darmadi: Yes, this is also interesting, that some young writers write interesting articles in the newspapers in Indonesia, saying “look, this time it’s not appropriate to put the West against Islam, because we have seen so many people in the West themselves – in France, Germany, in Britain, in North America, in Australia, in Sydney and Melbourne – we’ve seen on the television that even more people held street demonstrations than we have had in Indonesia”. So we quickly understand that this is more for humanitarian reasons than religion. Stephen Crittenden: Dadi Darmadi and Najahan Musyfak. Guests on this program:
Listen to this program. (requires RealAudio)
Back to the The Religion Report homepage Visit The Sacred Site, the ABC's gateway to religion online | |
| ||||||||||||
