“Congregation finds it hard to worship and pray in peace”
— Jakarta Post reports:
— “In Pisangan Jaya, Tangerang, Banten, congregation leader Bedali Hulu has lived in anxiety for the past two months ago, as dozens of members of Islam organizations confront him each time his congregation holds a Sunday prayer.”
— “Even though the extremists have yet to turn violent, their actions have intimidated Bedali and the 40 members of his Jakarta Baptist Christian Church (GKBJ), leading them to pray under pressure.”
— “‘How can we pray properly if there are a bunch of people screaming threatening words outside our church while we hold Sunday prayers?’ Bedali told The Jakarta Post recently.”
— “He says it was in 2005 when the protests against his congregation’s activities began to erupt.
‘We were in another place then, still in the same village,’ he said.”
— “‘Several members of Muslim groups ordered us to move because they didn’t want us praying there.'”
— “‘So we moved to keep them happy, but then another group of activists came and ordered us to move once again, and here we are now.'”
— “Asun, who lives across the street from the church, told the Post on Thursday he feared the protesters than the churchgoers.”
— “‘They come every Sunday, brandishing sticks and yelling ‘Allahuakbar’,’ he said. ‘If a brawl breaks out and our homes are damaged, who’ll take responsibility?'”
Other reports:
July 17, 2009 – Wall Street Journal: “Indonesia Is a Model Muslim Democracy”
February 18, 2009 – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – Indonesia “has demonstrated so clearly … that Islam, democracy and modernity cannot only coexist but thrive together”
See also previous reports:
July 23, 2009 – Indonesia: West Java, Protestant church demolished by local government
July 24, 2009 – Indonesia: Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir – terrorism won’t end until authorities respect the supremacy of Islamic law
July 15, 2009 – Indonesia – Muslims Order Halt to Church Building
July 7, 2009 – Indonesia – Church, Bible Students Fight Discrimination
May 19, 2009 – Indonesia – Muslim Group Threatens Newly Elected Christian
“Sole Catholic to win seat in district legislature told to convert to Islam” – Dominikus Supriyanto
May 6, 2009 – Indonesia – Mayor Revokes Church Permit
April 27, 2009 – Christian priest, wife killed in eastern Indonesia
February 3, 2009: Indonesia – Sharia-Based Laws Creep into Half of Provinces
February 6, 2009: Indonesian cleric wants boycott of Islam film on Muslim women
January 23, 2009: “Under Indonesian law, men can marry at 19 and women at 16, although under some Islamic laws there is no age limit”
February 9, 2009: Radical Books Raise Fears in Indonesia of Spread of Militants’ Ideas
January 2, 2009: Indonesia fails to fight terrorists’ ideology
January 9, 2009: Indonesia: Protesters seal off synagogue amid pro-Palestinian protests
January 5, 2009: “More than 4,000 Indonesians have offered to support Hamas and fight against Israel”
January 5, 2009: Indonesia – Muslim Groups Plan to Send Violent Extemism Fighters
February 5, 2009: President attends inauguration of sharia economy festival
February 3, 2009: Radicals seek ban on Rotary, Lions clubs in Indonesia
January 18, 2009: Indonesian cleric calls for jihad in Gaza
January 8, 2009: Indonesian Muslims storm Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant
February 14, 2009: A “moderate” Indonesian examines the Valentine Day controversy among Muslims
July 9, 2008 – Indonesia: Church in West Java Bulldozed
June 25, 2008 – Indonesia: Islamists try to Destroy Church Buildings
April 2, 2008 – Indonesia – 110 churches closed in three years
November 28, 2007 – Indonesia Church Destroyed By Muslim Militants In West Java, Christians say
June 8, 2004 – About 100 men destroy church in Indonesia’s Bekasi
March 22, 2004 – Violent Extemism in Indonesia: Machete Wielding Muslim Motorcyclists Kill Christian Woman with Baby
Indonesian Islamists Try to Destroy Church Buildings
February 17, 2001 – Indonesia: Convert or Die!
Church burning in Indonesia
November 9, 2006 – The Australian: Indonesia – Beheaded girls were Ramadan ‘trophies’
“Three Christian high school girls were beheaded as a Ramadan ‘trophy’ by Indonesian militants who conceived the idea after a visit to Philippines jihadists, a court heard yesterday. The girls’ severed heads were dumped in plastic bags in their village in Indonesia’s strife-torn Central Sulawesi province, along with a handwritten note threatening more such attacks. The note read: ‘Wanted: 100 more Christian heads, teenaged or adult, male or female; blood shall be answered with blood, soul with soul, head with head.’ …. he decided that beheading Christians could qualify as an act of Muslim charity. Conscripting several accomplices at a local pesantren, or Islamic school, he directed one of them, Lilik Purnomo, to seek out “the head of a Christian’… They prepared six machetes and black plastic bags for carrying off the severed heads and spent several days surveying the area where the students regularly passed by. The attack was launched the following morning, but only four of the six targeted girls appeared. Lilik, directing the attack from a nearby hill, told his accomplices to act quickly so that the remaining two girls could still be killed should they appear behind their friends. The attackers cleanly beheaded three of the students but a fourth, Noviana Malewa, escaped after a struggle and ran away screaming. Her attackers gave chase but were unable to catch her. The bodies, dressed in school uniform, were left by the roadside near the execution site, but the heads were carried in a backpack to Hasanuddin.”