October 22, 2005:
The government believes that only two of the 17,000
Islamic schools in the country are inciting terrorism through their teaching
of Islamic radicalism. Many more schools, however, encourage hostility
against infidels (non-Moslems), and many mosques host preachers who urge Moslems
to resist conversions by Christian groups. Most Christians are concentrated on a
few islands, but smaller groups are showing up all over the country, and these
are increasingly threatened by Moslem vigilantes. This is a common pattern all
over the world, where Moslems and non-Moslems live in close proximity. No other
religion generates as much violence against "non-believers," and this
hostility has led to the current pattern of Islamic terrorism. About nine
percent of Indonesians are Christian, two percent Hindu and two percent other
religions.
October 18, 2005: Three more men were arrested as suspects in the October 1
bombings in Bali. Most of the 23 dead were Indonesians, four were
Australians.
October 17, 2005: A new armed, pro-Indonesian group, called Okto, has been
operating along the East Timor border with West Timor. The armed group is
apparently composed of Indonesians who used to live in West Timor, but left when
West Timor became independent. There have not been any clashes yet, but West
Timor police fear the group may begin raiding across the border.
October 15, 2005: Some 23,000 troops remain in Aceh, while 6,000 have left
since the peace agreement with the rebels was signed in August. Rebels continue
to hand in weapons, with a total of 840 to be surrendered by the end of the
year. There have been several firefights with rebels lately, leaving at least
one rebel dead and several wounded. Not all of the 3,000 or so active rebels
agree with the peace deal, and local police are supposed to deal with these
eventually.
October 11, 2005: Armed men claiming to belong to organizations like the
"Islamic Defender Front" continue to attack Christians, threatening to
burn down houses and kill people if, in one instance, Catholics do not stop
holding prayer services in their homes. The armed Moslem gangs say they are
following the Koran, and police are often reluctant to go after these groups and
arrest them, for fear of escalating violence.
