Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Idries de Vries | May 23, 2011
Following a number of religion-inspired violent incidents in the country — the most tragic of which was the incident in Cikeusik, West Java, which left three followers of the Ahmadiyah sect dead — the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a letter to the Indonesian government to express concerns regarding the situation of religious minorities here. In the letter, Navanethem Pillay urged the government to take “action at various levels to address the broader issues behind religious intolerance and discrimination.”
This is not the first time Indonesia has been reprimanded by the international community on the issue of the protection of minority rights. The United States, by word of Ambassador Scot Marciel, and the European Union too have called upon the government to do more to protect the followers of minority beliefs.
Statements such as these project on Indonesia the image of “problem child” when it comes to the peaceful coexistence of cultures and religions. They also promote the idea that the United States and the European Union have the issue of minority rights under much better control, causing many to look to the United States and the European Union for the way Indonesia should manage its multicultural and religiously plural society.
The problem with this idea is that in reality, the United States and the European Union too are struggling to establish truly peaceful multicultural and religiously plural societies. Both in the United States and in Europe acts of racism, discrimination and even physical violence against Muslims are quite regular occurrences.
In America, for instance, plans to establish a community center for Muslims in Lower Manhattan, New York, have been halted after opponents to the plan organized mass demonstrations. The community center was infamously dubbed the Ground Zero Mosque by its opponents. Elsewhere too, residents have joined hands to prevent the building of mosques in their neighborhoods. Furthermore, there have been numerous cases of intolerance and violence against Muslims in the United States. Recently there have been attacks against mosques in Texas and Florida (arson); and in Georgia and Maine (vandalism). Cases of Muslims being forced off airplanes for the simple fact of being Muslim were also reported on extensively in America.
In Europe, the Muslim community has faced challenges over the years. There have been cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad and the anti-Islam film “Fitna,” in addition to cases of physical violence against Muslims. In 2009 the stabbing to death of Marwa El-Sherbini in a German courtroom by a racist attacker, inflamed by her wearing the Muslim headscarf, was a tragic case. Over the last year there have also been arson attacks against mosques in Berlin, an attempt to blow up a mosque in Stoke-on-Trent and a mob attack on a mosque in Kingston, Great-Britain, the desecration of Muslim cemeteries in France, and gunshot and arson attacks against mosques in the Netherlands.
In 2006 the European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia found that “many European Muslims are facing discrimination in employment, education and housing.”
Without a doubt, the United States and Europe are having difficulties in ensuring the peaceful coexistence of different cultures and religions. This shows that it is perhaps unfair that Indonesia is being singled out for criticism and complaints in this area. Even more important, though, it suggests that blindly applying laws and practices from the United States and Europe is unlikely to resolve problems in Indonesia.
In search for a real solution to this problem, first its root causes must be identified. And contrary to popular belief, the root causes are not intolerance or hate. True, intolerance and hate lead to violence and discrimination, but the fundamental question is: What causes intolerance and hate?
In both the United States and Europe the recent acts of racism, discrimination and physical violence against Muslims have been preceded by the rise of Islamophobia. The EUMC, for instance, also concluded in its 2006 report that the discrimination of European Muslims “can be attributed to Islamophobic attitudes.”
Recently the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation confirmed that this situation has not changed. After it polled attitudes regarding Muslims and Islam in a number of European countries, it concluded that “Europeans are conspicuously united in their rejection of immigrants and Muslims.”
The foundation attributed this rejection to the support among Europeans for ideas such as “the Muslim culture does not fit well into Europe” (66 percent among those polled), “Muslims’ attitudes toward women contradict our values” (80 percent) and “Islam is a religion of intolerance” (60 percent). At the same time, around half of the Europeans polled said there were too many Muslims in Europe. These attitudes help explain European Islamophobia. It is caused by the fact that many in Europe see Islam as something alien to European culture and traditions, and they fear that the presence of Muslims in Europe will cause this “alien” Islam to push out the European culture and traditions.
In the United States the root cause for the threats to peaceful coexistence of cultures and religions is very similar, which is proven by the attempt of a number of American states to introduce legislation that would prohibit state governments from ever utilizing “foreign” (read: Shariah) laws. This clearly shows that in America too some people feel threatened by Islam and Muslims.
In both the United States and Europe then there is a segment of society that fears “Islamization” of their respective societies. They fear Muslims will take over, bringing an end to the way of life that they cherish. This fear causes rejection of Islam and Muslims, which manifests itself as intolerance. And this, in turn, is causing some to commit acts of violence and discrimination against Muslims.
A review of the recent cases of communal violence and discrimination in Indonesia shows that here too the root cause for problems between Muslims, Ahmadiyah and Christians, is fear.
As a way out of the Ahmadiyah conflict, namely, people have suggested that Ahmadis stop calling themselves Muslims. This shows that the opponents of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia do not have a problem with the existence of the sect in Indonesia. Nor do they have an issue with the establishment by Ahmadiyah of places of worship.
The issue for the opponents of Ahmadiyah is the fact the sect calls itself “Islamic.” In other words, the opinion of the majority of Muslims in Indonesia is that under the banner of Islam, Ahmadis are inviting people to a way of life that is different than the traditional Islamic way of life, whereby they actually threaten this cherished traditional Islamic way of life.
The same goes for the issue of Christians in Indonesia. The main concern Indonesian Muslims have with churches here, is that in addition to functioning as centers of worship, they often also function as missionary centers. Again, this is a threat to the cherished traditional Islamic way of life of most Indonesians, and this instills in people the fear that leads to intolerance and worse.
To bring a multicultural and religiously plural society to peacefuly coexist it must be understood that people usually cherish their own way of life. Threats to this way of life will induce fear, and this fear may lead to intolerance — or worse — in some.
The way to peaceful coexistence of cultures and religions therefore lies not in a “fight against intolerance.” Rather, it lies in ensuring that the lives we cherish remain respected and protected.
Idries de Vries is a Jakarta-based economic and geopolitical affairs analyst.
Read original post here: In Indonesia, America and Europe, Inter-religious Strife Begins With Fear
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