Indonesians feel targeted by Aussie police<\/p>\n
Michael Perry, Reuters, Sydney<\/p>\n
Australia's Indonesian migrants are scared and bewildered,
\ntheir sense of security shattered this week when security forces
\nwielding sledgehammers raided several homes in the hunt for
\nIslamic militants.<\/p>\n
Australia's chief intelligence agency and police staged dawn
\nand night-time raids on Muslim homes in Sydney, Melbourne and
\nPerth in the hunt for Jamaah Islamiah \"sleepers\" after the Bali
\nbombings which killed 180 people, about 90 of them Australian.<\/p>\n
Security forces confiscated laptops and boxes of documents,
\nbut made no arrests, leaving Indonesian migrants feeling they are
\nbeing targeted because of their nationality and religion and not
\nbecause of any hard evidence.<\/p>\n
\"We have nothing to hide. We didn't do anything,\" said Romzi
\nAli, secretary of the Islamic Society of Manly-Warringah which
\ncovers Sydney's northern beachside suburbs.<\/p>\n
\"We are happy to cooperate with police. They do not have to
\nbreak down our doors. They can ask us questions and we will
\nanswer,\" Ali told Reuters.<\/p>\n
As Indonesian migrants arrived for Friday prayers at a small
\nmosque in Sydney's northern beach suburb of Dee Why, heads were
\nbowed and eyes cast down to avoid prying television news cameras.<\/p>\n
Few wanted to speak to the media, uncomfortable with the
\nnational intrusion into their quiet lives. Selamat Siang (good
\nafternoon) they said politely, before quickly taking off their
\nshoes and entering the safety of the unremarkable mosque.<\/p>\n
Surfers driving past, heading to some of Sydney's best waves,
\npay it no attention. Built of red-brick, like many homes in
\nSydney, it blends into the streetscape -- a small star of Islam
\non its roof the only identifying sign.<\/p>\n
But the Dee Why mosque is at the center of Australia's hunt
\nfor \"JI sleepers\" after it hosted a 1993 visit by Indonesia's
\nmilitant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual
\nleader of Jamaah Islamiah.<\/p>\n
The Australian government says Bashir, who denies he is linked
\nto JI, visited Australia several times.<\/p>\n
Some Indonesian authorities have said the Bali bombings bore
\nthe hallmarks of previous violence in the region linked to Jamaah
\nIslamiah, a militant network that regional and Western
\nintelligence agencies say has ties to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
\"In 1993 he came to Australia, he came to our mosque to teach
\nabout religion. Like any other cleric he came to preach,\" Ali
\nsaid. \"The Dee Why mosque has never funded or sympathized with
\nany terrorist.\"<\/p>\n
Inside the mosque, Ali conducts prayers in English and Bahasa
\nIndonesia. His sermon has been carefully scripted to send the
\nmessage to the gathered media that Islam is a peaceful religion.<\/p>\n
\"Bombing and maiming innocent men, women and children, all are
\nforbidden, they are despicable acts according to Islam,\" Ali
\npreaches to a small gathering of 50 Muslims.<\/p>\n
After 30 minutes of prayers some of the Muslims stop to talk.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Taufik was born in Australia, a second generation
\nIndonesian-Australian, and his reflective sunglasses, T-shirt and
\nshorts more like the typical image of an Australian schoolboy.<\/p>\n
But Ahmad is Muslim and is feeling confused.<\/p>\n
\"I feel it's really bad because they (police) are targeting
\nIndonesians, not other people from other countries that are
\nMuslim,\" said Taufik, who came to the mosque with his father.<\/p>\n
\"I'm Australian. It's confusing. I don't get it.\"<\/p>\n
Ahmad Baisa, 45, came to Australia 13 years ago from Tegal in
\nIndonesia and he cannot remember a time that the Indonesian
\ncommunity felt so alienated from the rest of Australia.<\/p>\n
\"It's sad. We are scared,\" said the welder, proudly wearing
\nhis T-Shirt with a logo of the popular Noosa Heads surf beach.<\/p>\n
Police say there have been more than 40 attacks on Australian
\nMuslims in Sydney reported since the Bali bombings but before the
\nsecurity and police raids.<\/p>",
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