J

strong>July 3, p5

The Islamic Jihad Front (FJI), with police backing, has broken up a camping event of 1,500 Christian elementary and junior high school students at the Wonogondang camping ground in Cangkringan, Sleman, Yogyakarta.

Members of the FJI claimed that the event, organized by a church from Surakarta, Central Java, was not equipped with a full permit from the police.

'€œLocal residents were restless about the presence of Christianization and unauthorized activities,'€ Yogyakarta chapter FJI commander Abdul Rohman told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Your comments:

The action of the mob Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) is not a portrait of all Muslims. This is nothing new. It'€™s just them trying to project a certain image of themselves.

They expect public attention, or to draw Islamic sympathy by saying, '€œLocal residents were restless about the presence of Christianization and unauthorized activities.'€ It'€™s their standard reasoning.

What about the Islamization occurring in West Papua? Most importantly, Indonesia is not based on religious law! It is based on Pancasila, the '€™45 Constitution and a democratic system of government. The action of that mob FJI is an embarrassment to Islam itself!

Yonouca

We can'€™t use this incident to generalize about all Muslim people. There are varied in education and attitudes.

Most keep their religion in realistic terms with the rest of their lives and some even ignore it. Like all religions they have their zealots.

Nate

Whatever the reasons given, it was an act of intimidation.

It was just a church camp and it would have been a peaceful one until these extremist elements broke it up. It is a sad day for Indonesia, a sad day for humanity.

I pray such threatening acts will awaken their own adherents to rethink the teachings of their own religion.

Loh Taun

This phenomenon is all too common in Indonesia. Let'€™s face the fact: Muslims do not need a permit to do hold their events, while other religions must possess permits. This is a fact.

Djay Subianto

Indonesia does not need a jihad front, but an organization of Islamic peace, friendship and cooperation.

Willem Dolleman

I'€™m sorry but before everyone jumps to unnecessarily aggressive conclusions, I think everyone needs to understand the whole story behind the headline.

Did FJI come into the camp demanding to see the event'€™s permit? Yes, they did.

Did FJI demand the camp to be dispersed because of the lack of permit? Yes, they did.

Did the police '€˜back up'€™ this raid as mentioned in the article? No, they did not.

The police actually came a couple of hours after the FJI because there was an intelligence officer who informed them there had been heated arguments between FJI and the organizers over the eligibility of the event. Apparently, the majority of the vigilantes were from FJI'€™s Solo chapter.

Was an event permit or ideology really the cause of the raid? No, it doesn'€™t seem that way. It was '€˜event'€™ money that they were after. You know, for '€˜security'€™ and '€˜local donations'€™ if you know what I mean.

Was the camp actually disbanded? Well, the camp actually disbanded long after the FJI had left, and some activities still continued afterwards.

Ironically, it was actually the police presence guarding the event that triggered its closure. Many children at the event were uncomfortable with the 50-100 strong police presence in the area.

Does this whole sorry episode really tell the story of a religious conflict as the article suggests? No, the FJI does not represent the majority of Islam, but that camp wasn'€™t the first religiously purposed camp held at Wonogondang.

And there have not been problems at events in the past; I think an appropriate license would have shielded the event.

I speak as a Cangkringan resident and secondary witness, having heard an account from a primary witness near the camp site.

Bodamba