Indonesian Islam 'unique and tolerant'

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 09/18/2007 2:49 PM

Alice Coster, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Terrorism is ""deplored"" by the majority of Muslims in Indonesia and Australians must try to understand their ""uniquely tolerant"" version of Islam, said a paper published last week in Australia.

The misconception in ""many Australian minds"" that Islam is equal to terrorism is a ""misleading oversimplification"" resulting in a failure to notice the ""great diversity of opinion"" among Indonesian Muslims, said an Australian foreign policy think-tank paper.

It is of ""utmost importance"" Australians reduce and avoid prevailing stereotypes, misconceptions, prejudices and ignorance of Indonesian etiquette and religion to understand the ""local coloring of Islam in Indonesia"" said the Lowy Institute paper Australia and Indonesia: current problems, future prospects.

The paper said it was in Australia's national interests to help Indonesians maintain their ""uniquely tolerant, moderate and eclectic version of the Islamic faith"" as well as preserve their acceptance of diversity of religions in accordance with the five principles of the Pancasila.

""Terrorism is deplored by the vast majority of Indonesian Muslims,"" the paper states. ""Indonesian Islam has long been a relatively tolerant and syncretic faith.""

Written by experienced Indonesian analyst Jamie Mackie, the paper looks into the sometimes ""volatile"" relationship between Indonesia and Australia while providing solutions for the two governments and people to make to counterattack potential problems.

""Improving popular attitudes towards each other and reversing the deterioration in public opinion about the other that has occurred in recent years is a matter of high priority"" the paper states.

Mackie says that much of Australian thinking about Indonesia is dominated by ""inchoate fears"" about the possibility of a future military attack by Indonesian forces or an infiltration into Australia by Muslim terrorists.

It states Australia must avoid giving the impression that they regard the ""war on terror"" as a war against Islam and to ""reject any assumption"" that Islam and democracy are incompatible.

The mutual distrust between the two countries was emphasized and officially acknowledged by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after the recent APEC summit, when he referred to ""Australia-phobia"" among some Indonesian people.

In an interview given to the Australian national broadcaster ABC, Mackie, a professor in the Indonesia Project at Australian National University, agreed with SBY, saying there was anti-Australia sentiment in Indonesia, as there was anti-Indonesia sentiment in Australia.

""On their side (Indonesia), they believe that we're (Australia) arrogant, and in some way, want to intervene in their internal affairs. On our side, we believe that they have perhaps some kind of aggressive interventions towards us,"" he said.

Improving these ""anti"" attitudes toward each other could be done by greatly increasing the number of Australians with a ""full immersion"" knowledge of Indonesia, its people and languages, said the paper.

Improving Australia-Indonesia relations could be done through stronger educational links and more funding toward wider Indonesian-language teaching in Australia.

The paper said it was vital for Australia to also ""persuade"" Muslims that ""we are ourselves living up to our own highest values and principles ... not simply descrying theirs.""

""We must convince them, too, that Australians are not all the hypocrites, decadents, druggies and drunkards that the more vocal among them assert.

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