Civil libertarians alarmed at sweeping powers for intelligence agency Civil libertarians in Jakarta have been alarmed by the passage Tuesday of a bill that gives sweeping new powers to the State Intelligence Agency that critics fear will take the country back to the bad old days of the 30-year Suharto […]
WHAT is the single greatest failing of Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono? Ismail Yusanto, the public face of Islamist organisation Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Jakarta, tells me: “The government of Indonesia works on a secular system. In terms of politics, economics and society, a secular system will always produce many, many problems. […]
When asked to explain why he does what he does, Zaim Saidi points to a song, “Kisah 8 Dirham” (“The Story of 8 Dirhams”) by Gita Gutawa. The tune tells of the Prophet Muhammad going to the market with eight dirhams, or silver coins. Along the way, he gives away […]
Vatican City. Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics in Indonesia on Friday to defend tolerance, peace and the rights of minorities, saying that the country’s constitution “guarantees” freedom of worship. Meeting with Indonesian Catholic bishops in Rome, Benedict encouraged them to “strengthen Indonesian society by promoting those values that your fellow […]
BBC updates Indonesia Profile from 1940-2011 A chronology of key events: circa 1940: Dutch colonialists eating in Java Dutch colonialists were the masters of Indonesia until 1949 1670-1900 – Dutch colonists bring the whole of Indonesia under one government as the Dutch East Indies. 1928 – A youth conference pledges […]
Rob Kerby, Senior Editor | 1:56pm Wednesday October 5, 2011 Islam’s most populous nation, Indonesia, is the most diverse nation imaginable — a far-flung archipelego of 13,466 islands where 238 million people speaking 742 languages live in everything from luxurious skyscraper penthouses to squalid cardboard slums, mountainside-hugging bamboo huts and […]
Two international relations scholars, Ed Mansfield and Jack Snyder, suggest that one of the characteristics of transition to democracy is the weakness of state institutions and the tendency for political elites to use negative nationalism to gain votes. In this case, the risks of internal conflict, and to some extent […]
By Paul R. Kopenkoskey, An estimated 275 Christian leaders are meeting in Indonesia this week (Oct. 4-7) to plot an ecumenical future in what one veteran of the ecumenical movement called a watershed gathering. Leaders of the fledgling Global Christian Forum will gather evangelical, Pentecostal, mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic and […]
Opinion: Religious liberty is the proverbial canary in the mine,” according to Doug Bandouw, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Canaries are often used by miners as an early-warning signal for poisonous gases. When the small birds stop singing and suffocate, miners know toxic gases have polluted the area […]
A close friend introduced me to the idea that practicing martial arts has the potential to assist a Muslim in achieving a higher spiritual connection with God. Since I had always associated martial arts with Asian culture and Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism, the connection with Islam did not […]
(AP) JAKARTA, Indonesia — The chanting crowd at the radical Muslim protest in Indonesia stood out for its normalcy: smartly dressed businessmen, engineers, lawyers, smiling mothers, scampering children. At a time when al-Qaida seems to be faltering, the recruitment of such an educated, somewhat mainstream following is raising fears that […]
Is Indonesia headed for another round of deadly sectarian violence? Following the suicide bomb attack in Solo which has so far claimed two lives and injured more than 20 worshippers in a church, the country’s political elite has a lot of questions to answer, and we need a firm and […]
The mother of a passenger aboard a plane that crashed in a remote area of Indonesia says her daughter has called her, raising hopes of finding survivors as rescuers struggled to reach the site. Search and rescue teams had been unable to reach the accident site in a mountainous area […]
Indonesia’s biggest Muslim organization is calling on the government to block international radical Islamist sites. Nahdatul Ulama says extreme teachings are fueling racial violence across Indonesia. It is understood a suicide bomber who attacked a church in Central Java last week accessed radical Islamist websites. The government has already passed […]
ndonesia has a national motto which reads in Bahasa Indonesia – Bhinneka Tunggal Ika; translated to English it means Unity in Diversity. For anyone in Indonesia this is familiar but for those less familiar with this country it is an interesting insight into the aspirations of the nation. The word […]
Source: Asiatimes on line. BALI – Indonesia was shocked and shamed on Sunday when a suicide bomber struck a Christian church in Solo, killing at least one congregant and injuring at least 27 others. But the reaction from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been even more shameful. On Sunday morning, […]
Indonesian authorities suspect a suicide bomber who attacked a church on Sunday may have been involved in a previous bombing at a mosque in April. Police Monday were awaiting the results of DNA testing on the remains of the bomber, who injured 27 people, many critically, at a church in […]
Solo, Indonesia — At least one person was killed Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked an Indonesian church, officials said, the latest sectarian incident to hit the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. “I can confirm that there was a suicide bomb attack in Church Bethel Injil at 10:55,” Central Java […]
An Australian human rights researcher detained by Indonesian authorities on Monday remains in detention awaiting what is likely to be her imminent deportation. The researcher and Human Rights Watch activist Andreas Harsono were taken into custody by police in Sampang, East Java, as they attempted to investigate the local Shia […]
Jakarta Globe: The country’s military commander warned on Sunday against anyone going to Ambon to wage jihad, echoing a call by the country’s highest Islamic authority following deadly clashes there last week. Speaking in Jakarta at an event to mark the 66th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI), Adm. Agus […]