The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) said peace in the Muslim world would aid the country’s religious harmony.  

“Indonesia has seen growing religious intolerance. Efforts to bring peace to the Middle East will increase political stability here,” Beny Susetyo, KWI inter-religious affairs secretary told The Jakarta Post.

Four Palestinians had been killed over the past two days in clashes with Israeli troops. The incidents came amid US efforts to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks underway.

The tension reverberates in Indonesia. Thousands of members of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) marched the streets in major cities such as Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Riau, on Sunday, condemning Israeli’s attacks on the Palestinian.

Beny said he planned to put across his message to Obama in a joint statement with the PGI when the US President visits Indonesia.

Obama recently postponed his planned visit to Indonesia to June, from March 23 previously.

PGI Secretary-general Gomar Gultom said his organization wanted to appreciate Obama’s commitment to reaching out and conducting dialogues with the Muslim world in the joint statement with KWI.

“This is something that differentiates him and his predecessor, who was confrontational and opposed [Muslims].”

Obama’s different approach to countries of Muslim majority, Gomar said, “will open the door for more equal dialogue between the Muslim world and the US”.

“Many people misinterpret the relationship between the US and the Muslim [countries]. They see the US as a Christian country when it is actually secular,” he told the Post.

Gomar added he hoped Obama’s planned visit to the country would inspire more dialogue between religions, especially in marginal societies in Indonesia.

The call for dialogue between religions has recently heightened amid the many conflicts surrounding the construction of churches in several areas.

One of the most recent incidents involved hundreds of people mobbing the construction site of a Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) church in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, saying it did not have the necessary building permit.

Despite the country having seen a spate of such incidents, Beny said he would prefer not to bring up the issue during the planned dialogue with Obama.

“It is a domestic matter that we must work on and try to seek solution. I don’t think we should bring such matters to the international scene. Besides, the world has been very much aware of this problem even without us having to tell them.”

Beny said both KWI and PGI would not go anywhere near addressing the problem in the planned joint statement.

“If we did so, it would be the same as inviting [the US] to intervene [in religious issues].”

Beny expressed hope the government would have the commitment to find a solution to the lingering problem.

“This relates a lot to legal certainty. If the government allows churches to be sealed one after another, people will see Indonesia as an unsafe country.”

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