Western Resistance

« Pakistan: Muslim Council Orders Unborn Girls To Be Married Off | | Iraq: Beauty Queen Resigns After Death Threats From Islamic Terrorists »

April 12, 2006

Indonesia: Muslim Vigilantes Vandalise Playboy Building

Back in January we reported that an Indonesian version of the famous magazine Playboy was being planned. Avianto Nugroho announced he had a license to publish the magazine, and the first local edition was scheduled to hit the stands and shelves in March. Nugroho said the magazine would contain no nude photos, so it should not cause offence.

At that time, the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia or Indonesian Council of Holy Warriors threatened to make protests if the magazine went on sale. The group's leader, Irfan Awas, said "Different or not, Playboy is Playboy. It is a porn magazine.... The magazine will damage the morality of the nation."

The Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia had as their "spiritual leader" Abu Bakar Bashir, currently jailed for approving the bombings on Bali in 2002, which killed 202 people. The group denied that the bombs were the work of Muslims (Taqiyya).

Five days ago, on April 7, the proposed magazine was finally published. As promised, the magazine did not display nudes, and did not seem as tacky as home-grown pornography and videos on sale in Jakarta.

However, about 24 members of the Front Pembela Islam, or Islamic Defender's Front (FPI) protested on the day of the magazine's launch, outside the offices of Indonesian Playboy. A spokesman for the hardline Muslim group, Muhammad Alawi Usman, warned: "If within a week they are still active and sell the magazine, we will take physical action. Playboy is not suitable for reading because its contents degrade women."

Unlike Islam, of course, which degrades women by depriving them of rights, expecting them to be covered up and to shut up.

Another member of FPI, Tubagus Muhamad Sidik, told Reuters that merely the name Playboy, with its associations, was enough to cause offence. He threatened: "Even if it had no pictures of women in it, we would still protest it because of the name. If they don't withdraw it then we will act in our own way, the forceful way. Our crew will clearly hound the editors."

When published, radio stations buzzed with comments. But there were more complaints that Indonesian Playboy, the 18th international "edition" of the famous title was too tame than complaints of its raunchiness. One caller said "It's sinful to read Playboy if there's no nudity!"

But today, the situation has changed. Following on from yesterday's celebrations for the prophet Mohammed's birthday (Eid Miladun Nabi), the FPI have today gone on the rampage, making good on their earlier threats.

News from Reuters via Yahoo News and Associated press, via Canada's Canoe News reports that about 300 members of the Front Pembela Islam have attacked the offices of Indonesian Playboy in south Jakarta.

The building has been stoned, and the FPI members, dressed in white shirts and wearing white skull caps clashed with police officers guarding the building. Several windows were smashed, as were the door and gate of the building.

Shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) they also tore up copies of the offending magazine.

Unlike the members of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, who turn up at terrorist court cases and shout a lot, the Front Pembela Islam are a far more intimidating and dangerous group.

In February this year, they were particularly active in their protests against the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, and threw stones, burned effigies and made threats outside the Danish consulate. On February 19, they stormed the US embassy, even though the US never endorsed the images. Later that month FPI were harrassing foreigners outside the Holiday Inn Hotel in Bandung, demanding whether or not they approved of the cartoons. If any foreigners said they approved, they were threatened, and told to leave the country. 27 members of FPI were arrested, but soon released.

The Front Pembela Islam was founded in August 1998 by Middle Eastern born and Saudi-educated Habib Rizieq Shihab (aka Muhammad Rizieq). This individual (pictured in inset) was taken to court in 2003 for inciting followers to make raids on foreign establishments. He served his seven month jail term at Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta, being released on November 19, 2003.

Financed by extortion from businesses, the Front Pembela Islam, was attacking Christians in October, charging that they would burn down houses if Catholics continued to hold religious services in their homes. But their main policy is to attack places it deems "un-Islamic", such as bars, pool halls. In 2001, they mounted a campaign against American businesses in Indonesia. Some of their more drastic assaults are carried out by a paramilitary wing called Laskar Pembela Islam

In January last year while relief aid was being carried out following the tsunami devastation in Banda Aceh, they accused Christian and other charity workers of trying to convert Muslims, and threatened them with death. They are active in 22 provinces in Indonesia, and it has been suggested that they are "tolerated" by the authorities. Most of the leading players in the Front Pembela Islam are not even Indonesian-born, and come from the Middle East.

As we reported last month the climate towards repression of personal freedoms has been increasing, with the government threatening to introduce an "anti-pornography bill", and with many local provinces introducing harsh regulations which curb women's rights to walk alone after dark.

Last weekend, the Sunday Times described how the anti-pornography bill was threatening many aspects of people's lives in Indonesia. The bill proposes to make it illegal for people to display areas of their bodies. In Papua, where indigineous tribes such as the Asmat and the Dani of the Baliem valley traditionally have men walking naked, with a penis gourd for modesty, such a bill is bound to lead to human rights abuses. In Bali, the tourist trade is likely to suffer, if people are not allowed to wear bikinis and swimming costumes on beaches.

But many Indonesians fear their president is losing his grip on a political debate increasingly dominated by fundamentalists, who have made a parliamentary bill on indecency the centrepiece of their campaign to purify the nation.

"This is an attempt by some people to import Arab culture to Indonesia," said Yenny Wahid, a Muslim campaigner for women's rights.

The draft bill would extend a ban on indecency to prohibit kissing in public, which would be punishable by five years in prison. Public nudity or the "indecent" exposure of the stomach, thigh or hip - some religious jurists argue that shoulders could also be deemed inflammatory - could be punished by a 10-year sentence and a 30,000 pound ($ 50,000) fine.

It seems that Indonesia is going to be going through a lot more social agonising and injustice before these issues are resolved. Or its image as a "moderate" and tolerant Muslim nation will be just a forgotten myth.

What is happening today in the case of Indonesian Playboy is a microcosm of the struggles ahead.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 12, 2006 8:05 AM

Comments

Post a comment