The Western media and Prosperous Justice Party

The Western media and Prosperous Justice Party

Santi W.E. Soekanto, Jakarta

"We are clean and we care," is the slogan members of the
Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) keep shouting to convince
the public its existence is a boon to the democratic and economic
development of corruption-laden Indonesia.

The party received 8 percent of the vote in the 2004
elections, a vast improvement from the less than 2 percent it
received in 1999. This gave the PKS the confidence to declare its
goal of winning 22 million votes in 2009. So imagine the horror
of party members upon learning last month that according to the
influential Far Eastern Economic Review, the PKS is a menace to
the country.

Lumping PKS together with Jamaah Islamiyyah for subscribing
"to the same fundamentally anti-modern view", writer Sadanand
Dhume described PKS as a "greater threat to Indonesia's tradition
of pluralism, its stability and its prospects for economic
growth". He contended that PKS "leaders tend to couch their
statements in ambiguity designed to calm Western and secular
Indonesian fears while at the same time reassuring the party's
base about its goal, the Islamization of Indonesian society
culminating in the imposition of a state based on sharia".

That "for all its efforts to moderate its image, (PKS) has not
been able to distance itself entirely from violence. (Former PKS
president) Hidayat Nur Wahid and other party leaders are among
(Abu Bakar) Ba'asyir's most vocal supporters". And the "(PKS) is
on the march, what happens along the way will be the single
biggest determinant of Indonesia's future".

Some party members became hot under the collar, questioning
the credibility of Dhume's research which led to the article and
which may well be included in his upcoming book on Islam in
Indonesian. There are two points the PKS activists need to take
into consideration before giving in to rage, however.

First, Dhume's gloom and doom outlook on the fate of
Indonesia's democracy, when it is linked with an Islamic
political force, appears not to be group-specific. Rather, it is
Islamic movement-specific. His piece on Laskar Jihad for FEER in
April 2001 imparted the same "wisdom" about the group, which did
not translate into reality.

He wrote then how Laskar's "rapid growth illustrates the
larger problems facing Indonesia's young democracy. (Its)
existence symbolizes the erosion of central government authority
and the breakdown of law and order. It also speaks of an
explosion of ethnic violence and creeping religious intolerance
amid economic hard times".

The organization under Ja'far Umar Thalib, he wrote, "had the
potential to mar Indonesia's reputation for practicing a tolerant
and inclusive form of Islam". But Laskar Jihad is a different
entity altogether from PKS. Both may have a higher command
somewhere outside of Indonesia, but we know Laskar Jihad fizzed
out because that higher power told Talib to disband his "boys".

PKS, on the other hand, is considered by its "higher command"
one of the best examples of how the Ikhwanul Muslimin ( Muslim
Brotherhood organization), which originates in Egypt but has
sprouted organizational links in 70 countries, has been
transforming itself from a dakwah (the spreading of Islam)
movement into a formal, recognized entity in those countries'
political systems.

Laskar Jihad may have links with "Afghanistan alumni" but it
was born out of the Christian-Muslim conflict in eastern
Indonesia. PKS, on the other hand, was born out of decades of
patience and countless Koranic classes on university campuses,
taking advantage of the political reforms in the country.

Its image as a party fighting against corruption (which Laskar
was never interested in), the increasing support it won in the
last two polls and its share of control in the legislature are
indicative of growing political and economic support at the
grassroots -- something Laskar never could have matched.

Dhume painted PKS with the same brush he used for Laskar
Jihad. But if he was wrong once, he can be proven wrong again --
it really is up to PKS to do this.

This brings us to the second point: Dhume traveled to and
conducted interviews in Muslim enclaves, such as Abu Bakar
Baasyir's Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, which
had actually declared its territory off-limits for journalists
from the United States, Australia and Singapore. A paid local
Muslim journalist affiliated with the PKS helped Dhume entered
places that might not have been as easily accessed otherwise.

Foreign journalists have always solicited the paid assistance
of local counterparts for their research. There is nothing wrong
with this, except if the local journalists think they can have
any control over how the stories turn out. There have been too
many cases where foreign journalists descend into Indonesia with
stories already written in their heads before even landing in
Jakarta.

Post-Sept. 11, being a Muslim journalist or part of the
Islamic media has come with perks that can cloud one's judgment.

We are talking about a small pool of journalists, because the
Islamic media in Indonesia is not as robust an industry as the
mainstream media such as Kompas or Tempo. If we were to come up
with a list of Islamic media, we would probably only have Sabili,
Suara Hidayatullah, Tarbawi, Saksi, Hidayah, Ummi,
NooR, Alia, Muslimah and Paras.

Ummi, Saksi and Tarbawi are affiliated with the PKS. The
current largest Islamic publication, Sabili, is not directly
linked with PKS but ahead of the 2004 general election became an
open supporter of the party. Some of these publications have been
blasted as anti-America, anti-Israel or pro-terrorism -- which
makes them perfect targets for pro-West (or pro-America)
campaigns.

The Foreign Press Center of the U.S. Department of State has
over the past few years invited journalists from such
publications to the U.S. for trips that have included such places
as Graceland and the Big Apple on the itinerary. The objective of
these trips, of course, is to persuade the journalists to be more
amenable to the American brand of religious freedom and
democracy.

It is simply embarrassing to watch these journalists, who
during rallies outside the U.S. Embassy fiercely raised their
fists to the sky while chanting Amerika Zionis, Biangnya Teroris
(America the Zionist, Mother of all Terrorists), return with
faces aglow and bursting about the fun they had in America.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Depok and can be
reached at santi-soekanto2001@yahoo.com.