PAPUA: MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN TENSIONS ON A KNIFE EDGE

Date: Thursday 19 June 2008
Subj: Papua (Indonesia): Muslim-Christian tensions on a knife edge.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal


International Crisis Group (ICG) has just released an informative and significant report on the escalating ethnic and religious tensions in Papua (eastern Indonesia).

Indonesia: Communal Tensions in Papua
ICG Asia Report No. 154, 16 June 2008

As the report notes: "Indonesian Papua has seen periodic clashes between pro-independence supporters and government forces, but conflict between Muslim and Christian communities could also erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed."

According to ICG, the key factors behind escalating sectarian tensions are "continuing Muslim migration from elsewhere in Indonesia; the emergence of new, exclusivist groups in both religious communities that have hardened the perception of the other as enemy; the lasting impact of the Maluku conflict; and the impact of developments outside Papua."

WEA RLC News & Analysis has regularly raised the issue of Muslim migration and demographics in Papua, most recently in a 20 December 2007 posting entitled: "Papua (Indonesia): Genocide by Demographics". (Link 1)

The ICG report gives detailed accounts of how changing ethnic and religious demographics in various towns have produced localised but threatening culture clashes. Violence has been only barely contained and tensions simmer just under the surface.

Concerning the "new, exclusivist groups in both religious communities", IGC says that the arrival in Papua over the last ten years of new "militant strands of both religions" is contributing to tensions. "On the Muslim side", they note, "Hizb ut-Tahrir and salafi Muslims are giving a harder edge to an Islam that until recently was . . . reasonably moderate." Then, "On the Christian side, neo-pentecostals and charismatics are promoting their own brand of exclusivist truth and see the expansion of Muslim daawa (religious outreach, dakwah in Indonesian spelling) as their greatest challenge." (Page 1)

ICG is no doubt attempting to be fair, non-judgmental and politically correct by presenting these "exclusivist" and "militant" groups as moral equivalents. But this is unfair and unreasonable.

There is however a good deal of interesting information in the ICG report. While Salfists are mainly winning over the Javanese, the Hizb ut Tahrir (which preaches Islamic-Marxist revolution) and the Pentecostal God-wants-you-to-have-prosperity-and-power sects are winning over many poor, marginalised, disempowered indigenous Papuans, thus deepening the fractures within Papuan society which is largely mainline Protestant.

The ICG report also details the degree to which the conflict in Maluku spread to Papua.

"NEW POPULAR [MUSLIM] HISTORY"

One very disturbing element of the ICG report is the regular reference to the "new history" that has recently been "rediscovered by Muslim commentators". As ICG reports, "the subtext to the new popular history is that foreign missionaries were responsible for Christianisation of a Muslim land; that Christian colonialism proceeded to obliterate all traces of Islam; and that not just Papua Muslims but Indonesian Muslims more generally must redouble efforts to regain lost ground and exert the control that is rightfully theirs." (page 21)

ICG does not challenge the Muslim commentators' "new popular history" or denounce it as revisionism. Rather ICG accepts it, describing Muslim acceptance of it as a "new awareness" (p4) or a "new understanding" (p11) of history. Clearly, if Muslim commentators say it, it must be true!

The same benefit-of-the-doubt courtesy is not, however, extended to Christians. For example: "Toward the end of the year, rumours began circulating in the Christian community that Laskar Jihad, the salafi militia that wreaked havoc in Maluku from 2000 to 2002, was conducting military training in a trans-migrant area known as Satuan Pemukiman (SP) 7 in Masmi, outside Manokwari, with the aim of fighting Christians who had opposed the mosque. The fears were calmed after it turned out that the young men involved, almost all of them migrants, were not Laskar Jihad at all but members of a non-political, non-religious martial arts organisation." (Page 5) This reporting would be fine except that the footnote reference cites as the source: "Crisis Group telephone interview, Muslim activist, Manokwari, May 2008."

ICG seems to have an anti-Christian bias which causes it to undermine and minimise Christian concerns and thereby de-legitimise Christian requests. It seems to accept as inevitable that Papua will become Muslim and regard as unreasonable that Christians would want to prevent that.

Despite these problems, the ICG report is both informative and important. Religious liberty advocates will understand just how incredibly serious the situations described are.

ICG forecasts that if Muslim v Christian clashes do erupt, they will remain localised. I do not agree with that assessment. The jihadist groups, the pro-Indonesia militias and in particular the Indonesian military (TNI) are looking for an excuse to unleash violent repression and ethnic-religious cleansing. Any violent local clash therefore has incendiary potential to convert simmering tension into burning terror across the region.

WHAT ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AUTONOMY LAW?

The most disappointing (and shameful) thing about the ICG report is that while ICG offers several recommendations for managing the situation, implementation of the Special Autonomy Law is not one of them! De-militarisation and the opening up of the region to visitors, journalists and human rights monitors are not amongst ICG's recommendations either.

ICG's recommendations include things such as ". . .ensure that Papua develops its own indigenous [Muslim] scholars and teachers able to interpret universal Islamic values in ways that are in harmony rather than conflict with customary traditions".

But it is naive to think there is such a thing as "universal Islamic values", and even more naive to think that Javanese Salafis would accept having indigenous Papuans "interpret" or customise orthodox, Qur'anic Islamic values so that they no longer conflict with customary (Melanesian, tribal, animist, Christian) traditions.

What Papua needs is openness and internationally-monitored full implementation of the Special Autonomy Law. And it needs it very soon, before it is simply too late and the momentum behind the genocide of Papua's Melanesian Christians is irreversible.

By Elizabeth Kendal

LEBANON FALLS

Date: Wednesday 11 June 2008
Subj: Lebanon Falls.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal


Iran-sponsored, Shi'ite dominated Hezballah does not want to govern Lebanon. What Hezballah wants -- indeed demands -- is freedom to ignore UN resolutions and re-build, re-organise and re-arm for war with absolute impunity.

In a 6 May cabinet meeting that lasted until 4am the next morning, the government (which is dominated by the Sunni-led March 14 forces) declared that Hezballah's extensive, completely independent communications network must be integrated with the government's. Of particular concern to the Telecommunications Minister, Marawn Hamadeh, was an "illegal and unconstitutional" communications and surveillance system that had been installed on Runway 17 of Beirut airport by Wafiq Shuqayr at Hezballah's request. The cabinet therefore also voted to remove Shaqayr -- a Shi'ite with known ties to Hezballah -- from his position as chief of airport security.

Hezballah's response was immediate, swift and devastating. Hezballah blockaded all the roads to the airport, seized Sunni West Beruit and shut down all the Sunni-owned pro-government media. After two days of fighting in Beirut, Hebzallah moved its fight to Druze areas of Mount Lebanon. Eventually, with the state at the brink of civil war, and with their homes under siege, both Hariri (Sunni leader) and Jumblatt (Druze leader) were forced to negotiate on Hezballah's terms. It was a most impressive blitzkrieg.

The Lebanese Army under the direction of General Suleiman (who was appointed to the post with Syrian approval in 1998 when Syria controlled Lebanon) did not resist Hezballah. Yet this is the same army that doggedly fought and profoundly defeated al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam (Sunni) in north Lebanon over three months in the summer of 2007.

Once Hezballah had proved its power, it handed its gains to the Lebanese Army. The government revoked its 6 May cabinet decisions and transferred the contentious issues -- Hezballah's communications network and Wafiq Shuqayr's position as chief of airport security -- over to the Army commander General Suleiman who declared both issues null.

Then on 21 May in Qatar (which is according to analyst Barry Rubin "an integral part of the Iran-Syria-Hezballah axis") the Lebanese government capitulated to Hezballah's conditions and surrendered its sovereignty. Lebanon has fallen. Hezballah now has veto power over all Lebanese government decisions; their candidate -- General Michel Suleiman -- has been installed as president; they control one-third of the cabinet; and they have authority to gerrymander and create smaller electorates in order to ensure victory at the next legislative elections. On 22 May the UN endorsed the agreement. Lebanon is now, in the words of Barry Rubin, "part of the Iranian bloc" and Hezballah is free to advance its war agenda unhindered.

Lebanon's fall will probably go down as the most geo-strategically significant event of 2008. Yet there was barely a sound. Instead of crashing like a major tsunami-inducing earthquake, the fall of Lebanon was more akin to a small, weak, abandoned man being kicked into quicksand by a pack of bullies. And as darkness envelopes this poor sinking man, his supposed friends, from the comfort and safety of their faraway palaces, praise all parties for avoiding war and making peace.

From this point I will limit myself to commenting on the religious liberty implications. However, I will provide a list of what I regard as the best reporting and analysis on the Hezballah blitzkrieg and resultant political situation.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IMPLICATIONS

The fall of Lebanon is the continuation and confluence of two trends that are being monitored by WEA RLC: the Shi'ite ascendancy and the decline of US influence. It has horrendous implications not only for Lebanon but for religious liberty and security in the whole Middle East.

For background see WEA RLC analysis on these two trends:

Religious Liberty Trends 2006-2007
3. RL TREND: SHIITE ASCENDANCY
Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
By Elizabeth Kendal, 5 Feb 2007

Religious Liberty Trends 2007-2008
(trend 2: "The New Cold War")
Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
By Elizabeth Kendal, 15 Feb 2008

While Hezballah does not want to govern Lebanon, it is without a doubt preparing the ground for regime change. It is only a matter of time now before the weak, abandoned and subservient pro-Lebanon, pro-West, "moderate" and Sunni-led government is replaced with one that is pro-Syria, pro-Iran, pro-Hezballah and pro-jihad. In the mean time we will doubtless see many "moderate" Sunnis, Druze and even some Christians behaving as abandoned, subjugated peoples and falling into line behind Hezballah for survival purposes.

As Shi'ite power rises and advances across the region, and as US influence declines, US "allies" in the region -- that is the Sunnis (great respecters of power) -- are switching sides. The latter portion of the Religious Liberty Trends 2007-2008 posting, under the subheading "A Word on the Middle East", notes several indicators to this effect. Now further to this, recent reports from Compass Direct () reveal a sudden ominous and dramatic rise in religious repression and hostility from the formerly progressive and West-friendly regime in Jordan. Having demonstrated its power so profoundly, Hezballah will not have to work too hard in Lebanon to get the Sunnis to line up behind its anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, pro-Sharia, pro-jihad "Islamic" agenda.

As noted in WEA RLC Religious Liberty Trends postings, both the Shi'ite ascendancy and the decline of US influence do not augur well for the religious liberty and security of Christians in the Middle East. As these two trends converge, each will cause the other to escalate. Over recent decades, US influence in the region (which extends most from America's economic power) has forced Arab states to constrain Islamic forces. As circumstances change and the constraints disappear and as the repressive and apocalyptic Iranian cleric-led regime assumes the role of regional hegemon, the future for Christians and all non-Muslims in the Middle East is extremely precarious.

RECOMMENDED REPORTS

Hezballah's Blitzkrieg:
"A deadly miscalculation in Lebanon",
By Sami Moubayed, 14 May 2008
Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE14Ak03.html

Facts (and maps) concerning Hezballah's communications network:
"Hezbollah's Communication Network Confirms Its Terror Goals"
By Walid Phares, PhD 21 May 2008
World Defense Review
http://worlddefensereview.com/phares052108.shtml

Best analysis:
1) "The Fall of Lebanon",
By Barry Rubin, 24 May 2008
The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center
http://www.gloriacenter.org/index.asp?pname=submenus/articles/2008/rubin/5_24.asp
In this piece Barry Rubin compares the situation in Lebanon and the wider Middle East in May 2008 to that of Czechoslovakia and central/eastern Europe in October 1938 after "Britain and France effectively turned Czechoslovakia over to Nazi Germany".

2) "The Nasrallah speech: Hezbollah ruled, the West is fooled"
By Walid Phares, PhD 2 June 2008
World Defense Review
http://worlddefensereview.com/phares060208.shtml
In this piece Walid Phares dissects and analyses Nasrallah's victory speech.

-- Elizabeth Kendal

MALAYSIA: the Great Apostasy Debate stirs again.

Date: Tuesday 13 May 2008
Subj: Malaysia: the Great Apostasy Debate stirs again.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal


On 8 May, media across the world ran with the news: "Malaysian woman can leave Islam." (BBC headline) Jurist, which reports legal news, commented: "Religious rights groups hailed the decision as a landmark ruling for interfaith relations." (Link 1)

Judge Othman Ibrahim's 8 May 2008 ruling in Penang's Syariah High Court, whereby Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah (Tan Ean Yuang) (39) was granted leave to revert from Islam to Buddhism, is indeed a landmark ruling. But before getting too excited, religious liberty advocates should consider the following:

1) The finer details of the ruling make it unlikely that it could be a precedent for many other cases.

2) A significant element of the ruling was the judge's castigation of the Islamic authorities for failing to save the plaintiff's faith.

3) This case is not over yet. The Penang state religious council, which is opposing the plaintiff's renunciation of Islam, has indicated that it is preparing to launch an appeal.

4) For religious liberty advocates it remains absolutely unacceptable that any Malaysian citizen should have to get permission from a Sharia (Islamic) Court before they can change their religious identity.

----------------------

THE PENANG RULING

The plaintiff, an ethnic Chinese Malaysian woman named Tan Ean Yuang (39), converted from Buddhism to Islam in 1998 in order to marry an Iranian Muslim named Ferdoun Ashanian. Tan subsequently took the Islamic name of Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah and the couple married in 2004. The marriage only lasted four months and Siti claims that she has had no knowledge of her husband's whereabouts since he deserted her.

In May 2006 Siti filed an application to renounce Islam and revert to Buddhism. The court however "ordered that she learn more about Islam and undergo three months of counselling with the Penang Islamic Religious Department's unit ukhwah (brotherhood) to ensure she understood the religion. However, she only attended the session once and remained steadfast in wanting to revert to Buddhism." (Link 2)

On Thursday 8 May 2008, in the Syariah High Court in Penang, judge Othman Ibrahim ruled in favour of Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah. While he noted that apostasy is a great sin in Islam deserving of severe punishment even death, he ruled that Siti was free to return to Buddhism on the grounds that she had never practised Islam, and therefore the court could regard her as a non-believer (kafir) and not an apostate (murtad). Siti's lawyer remarked that "the ruling was important because it accepted that Muslims could renounce Islam on the grounds that they had never practised the faith". (Link 3)

As the ruling rested on the plaintiff's alleged non-practice of Islam, it can be assumed that had any Muslim testified to the contrary, Tan's application would not have been successful.

Clearly this ruling will not provide a precedent for converts who have practised Islam -- converts like Soon Singh, a Malaysian Sikh who converted to Islam as a minor but in 1999, at the age of 21 years, sought redress through the courts to renounce Islam and return to Sikhism. Soon Singh's appeal was denied and the court ruled not only that all Muslims should have "Islam" printed on their identity cards, but that Sharia courts should have jurisdiction over all matters concerning Islam. This ruling became the precedent for all subsequent appeals against apostasy. (See link 4)

A SITUATION THE JUDGE BELIEVES SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

When delivering his ruling, judge Othman Ibrahim regretted that Siti's Iranian husband had failed her by failing to guide her in her new faith. He then castigated the Penang Islamic Religious Council for neglecting its duties and failing to "save" Siti's faith in Islam. "It is their obligation to encourage, support, help and ensure that new converts understand and follow Islamic teachings. However, in this case nothing was done until the last moment when it was already too late." (Link 5)

According to Malaysia's The Star online, PAS [Parti Islam se-Malaysia] is protesting the decision. "PAS vice-president Nasharudin Mat Isa said renouncing Islam was forbidden, unless one had been forced to embrace Islam under duress. 'If one has embraced Islam out of one's own free will, then one must be subject to Islamic law, and the law forbids the renouncing of Islam because it touches on one's faith in the religion,' he said." (Link 6)

The Malay Mail notes: "Only last week both BN [Barisan Nasional] and PAS members of Parliament had argued that once you enter Islam there is no turning back, not just for born Muslims, but also for converts." (Link 7)

Clearly PAS and the ruling BN government of PM Badawi are not interested in advancing religious liberty. It can therefore be expected that this ruling will not only stir the Great Apostasy Debate but initiate a debate about conversion procedures so that conversions to Islam are legally secure.

While Judge Ibrahim did 'tear up' Tan's certificate of conversion to Islam he did not grant her application to have a new identity card issued, saying that was a matter for the National Registration Department (NRD).

The NRD is unlikely to issue Tan a new identity card while the Penang state Religious Council is planning to appeal the ruling. "The council's counsel Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz said the council would appeal within the 14-day period, adding that among the concerns was the status of Siti Fatimah's marriage as her conversion did not dissolve the marriage." (Link 8)

If the ruling is appealed, then Tan may find she has injured her case by stating in her affidavit that she "stopped practising Islam" after her husband left her. (Link 7)

NO GAIN

Ultimately the ruling does not advance religious liberty in Malaysia -- it merely perpetuates the unacceptable status quo whereby in matters concerning Islam the religious liberty guarantees of the federal Constitution are deemed subordinate to the rulings of state-run Sharia Courts.

Malaysian lawyer A Sivanesan cautions: "This is a landmark decision and gives relief to Tan. However, non-Muslims should not be complacent with this decision. The real remedy for them is for the civil court to bravely uphold constitutional guarantees." (Link 7)

The best this ruling can do is to stir up Malaysia's Great Apostasy Debate once again.

Elizabeth Kendal

Links

1) Malaysian woman can leave Islam. BBC, 8 May 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7389874.stm
Malaysia Islamic Court Allows Reconversion from Islam
Jurist, 8 May 2008
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/malaysia-islamic-court-allows.php

2) Syariah court allows convert to renounce Islam
By Sharanjit Singh, New Straits Times
(Picture: Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah with lawyer Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani.)
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2235294/Article/index_html

3) Malaysia woman scores rare legal win to quit Islam. 8 May 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/sphereNews/idUSKLR29947320080508?sp=true&view=sphere

4) Malaysia: The Islamisation of Malaysia
WEA RLC News & Analysis. 8 June 2007

5) Judge: Council failed in duty to guide converts
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2235317/Article/index_html

6) MCA hails court decision. 9 May 2008
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/9/nation/21197271&sec=nation

7) A precedent for converts. Malay Mail, 9 May 2008
http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Friday/Opinions/20080509105658/Article/index_html

8) Syariah High Court lets Muslim convert renounce Islam and go back to Buddhism
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/9/nation/21194502&sec=nation