Why moderate Muslims are annoyed with America<\/p>\n
Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo, Former Governor, National Resilience Institute
\n(Lemhanas), Jakarta<\/p>\n
It seems that Americans are wondering why more and more
\nMuslims in Indonesia are getting annoyed with America, including
\nthe "moderate" Muslims. In The New York Times of Sept. 3, Jane
\nPerlez wrote an article titled Once mild, Islam looks harsher in
\nIndonesia. She said that the moderate strand of Islam in
\nIndonesia is being eroded at a rapid pace and wonders whether the
\ncountry is becoming the "caliphate" of the 21st century.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government is sending experts, led by its former
\nambassador to Syria, Edward P. Djerejian, to Indonesia to find
\nout what is wrong and how the U.S. could come up with a program
\nthat would conquer the hearts and minds of Muslims in Indonesia.
\nPerlez also pointed out, however, that given the U.S. is facing
\nso much trouble in winning the hearts and minds of the people in
\nthe Middle East, it may well prove to be no easier in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
It is highly debatable whether the moderate strand of Islam in
\nIndonesia is becoming weaker, although more and more Muslims here
\nare getting annoyed with America, including the moderates.<\/p>\n
In the past the majority of Muslims in Indonesia did not
\nperceive the U.S. in a negative way. On the contrary, many Muslim
\nscholars and intellectuals who had gained the opportunity to
\nvisit the U.S. and study there were very much in favor of
\nAmerica. Also at the Muslim grassroots level, there was scarcely
\na ripple of anti-Americanism -- unlike today. Generally
\nIndonesians were friendly and well-disposed toward America.<\/p>\n
However, after the end of the Cold War and the defeat of
\ncommunism by the West, many Muslims sensed a change in America's
\nattitude toward Islam. They felt that the cordial relationship
\nbetween America and Islam, including Islam in Indonesia, was
\nover, because the former American attitude was perceived to be
\nless than genuine, more a strategic move to get Muslim support
\nfor the American struggle against the communist bloc.<\/p>\n
The most radical change in the U.S. attitude toward Islam
\nbegan with Sept. 11. Most Muslims in Indonesia condemned these
\nterrorist acts, as much as they condemned the Bali and JW
\nMarriott bombings. However, they felt that after Sept. 11, 2001,
\nAmerica began to stigmatize Islam.<\/p>\n
Regardless of many in the U.S denying the notion of a "clash
\nof civilizations" following the terrorist acts, the feeling
\nspread among Muslims that America was treating Islam very
\ndifferently from before. It was as if Islam was replacing
\ncommunism as American enemy number one, in spite of repeated
\ndenials by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
It was as if terrorism only had an Islamic brand, although
\nthere has also been terrorism in Ireland and many other places
\ninvolving non-Muslims. Muslims here have heard or experienced
\npersonally how Muslims are treated in America or upon their
\narrival in America, for instance, and they do not like it at all.<\/p>\n
In the eyes of moderate Muslims here, the U.S. military
\noffensive against Afghanistan was not so much an effort to
\neliminate Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, but more a move to
\nsafeguard U.S. resources interests.<\/p>\n
Many of them know very well that the group around President
\nGeorge W. Bush has for a long time planned to build an oil
\npipeline from Central Asia through Afghanistan to the Indian
\nOcean, but had failed to persuade the Afghan Taliban government
\nto cooperate with the project. To achieve its objectives, the
\nU.S. did not shy away from using aerial bombings which caused
\nmany casualties among ordinary Afghans. The double standards and
\narrogance of power demonstrated by America were all too obvious,
\nwhile the U.S. always presses other nations to observe human
\nrights strictly.<\/p>\n
The attack on Iraq was a much stronger cause of annoyance.
\nThis act of war was a clear violation of international law and a
\nclear rejection of the authority of the United Nations. Hegemonic
\nambitions were obvious from the statements of U.S. leaders. Many
\nAmericans denied that the attack was aimed at controlling Iraqi
\noil. They said that the objective was to liquidate Saddam
\nHussein's regime and to remold Iraq into a model of democracy
\nthat could influence the rest Middle East, encouraging it to
\nfollow suit. Civilian casualties were worth the price.<\/p>\n
But for many Muslims here this was all hypocrisy and
\narrogance, in particular for those acquainted with strategies
\nrelated to acquiring oil.<\/p>\n
We know many Americans are also frustrated with their own
\nleaders. One of them is Clyde Prestowitz, author of Rogue Nation
\n(Basic Books, New York, 2003), who has also visited Indonesia and
\nMalaysia. He wrote: "Strategically important and traditional
\npractitioners of a liberal Islam, neither (Indonesia nor
\nMalaysia) has significant ties with the Middle East. Yet few
\nconversations could get past the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.<\/p>\n
"Every night on television, they see U.S. leaders holding pep
\nrallies with Israeli leaders and Israelis using American weapons
\nto attack Palestinian targets." The result, he adds, "... is that
\nmany old friends of America conclude that the U.S. is attacking
\nIslam itself."<\/p>\n
Another American, Chalmers Johnson, in his book Blowback (Time
\nWarner Paperbacks, 2002) writes: "We Americans deeply believe
\nthat our role in the world is virtuous -- that our actions are
\nalmost invariably for the good of others as well as ourselves.
\nEven when our country's actions have led to disaster, we assume
\nthat the motives behind them were honorable.<\/p>\n
"But the evidence is building up that in the decade following
\nthe end of the Cold War, the U.S. largely abandoned a reliance on
\ndiplomacy, economic aid, international law, and multilateral
\ninstitutions in carrying out its foreign policies and resorted
\nmuch of the time to bluster, military force and financial
\nmanipulations. The world is not a safer place as a result."<\/p>\n
If America wants to become a hegemonic power, it is rather
\ndifficult for other nations to prevent that. However, if America
\nwant to be a hegemonic power that has the respect and trust of
\nother nations, it must be a benign one and not one that causes a
\nreaction of hate or fear among other nations.<\/p>\n
If, therefore, the U.S. wants to gain the trust of Muslims in
\nIndonesia, it must learn to understand and appreciate the
\nthoughts and feelings of others.<\/p>\n
This has not been America's strong point. Its present failure
\nto secure the cooperation of the Iraqi people is one very clear
\nproof of this weakness. But if it cannot overcome its
\nshortcomings, America cannot hope to receive the understanding
\nand sympathy of others, not even by bribing them with its
\nsuperior material and financial capabilities.<\/p>\n
Although Indonesia will not become a caliphate of the 21st
\ncentury considering that most Muslims are not in favor of
\nreplacing the Republic with an Islamic state, it will not be easy
\nfor America to have the majority of Indonesians side with it as
\nlong as it does not change its attitude vis-a-vis the world, and,
\nin particular, Islam.<\/p>",
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