January 1, 2008:
The government is
depending on public opinion (generally anti-terrorist) to keep Islamic radicals
under control. Those that use, or even advocate, violence are arrested and
prosecuted, most of the time. In response, many Islamic radicals are turning
from attacking infidels (non-Moslems, and about 15 percent of the population
fits that description) to going after Moslems who are, well, different. That
applies to the majority of Indonesian Moslems, but the Islamic conservatives
are playing that down. Indonesia came late to Islam, and retained many
pre-Islamic practices. In the last few decades, conservative missionaries from
Saudi Arabia have convinced many urban Indonesian Moslems that these
pre-Islamic ("old time religion") practices are bad, even heretical. But
because the majority of Indonesians still favor these old ways, the Islamic
conservatives are moving slowly to "purify" Indonesian Islam. The government
knows it's sitting on an powder keg here, but believes that the local Islamic
conservatives will eventually be mellowed by the majority attitudes.
December 25, 2007: Seventeen thousand additional police were
deployed around Christian churches, to protect against Islamic terrorism. There
were attacks seven years ago that left 18 dead. This year, there were not any
open threats.
December 23, 2007: In Western Java, about 30 Islamic radicals
attacked another mosque of the
Ahmadiyah's, a Moslem sect that Islamic
conservatives consider heretical. After the earlier attack, the government
ordered police to prevent future attacks.
December 18, 2007: A thousand Islamic radicals attacked two
mosques of the Ahmadiyah's, a Moslem
sect that Islamic conservatives consider heretical. A month ago, the
conservative Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) issued a fatwa (religious
decree) against heresy (aimed mainly at the Ahmadiyah, who incorporate many
pre-Islamic religious practices in their version of Islam.) The government
accepted the fatwa, and is now being criticized for allowing vigilantes to
enforce it. The mob attack was organized by a new Moslem militia, led by former
Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abu Bakar Bashir.