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Released January 15, 2000
The Wisdom Fund, P. O. Box 2723, Arlington, VA 22202
Website: http://www.twf.org -- Press Contact: Enver Masud
Article: http://www.twf.org/News/Y2000/0115-Bias.html
 
Media Show Bias in Coverage of Violence in Indonesia
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. media's anti-Muslim bias shows once again in
their reports on the violence in Indonesia, where calls of "jihad" receive
widespread newspaper and television coverage, but the massacre and burning
of dozens of Muslims by Christians -- the reason for the call to "jihad" --
gets little or no coverage.
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Correspondent for the Independent, reported on
January 11, 2000 that, "Aid workers say they have found the bodies of large
numbers of Muslims massacred and burnt by Christians in the ongoing violence
in the Indonesian Spice Islands."
 
Mr. Parry reports, "A doctor with the aid team said he had seen a mosque in
the village of Popilo in which bodies lay five deep. More bodies, including
those of young children, were bulldozed into the ground near by. 'I think it
was about 200 bodies,' he was quoted as saying. 'I saw some dried blood in
the mosque, so I assume ... that the victims were slaughtered inside the
mosque.'"
 
On January 5, 2000, Irwin Firdaus of the Associated Press had written,
"Media reports in Jakarta said up to 10,000 people on Halmahera [in the
Spice Islands] were seeking shelter in military barracks while waiting to be
evacuated. The Indonesian Observer daily quoted local residents as saying
most of those fleeing were Muslim, and that Christian militias had gone on a
killing spree throughout the island."
 
Yet, as far as we can tell, this Christian killing spree was not covered by
U.S. media. Instead U.S. media paid far greater attention to Muslims calling
for "jihad" in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
 
They did not report why Muslims were calling for "jihad," nor the various
meanings of jihad (or struggle), thereby, leaving the impression of a
blood-thirsty Muslim majority out to kill Christians -- just because they
are Christian.
 
The truth is considerably more complex, and neither Muslims nor Christians
are blameless.
 
The 1000 plus islands comprising the Moluccas (or Maluku) in Indonesia,
stretch from Halmahera in the north to Wetar off the north-eastern end of
Timor. The largest of the islands, Halmahera and Seram, are the most
undeveloped and underpopulated. The smallest, Ambon and the Bandas, are the
most developed and populated.
 
The Moluccas -- the fabled Spice Islands -- to which Indians, Chinese,
Arabs, and Europeans came in search of cloves, nutmeg, and mace, bore the
brunt of the first European attempts to colonize Indonesia.
 
The Portuguese were the first to arrive in 1509, followed by the Dutch in
1599. By 1630 the Dutch were established in Ambon, and they had their
headquarters in Jakarta.
 
After a brief occupation by the British, the Dutch returned in 1814, but
encountered resistance. The leader of the rebellion, Pattimura, was captured
and executed. He is regarded as one of Indonesia'a national heroes --
Ambon's university and airport are named after him.
 
When the Dutch left Indonesia after World War II, the mainly Christian
population of Ambon in the Moluccas, proclaimed an independent Republic of
the South Moluccas (RMS) rather than join with Indonesia.
 
In 1950 Indonesian troops occupied the islands, and the RMS fled to the
jungles of Seram. From there about 12,000 were taken to the Netherlands by
the Dutch government. And from the Netherlands they continue their
resistance to Indonesian rule. Many have returned to retire or do business.
 
The violence in the Moluccas has come amid increasing religious tensions,
fueled in part by Muslim migration to the islands, which have long had a
Christian majority descended from its former Dutch rulers, and converts to
Christianity.
 
Adding to the religious tensions is the prospect of wealth for some.
 
According to AFP (January 11, 2000), Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid
said that the most recent bloody Muslim-Christian battles on Halmahera
island in North Maluku, which have left hundreds killed, were "perpetrated
by someone who wants to be the governor of the province," as well as "the
prospect of a gold mine" in the area.
 
Others, rumored to be after the oil on Seram, may be fueling the violence
which has taken about 2,000 lives in the past year.
 
["Audi Wuisan, the coordinator of the crisis center of the Indonesian
Council of Churches, . . . said on January 13, copies of an open letter had
circulated in West Nusatenggara province, of which Lombok is part, telling
Christians there to condemn Christians in Maluku for slaughtering 3,000
Muslims." -- "Angry Indonesian Mob Sets Churches on Fire over Slaughter of
Muslims," AFP, January 17, 2000]
 
["A Muslim mob set fire today to at least eight churches on the Indonesian
tourist island of Lombok and battled police trying to stop the spread of
religious violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives. . . . Fighting
between Christians and Muslims first broke out a year ago on Ambon Island
and quickly spread to other islands in Maluku and North Maluku provinces, .
. . On Saturday, the Indonesian Council of Ulamas, a powerful group of
Islamic leaders, said it supported calls for a holy war to protect Muslims
from any further violence. But President Abdurrahman Wahid, a Muslim who
advocates religious tolerance, angrily rejected such plans." -- Ali
Kotarumalos, "Indonesian Religious Violence Grows," AP, January 17, 2000.
Note: The AP version of the same incident, does not tell the whole story. It
does not metion the slaughter of 3000 Muslims, reported by AFP. It does
mention "2000 lives" claimed by violence, but an American reader is unlikely
to read this as mostly Muslims killed by Christians.]
 
Copyright © 1999 The Wisdom Fund - All Rights Reserved. Provided that it is
not edited, and author name, organization, and web address
(http://www.twf.org) are included, this article may be printed in newspapers
and magazines, and e-mailed to others

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