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As we celeberate Thanksgiving on Thursday, please remember our brothers and sisters in Indonesia. Please pray for the Christians and Catholics in that country as their churches were set on fire by mobs. Thank you everyone, and may God Bless every one of us.
Muslim Mobs Riot in Indonesia
Violence Appears Aimed at Christian Migrants and Churches
By Cindy Shiner
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, November 23, 1998; Page A16
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov. 22—Muslim mobs
killed at least 13 people today and set fire to churches
in a riot that appeared to be sparked by rumors that a
mosque had been attacked.
Security forces fired shots into the air and lobbed tear
gas to disperse the angry crowds, which burned four
churches and ransacked seven others. Mobs blocked
fire trucks from reaching at least one of the churches.
A Roman Catholic girls' school also was ransacked
and partly burned.
The Associated Press reported that five of those slain
were migrants from the Indonesian island of Ambon,
and that one body was paraded in the streets by his
killers. At least seven of the victims died inside a
gambling parlor that was set ablaze.
A Catholic church was attacked while a wedding
was in progress, the AP reported. Pews and Missals
were tossed onto a bonfire, and stained-glass
windows and a statue of the Virgin Mary were
shattered.
"We got out as quickly as we could," said the bride,
Threewaty, 27, who like many Indonesians goes by
only one name. "We're still not married, but we're
safe."
As many as a dozen people reportedly were injured,
possibly including soldiers, and local television
stations said 10 people had been arrested. Several
commercial buildings were damaged and more than
a dozen vehicles were set aflame in the rioting,
which broke out in central Jakarta, about a half-mile
from the presidential palace, authorities said.
The violence came a little more than a week after 14
people were killed in anti-government
demonstrations that pitted moderate Muslims
against radical Islamic groups hired by the military
to help provide security during a special session of
parliament. But most of those casualties occurred in
clashes between the military and student
demonstrators.
Rioting erupted again the following day in Jakarta's
Chinatown district, and several shops were looted
and burned. Ethnic Chinese, most of whom are
Christian, are often targeted in Indonesia during
times of political and economic turmoil because they
control most of the country's wealth.
While ethnic Chinese gathered to protect their
homes and shops this evening, most of the new
violence appeared to have been aimed at Ambonese
Christians. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim
country, with 94 percent of the population following
Islam, but it has a secular government and a
generally tolerant religious atmosphere.
Muslim residents said they retaliated after a group of
Ambonese threw rocks at a mosque, breaking
windows. Residents say Ambonese-led gangs, with
the backing of military elements, have long run
protection rackets in the area, which is dominated by
ethnic Chinese.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
Thank you Kemble for your best wishes for Thanksgiving as well.
Sincerely,
Paul. |
