United we stand

Relations between Indonesia and Australia are strained once again, less than one month after the two countries were united by the horror of the terrorist attacks in Bali.

The two countries have shown a never before seen spirit of cooperation and neighborliness in the aftermath of the Oct. 12 Bali bomb attacks, as both tried to come to terms with the reality that terrorist organizations were operating in their backyards.

Both knew that together, rather than individually, they stood a better chance of dealing with terrorism, particularly in catching the perpetrators of last month's barbaric act that left more than 180 people dead and caused untold destruction and grief.

Admittedly, given that relations between the two countries these last four decades have been marked by turbulence, it was probably too much to expect that such a spirit of cooperation would last. Sooner or later, some events or some remarks were bound to upset or touch the sensitivity of the people or government on the other side, and send our love-hate relationship south again.

What triggered the latest row were the raids against Indonesian citizens or migrants in Australia last week.

Canberra has defended its action, saying that the raids were targeted at people suspected of having links with Jemaah Islamiyah, which has now been proclaimed a terrorist organization by the United Nations. They were not targeted at Indonesians or Muslims specifically, as portrayed by some media in Indonesia.

The official reaction in Jakarta has been that while it fully respected Australia's right to do what it saw proper in keeping its national security, Jakarta feels that the matter could have been handled less excessively, and certainly more sensitively.

Images of an Indonesian family being harassed and held at gunpoint as Australian federal agents raided their home did not bode well for the relations between the two countries, especially since Canberra has yet to find any incriminating evidence.

This episode followed Canberra's warning to all its citizens not to travel to Indonesia because of the threat of terrorism, an act which many in Jakarta also felt was excessive and was not helping Indonesia's situation at all.

Accusations that Canberra has acted excessively have also come from some Australian quarters who knew the importance of having good relations with Indonesia.

Not surprisingly, the reactions among some politicians in Jakarta have been blunt. They have called on the government to severe relations with Australia, or at least to severe trade ties. On Tuesday, some 300 university students protested outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, and they made their point by pelting rotten eggs at the mission's building.

The combination of Australia's excessive actions on the one hand, with the overreaction from politicians in Jakarta on the other, is bound to hurt the relations once again.

At this stage, leaders in both countries might want to ponder whether any of this is serving any purpose at all. Both countries have still not recovered from the Bali bomb attacks. As long as the perpetrators are still not known, and still at large, no country can proclaim itself to be safe from terrorist attacks.

Indonesia and Australia have everything to gain and little to lose by combining their forces to face the common enemy. Today's terrorists know no state boundaries. While working together does not guarantee that the two countries are safe, at the very least, it reduces the terrorists' room to maneuver.

As for politicians in Jakarta who want to see ties with Australia severed, they might want to consider the interests of the people in Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara, and Papua, for once. For people in these provinces, Australia is their most important foreign relation, whatever people in Java and Sumatra have to say. Severing ties with Australia may serve to heal the bruised egos of a handful of politicians and generals in Jakarta, but it would cause untold and irreparable damage to the lives of many people in these provinces. Bali's tourism, for one, cannot recover without the Australian dollar. The economies of most of these provinces are also tied to Australia.

Common sense, and not emotion, and cool heads should be the main guides in our conduct of foreign relations, especially in our relations with Australia at a time like this.