Supporting reconciliation between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia

Osama bin Laden’s call for the „Holy War“ has spread fear and terror around the world. The people on Indonesia’s Moluccas-Islands have first-hand experience what „Holy War“ means. Last year 2000 militant Muslims of Laskar Jihad, an organisation collaborating with Bin Laden, called for a „Holy War“ against Christians. According to Laskar Jihad the appeal was meant to support troubled Muslims. However, in actual fact they started a mass expulsion of Christians and were responsible for the escalation of conflicts that had been going on since 1999 between Christians and Muslims.

The attacks of Laskar Jihad-fighters are frightful: heavily armed commandos with speedboats attack Christian villages at the crack of dawn. Sympathizing soldiers and police just stand and watch as unarmed villagers are killed. Even children and the elderly are not spared. Some villages are being attacked up to four times within a few weeks until the villagers give way to the pressure and escape. The Laskar Jihad-fighters deliberately intend to drive the Christian population from their land. Christians carry out human rights violations in revenge, no less severe. Muslim villages are attacked and destroyed. Thus a vicious circle of violence has arisen that is difficult to overcome.

So far the fighting killed more than 9.000 Muslims and Christians. Several hundreds mosques and churches have been burned to the ground. Still the islands haven’t found peace. We have repeatedly warned of denoting the fighting as religious war. Ethnic conflicts and social unrest were exploited by supporters of the deposed Indonesian dictator Suharto in order to destabilize the young Indonesian democracy. Because of the Molucca war not just President Wahid but all democratic members of the South-East-Asian island have lost out in reputation at home and abroad.

Other radical Islamic organisations in Indonesia are said to be supported by followers of former dictator Suharto as well and have no interest in democratization of the country. Namely the majority of these organisations have condemned the terror attacks of Sept.11th, 2001. However, some are threatening to declare a „holy war “ on the U.S. in case Afghanistan was attacked. The fear amongst foreigners is growing in Indonesia after some extremist Muslim organisations were searching hotels for Americans. Many foreigners are leaving the world’s most populous Muslim country for fear of reprisals.

The Moluccas are still like a powder keg. There is hope, however, because there have been less infringements in recent months. Now there are initiatives for the reconciliation between quarrelling members of religious groups, for which we ask you for your support. We are specifically trying to enlist support from the European Union and various European governments for generous help towards reconstruction and reconciliation. Since fighting erupted we have informed about the complex conflict background in numerous press statements, memorandums, radio and TV interviews. With a postcard campaign and a demonstration of Moluccans in front of the European Foreign Ministers Council in Brussels we demanded the dispatch of human rights watch and UN soldiers. An early dispatch would have prevented severe bloodshed.

500.000 refugees are urgently awaiting support in order to return to their destroyed villages on the Moluccas. However, social existence for people from different religious communities will be impossible unless there is a dialogue between Christians and Muslims. The Moluccas need reconciliation. Otherwise unrest in Indonesia will increase further. Therefore please support our commitment to reconciliation and reconstruction of the destroyed islands with a donation addressed to the account No. 1909 at the Sparkasse Göttingen, BLZ 260 500 01 in Germany.

Translated by Bärbel Heimansberg