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Christians protest increasing shariazation of Indonesia. "Christians in Indonesia's Papua rally over sharia," from Reuters, August 5:
JAYAPURA, Indonesia (Reuters) - About 1,000 people from a Christian group in Indonesia's Papua held a rally on Tuesday to protest against any implementation of Islamic law in the province where an increasing number of Muslims have settled.The protesters, some wearing headbands with white crosses and carrying banners saying "Papua, sharia no", also said they rejected the establishment of Islamic boarding schools and Islamic banking in the remote eastern province.
"We reject sharia implementation in Indonesia in general and especially in Papua," Pastor Salmon Jumame told the crowd, gathered in a square in the provincial capital Jayapura.
Indonesia's Aceh province is the only area to use sharia as part of a local autonomy deal, but some local governments have also tried to bring in sharia regulations.
Protesters also said the central government should rethink plans to make Sunday a work day in the province.
The move is linked to efforts across Indonesia to save electricity by shifting work days to the weekend when power demand is low.
Indonesia is predominantly Muslim but some areas, particularly in the east including Papua, have Christian majorities.
Posted by Raymond at August 5, 2008 11:50 AM
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Papua, like EAstern Timor, should never have been Indonesian at all. It is ethnically, religiously and physically different (it is the western half of the island of New Guinea) and never was a Muslim country until Indonesian colonists from Java tried to swamp the local population. Animism and Christianity are the native religions, and any attempt to impose Sharia would be even more brutally unjust than it usually is. Not that it would stop them. ON the other hand, the natives of Papua (which the INdonesian call Irian Jaya, a meaningless, made-up name) do have a certain skill in the kind of things that will, such as man-hunting and cutting heads. And the territory is mountainous and incredibly unwelcoming - just the thing to wage guerrilla warfare from. Good luck to the Papuan natives.
Posted by: Paolo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 5, 2008 12:03 PM
But . . . but . . . isn't power demand high on weekdays *because* they are workdays? So if you shift workdays to the weekend then wouldn't that necessarily just . . .
Oh, never mind.
Posted by: Marwan'sDaughter at August 5, 2008 2:23 PM
"Papua, like EAstern Timor, should never have been Indonesian at all." - Paolo.
Exactly what I was going to say !
Posted by: M Al-Content at August 5, 2008 3:34 PM
Free West Papua-New Guinea!
Posted by: John C at August 5, 2008 4:46 PM
Speaking as an Australian, I think our responsibility in the neighbourhood is to disentangle ourselves, as fast as possible, from dead-end relationships with the Indonesian and Malaysian Muslim-dominated entities, and concentrate on better relations with the non-Muslims - Singapore, Timor Lorosae, Papua-New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, India. Those who are vulnerable to likely future Jihad assaults - Timor Lorosae, PNG - need to have their civil society and their self-defence capacity boosted.
And I think we Australians should be making much more noise about the sufferings of Papuan Christians and animists as the Indonesian Muslims launch a classic immigration + violence and deceit Jihad against them. Instead of yattering about 'interfaith dialogue' with the Indonesian president, our PM should be hammering him about the Muslim human rights abuses and blatant persecution of non-Muslims in Papua.
(If the Jihad hots up in Papua, Australia's wisest choice would be to 1. take in Papuan Christian and animist refugees and adamantly refuse to send them back to Indonesian jihadists to be murdered, no matter how much the Muslims squeal 2. quietly funnel physical and moral support to Papuan non-Muslims engaged in resisting the Jihad).
Speaking geopolitically, it would make a heap of sense if the [West] Papuans got free of Indonesia and confederated with their fellow Melanesians in Papua-New Guinea, with a similar culture, on the same big island, with a similar cultural mix of Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) and animism. And as others have pointed out, their territory is eminently defensible and they have a great warrior tradition. The Christians among them need to be finding out about the Crusaders! Tell them the story of Spain and Pelayo and the Reconquista; give them ideas.
(Any Aussies out there who know Tok Pisin and could consider having a go at translating 'Truth About Muhammad', 'PIG to Islam and the Crusades' and 'Onward Muslim Soldiers' into same? Or even just selected passages to put into an Emergency Information Booklet for the Papuan and PNG Christians?).
PS - Papua used to be under Dutch control. If - per miraculum - Geert Wilders and his party achieved government in the Netherlands, perhaps the Dutch could try doing for the Papuans what the Portuguese achieved for the East Timorese? If I recall correctly, the Dutch DIDN'T want Papua province to go to Indonesia.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 5, 2008 5:48 PM
Liberate our Papauan brothers!!!!
Posted by: AryanMjolnir at August 6, 2008 3:04 AM
watch out Australia, they're on their way, which I predicted years ago as did VS Naipul in one of his books. Is anyone awake out there - I'm beginning to despair.
Posted by: bee at August 6, 2008 10:49 AM
Marwan's Daughter got it right. I hate to call the plan stupid, but really.
Posted by: LadyInfidel at August 6, 2008 10:50 AM
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