Mistrust between Indonesia and Australia

Mistrust between Indonesia and Australia

The media's view of Australia-RI relations

Santi W.E. Soekanto, Jakarta

Australians regard Indonesia as the country's greatest
security threat, far outranking other nations in the region, a
new study in Australia revealed on Wednesday Aug. 25, 2004.
Released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), it
said fewer Australians now saw an external security threat than
at any time in the past 30 years.

"However, to the extent that the public identifies a security
threat to Australia, there is a greater consensus than ever
before that the threat comes from one country: Indonesia," ASPI
said as quoted by the Sidney Morning Herald. "Notwithstanding
improved bilateral relations, particularly during the 1980s and
1990s, the public's concern about Indonesia has increased almost
consistently since opinion polls first began to track it in the
late 1960s."

The study was conducted for ASPI by Australian National
University professor of political science Ian McAllister who
reviewed polls dating back to the late 1960s. It quoted a 2001
survey that showed 31 percent believed Indonesia would be very
likely to pose a threat to Australia's security compared with
just 9 percent for China, 6 percent for Malaysia and 5 percent
for Japan.

The piece did not say why Australians considered Indonesia
their greatest security threat. However, it brought to mind a
report, titled Near Neighbors, Good Neighbors, issued in May by
the Australian Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Defense and Trade -- which is a subcommittee of the foreign
ministry -- on its inquiry into Australia's relationship with
Indonesia. Invoking the warmth that people usually feel about
having good, reliable neighbors, the report discussed how good
relations and understanding could be built through, among other
things, exchange visits.

On its chapter on the role of the media, the committee
discussed meeting with Muslim leaders during a recent visit to
Jakarta, where young Indonesian Muslim leaders discussed how the
portrayal in the media of Islam, and the media's failure to
distinguish between Muslims generally and "radical elements such
as the Taliban", was offensive.

"A plea was made for the western media to give Muslims the
right to the benefit of the doubt," the report said, before going
on to say that the committee and the Muslim leaders discussed the
importance of the mass media getting more understanding of Islam
and the East.

The report cited the Journey into Islam in Indonesia, a
program undertaken by the Melbourne-based Asia Pacific Journalism
Center, in which a group of Australian journalists and their
Indonesian counterparts went on a journey to Muslim communities
to gain a better understanding of how Indonesian Muslims live.

A total of 18 journalists traveled in May for 10 days along
the length of Java to visit pesantren (boarding schools) and
other Islamic communities, a journey that was expected to provide
insight for everybody on the trip. Warm personal ties developed.
"This program has changed how we will report about Islam in the
future," said one Australian journalist. "A 10-day journey has
shown us that huge gaps can be bridged," said another.

The committee commented thus in its report: "The committee
considers such programs are an extremely important way of
enhancing the media's understanding of Islam and, through their
extended reach, the general community. An insensitive and
inaccurate portrayal of Islam in the west is indeed offensive and
damaging to relationships."

When the Australian participants published their stories,
however, a critical overtone of Indonesian Muslims remained.
Expressions of wariness at more radical Indonesian Muslims, and
admonitions about how Indonesia should treat such elements, also
appeared.

This showed how hard a task it was to earn somebody's trust
and to change one's attitude about another person. Only in movies
do people change their behavior and attitudes within a short span
of time. The Muslim leaders quoted by the joint committee report
would have to wait longer before their wish for a fairer
portrayal of Indonesian Islam could come true.

There is no question that Sept. 11 created serious roadblocks
on the journey to understanding between the West and Indonesia.
For the same reasons, Indonesia and Australia are facing those
roadblocks now.

Former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said,
"If I call Europe, whom should I ring?" By the same token, whom
should we ring when we call the West? Whom shall we ring when we
call Islam? Individuals, however, can start to make a difference.

The writer is a freelance journalist and manager of the
Journey into Islam in Indonesia 2004 program. She can be
contacted at santi_soekanto2001@yahoo.com