United we stand

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.