Rising Intolerance

Indonesia’s President, SBY, has asked President Obama to do something about intolerant acts against Muslims and Islam in the United States. But, perhaps now is the time for Obama to ask the same of SBY on behalf of Christians. SBY protested the possible burning of a Koran by a Florida pastor and the many US candidates running against the Islamic cultural center planned for New York (near ground zero) are just part of the growing Islamaphobia in the US. Although it does not appear to be at the level of France and Holland, a continuing high unemployment continues to feed the scapegoating impulse: when 30% of Americans believe Obama is Muslim, we have a problem. Indonesia observers are concerned about the growing number of violent attacks on Christians and Muslim subgroups such as Ahmadiyah. In certain communities in Jakarta, Christians have been attacked en route to a place of worship and the police have stood by. The respected Indonesian Survey Research Institute (LSI) found that 30% of Indonesians supported violent actions against Ahmadiyah, a group that believes Muhammad was not the last Islamic prophet. More shocking to those of us that often tout Indonesia’s marvelous tolerance is that 57.8 percent said they were against the construction of churches and other non-Muslim places of worship – the highest level recorded since 2001. Just this week, a group of youths calling themselves “Laskar Jihad” broke up a traditional Javanese shadow puppet performance (wayang). Perhaps its “Islam” is not pure enough or some spectators were imbibing. Non Muslim leaders are disturbed because the new National Police Chief is reported to have ties to the vigilante group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a group that has ransacked bars, attacked peaceful demonstrations, and broken up meetings of gay rights groups. More recently, pressured by hard liners, Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the indecency conviction of the founder of Indonesia’s Playboy although the magazine had no nudity. Indonesia’s President has spoken out against the violence and provided a reasonable analysis of why there has been more of it: “In a large-scale transformation, there might be disorientation and resistance,” he said. “It often causes uncomfortable feelings [and leads to different groups] blaming each other. It happens because the old values have been abandoned while the new values have not been properly established.” VP Boediono went a little further in remarks at a recent conference when he said “our state ideology tells us to respect people holding different religious beliefs. If we deviate from or contradict our basic ideology, the nation will come to ruin." It may be time for Indonesia to launch a more vigorous counterattack and for Obama to encourage him to do more to protect the rights of other religions. A start would be to ban incendiary groups like FPI and to more actively facilitate the construction of churches.

A New Era in US-Indonesia Relations Begins

September has brought with it much needed cooler weather, but regarding US-Indonesia relations, things are definitely heating up. The Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries, first announced in 2008, is in the process of being fleshed out: working groups focusing on education, climate change, trade and investment, science and technology, and security met on September 17 in Washington in an event called the US-Indonesian Joint Commission, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. The Commission has plenty of work ahead of it and will need to somehow rally those outside its halls to fully implement its vision. AICC looks forward to channeling its input.

President Obama finally announced he will visit Indonesia in November, sandwiched between visits to India and Korea. Even though it will be short, the visit will help solidify the important diplomatic progress that has been made since his election in 2008 and President Yudhoyono’s in 2009. Yudhoyono’s absence at the historic US-ASEAN Summit in NY could have been avoided if Obama had fulfilled his earlier commitment to visit Indonesia, but VP Boediono filled in ably and US audiences got to hear him discuss the economy, always a good thing. Traveling with Boediono was Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of the Investment Board as well as Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the Presidential Working Group on government performance. These three symbolize President Yudhoyono’s transformative leadership; they are efficient, strong communicators, practical, modern, and professional. They represent the best of Indonesia. Their challenge is to overcome the anti-reform elements within the bureaucracy and Parliament.

In Dino Djalal,(pictured above) President SBY has chosen a veteran diplomat and Presidential speechwriter who has actually changed the language of Indonesian diplomacy. We have noticed that since 2004 the President’s speechs are devoid of past artifices and circumlocutions, and cut to the core of issues quickly. Having lived in the United States as an adolescent, the new Ambassador is fluent in English as well as America’s diverse culture. His own story here, where he lived with a NY family, is compelling, and will help him in his efforts to present a democratized Indonesia that few Americans really comprehend. For as long as anyone can remember, Indonesia has not had an Ambassador with this level of closeness with the country’s President. AICC looks forward to meeting with Dino next month and to a new era in US-Indonesia relations.