Are we creating enemies that don't really exist?
M. Ali, MBA Graduate Student, Nottingham University, England
Haven't we suffered enough from victimization and conflict already in Indonesia? Now it seems like we have had years of the creation of conflicts on all levels of our society. Enmity has either been allowed to grow or has been provoked between religious denominations, ethnic groupings and political designations. Now we have racism rearing its ugly head to compound our problems.
People might claim that they are defenders of Islam and that they are true believers and guardians of Muslims -- but some of these people are entering into mindless prejudice and abuse of human rights that has absolutely nothing to do with keeping the faith.
Maintaining that they are getting rid of the "bad influence" of the West and dealing with those responsible for the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan and Palestine, some people act in an offensive and abusive way to our foreign guests in Indonesia. And it has to be noted they specifically pick out the white (Caucasian) people for their abuse.
There is no real thought in selection of people that might be the targets of "sweeping" or other forms of offensive behavior such as name-calling and insults. The single motivating factor is that they are "white", bule, and so, they must be the enemy. This is so wrong and so offensive that it must hurt and shame all decent and respectable Indonesians.
An enemy is someone who strongly dislikes or even hates us and so it simply goes against all logic to think that Westerners, (white people) in Indonesia can or could be our enemies. The vast majority of Westerners that are in Indonesia are working expatriates who contribute directly to our economy and in many cases are engaged in organizations and projects that are directly linked to our development in these difficult times.
It is then deeply disturbing and damaging to set these people up as being our enemies when all too clearly they are not.
It should also be hoped that Indonesians could see beyond the color of skin and see and appreciate what may lie beneath. In choosing to "sweep out white skinned Westerners" people claiming that they are defending our Muslim brethren might in fact be attacking and hurting them.
Two good friends of mine illustrate this point. One has been living and working in Indonesia for more than 12 years. He works tirelessly to help the most needy members of our society.
Apart from that he is also a devote Muslim. He reads the Holy Koran with such depth and understanding that he can recite relevant extracts to illustrate the point he is making. He never fails to complete his daily prayers and he has taught many others about the virtues of Islam. Therefore, great and deep are the insults when he has had people tell him that he should not stay in Indonesia. That he should leave simply and stupidly because of the color of his skin.
How can he be considered an enemy of Indonesia? But his wisdom and tolerance allow him to talk to the people that would wish him ill and he tries to educate them so that they can see that he is not their enemy.
A second friend, however, finds it more difficult to be forgiving. He too has lived in Indonesia for perhaps more than 10 years. He has married an Indonesian and they have two children. He actually gave up his American citizenship to become an Indonesian citizen. But now he hears muttered words of abuse as he passes people by. He has for a long time been used to people looking at him and making him feel odd or alien just because he is white -- but now those looks have changed.
Before the rumors of "sweeping" and the creation of the notion that white people are no good, he like so many others, was able to just laugh at those stares and looks of amazement at his white face. But now those looks and stares have turned sinister and they concern him. He is worried for the welfare of his children and has even expressed doubts about being an Indonesian citizen.
These are terrible observations indeed. There are, of course, many problems in our world today. And perhaps many of those problems can be traced to Western influences. But creating enemies here in Indonesia is not going to help solve our problems.
In truth it will only create more problems. We have suffered long enough under an economy that is in a terrible condition. Making foreign investors fearful of coming here again is a disaster that we can ill afford to bring upon ourselves. We need to do business with the world -- that is our future.
Even if we set aside monetary and investment matters, we must still think of human rights; what some people are willing to think about doing now is completely contrary to human rights.
Racism and prejudging people cannot be allowed to exist in our nation. We have already seen too much damage done to us internally because of these things. If we allow outsiders to be misjudged and misplaced as our enemies, we will only do greater damage.