Patriotism versus truth

Patriotism versus truth

Comments by President B.J. Habibie, Gen. Wiranto and the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Struggle) adviser
Kwik Kian Gie, in The Jakarta Post Feb. 24 edition perpetuate the
dogma that East Timor was "integrated", not "occupied".

Indonesian annexation of East Timor in 1975 was, according to
Habibie, an act of "charity". East Timor, asserted Wiranto, was
"an integral part of Indonesia". Kwik Kian Gie proposed all
Indonesia be allowed to vote on East Timor's independence,
presupposing that all Indonesia had legal and moral rights over
East Timor.

An analogy with former Portuguese colony Angola illustrates
the absurdity of Kwik's proposal. The losers of the civil war in
Angola in 1975 appealed to South Africa for assistance. South
Africa immediately re-equipped the defeated army and bolstered it
with South African "volunteers".

Imagine if South Africa had then mounted a full scale invasion
of Angola and organized its Angolan rebel allies to vote for
Angola's "integration" into South Africa. Imagine if, after 23
years of guerrilla warfare against Angolan independence fighters,
South Africa had finally agreed to a referendum. Would all South
Africans be entitled to vote on Angola's independence? If many
South Africans had been transplanted in Angola to boost support
for integration, would they be entitled to vote?

Habibie's, Wiranto's and Kwik's comments suggest integration
with Indonesia was widely supported in East Timor in 1975.
However, East Timor's civil war in August 1975 was fought between
Uniao Democratica Timorense (UDT) and Fretilin, neither of whom
initially supported integration with Indonesia.

Fretilin won the war in less than three weeks. Conflict was
then revived in September 1975 because the defeated UDT forces
were bolstered by Indonesian equipment and "volunteers". This is
why the new war from September to December 1975 was only fought
in the far west of East Timor, next to the Indonesian border
(Then in December, Indonesia itself invaded Dili).

It was only UDT and Apodeti supporters who eventually signed
East Timor's integration with Indonesia. Most Fretilin supporters
had, at that time, fled to the mountains. There they carried out
a full-scale guerrilla war until famine in 1977 and new, low-
flying U.S. bombers ("broncos") in 1978 forced mass surrenders.

Since Fretilin fighters and supporters were able to win the
civil war in less than three weeks and were able to carry out a
full-scale guerrilla war against Indonesia for three years, they
surely represented a large proportion of the population. Would
they have viewed Indonesia's annexation as "charity" and
democratically conducted "integration"?

Habibie's, Wiranto's and Kwik's comments reflect admirable
patriotism. But which is more beneficial to Indonesia in the long
run: a patriotic myth or a painful truth about Indonesia's moral
and legal rights in East Timor?

TERRY RUSSELL

Jakarta