If Islam was one big cult of destruction, Indonesia would be very hard to explain. Indonesia is, in terms of numbers of people, the biggest Islamic nation in the world.
As such, Indonesia should be a hotbed of terrorist activity.
Instead, Indonesia, and people visiting the country, are victims of terrorists. Almost five years ago, a tourist spot in Bali blew up and burned, with tourists inside. 202 people died.
to date, it's been the biggest terrorist attack in Indonesia. That's no 9/11, but it was serious enough to be called Australia's 9/11, since over a third of the victims were Australians.
It was the first of four attacks in as many years:
- 2002 Bali nightclub bombings
- 2003 bombing at J.W. Marriott hotel
- 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy
- 2005 triple suicide attacks on restaurants
The total fatalities were less than a tenth of 9/11 death toll: but those were attacks, nonetheless. In an Islamic country: the biggest in the world.
And, although news reports still use words like "alleged," Jemaah Islamiyah (الجماعة الاسل, or Islam Community, I think) is almost certainly involved. Those aren't "Crusaders."
The top Indonesian court rejected appeals that lawyers for three "Islamic militants" who "all admitted in court to planning and carrying out the attacks, which they have said were meant to punish the U.S. and its Western allies for alleged atrocities in Afghanistan. They showed no remorse and taunted relatives of the victims in court."
I can understand their lack of remorse. Ali Ghufron, Amrozi Nurhasyim. and Imam Samudra probably believe that their act of mass murder was the will of Allah, and that they'll be well-rewarded.
But, that doesn't mean that all Muslims have those beliefs. Remember: it's the courts of an Islamic nation that's sentenced them to death by firing squad.
Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred
1 comment:
Looks like the Indonesians weren't Islamic enough for them.
Those poor people. It's very sad.
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