Islamic State support in Indonesia seen posing threat to foreigners
Foreigners could again become the target of militant attacks in Indonesia as extremists pledge their loyalty to the Islamic State group, a thinktank warned on Wednesday.
In a report, the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) also warned that Indonesian and Malaysian fighters who have joined IS in Syria appear to have formed a military unit there, likely strengthening militant networks in Southeast Asia.
After a series of attacks on foreigners in the last decade, Indonesian extremists have in recent years directed their violence at domestic “enemies of Islam”, mostly police. There have been no attacks against foreigners since the 2009 twin hotel bombings in Jakarta which killed seven people.
But a series of influential radical clerics and Islamist organizations have pledged support for IS, and extremists seeking approval from leaders of its self-declared caliphate may heed a recent call to attack Westerners, according to the report.
IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani in a video Monday called for Muslims to kill Westerners whose countries have joined the US-led coalition against IS — in particular Americans and the French.
Comments
Probably a good idea to stay home next year guys its only a matter of time before another attack on a western target.
Is this some kind of crowd clearing comment? You're 5x more likely to die on Australian roads next year if we have the same level of activity as '02.
Your a legend blow-in 9999. I like the way you scoff at death. Calculating odds like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman. You obviously scored in Bali in the 03 season .
"Terrorist threats" are more overblown than the "shark threat" and are impinging on our freedoms... So yes, I will try to stop that kind of misinformation any time it comes up. Working out my plans for indo '15 as soon as I can cop some cheap deals.
Indo has ~ 7-8 million tourists a YEAR and has lost <350 people to terrorist attacks ever (a significant portion of which weren't tourists)... You do the math.
This is not to say it isn't tragic for the victims. I only seek give a somewhat realistic risk assessment.
I'm with you blow-in. Stay away from Indo. It's dangerous!
Fairly myopic world view there.
Indonesia has a fairly violent history. Plenty of domestic terrorism spread over the country since it's transmigration policies in the 60s.
Try Wikipedia as a starter .........
I will second that. We landed in Padang on the day of "shock and awe". 90% of the bookings cancelled. Four boats operating in the whole of the Mentawais and the only one we saw was the Barrenjoey with only the owner aboard. Surfed HTs, Telescopes, Maccas, Rifles etc by ourselves. Terrorism seeks to breed fear, never give in to it.
The sanctity of math.
http://twentytwowords.com/guess-what-animal-kills-more-people-than-any-o...
Threats in Indo? How about more than just threats right here at home, homies?
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-week-terror-changed-australia-20140926-10m...
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-beheading-fired-employee-attempted-to-convert...
Indonesia is a big place, and it is impossible to speak of it as a whole no matter what the context.
I was in Jakarta for the last week, Central. I engaged a handful of people in discussions about ISIS, naively confident in my belief that most people are good and of the ones that are not only a handful have the balls to act on their desires. To my surprise a whole bunch of people had no idea what I was talking about; in warungs, in restos, in hotels and in bookshops, a whole bunch of otherwise engaged people had no freaking idea what ISIS was, under any of the names they use.
I met a handful, too, he laughed when I asked if they supported them. "Yes I would like to see a global Islamic caliphate, as long as it does not stop me from smoking, drinking rice wine and cheating on my wife. And no, I am not going to kill anyone to make it happen" can aptly sum up conversations I had with supporters.
I spoke with a FPI members, foolishly enough. They were protesting the new governor of Jakarta, who they reject as he is not a good Muslim. They were trying to have a demo, but their truck with speakers broke down and in the relentless heat they took to sitting around drinking tea in the shade. Nice enough blokes, clearly just uneducated, under employed, under-sexed and easily led by a bunch of whackos. They didn't have much to say on global Islamic issues, rather moaning about how the new President is a fake Muslim and that petrol is going to rise again.
What most of that tells me is that for many Indonesians, ISIS is such a foreign phenomena that most people haven't given it a thought. Those who have rightly laugh it down, aware that these things have been happening constantly for decades with scarcely any attention from the West. As the three beheaded journalists have not been Indonesians, and that ultra-violence is hardly a rare occurrence in Indonesia, it hasn't been big news outside of the English speaking press.
With all that said, Sydney Jones and the ICG have so rarely been wrong on anything to do with Indonesian violence/terrorism that it should absolutely be considered by anybody coming to Indonesia. I'd say any such support for ISIS would be incredibly isolated; a handful of mosques, pesantren, villages and most likely in parts of the country we rarely visit. Like JI, I would say the support is less community driven than it is by a handful of wayward types returned from fighting overseas, and if they were to be taken out it would disappear. That said, it only takes one loose nut to cause the whole thing to fall apart.
My advice, which you can take with a pinch of sea salt, would be to be respectful and cautious. If you don't have the language skills to explain who you are, where you come from, what your religious views are, and a few anecdotes to drag conversation to a safer place, I would be reluctant to head off in search of virgin waves in South Sumatra, Java, Lombok or Sumbawa (especially Sumbawa).
On a side note, there is a growing social-media movement in Bali criticising the disrespectful antics of Australians abroad, such as getting around in a Borat swim suit in public streets. I'd wager in the current climate you are more likely to get beaten up by some passionate, young Balinese blokes wanting to stake a claim on the future of their island than you are by a wayward terrorist with a machete hell bent on taking off your head.
Well said DDD ;)
I told you it was a bad idea to take your swim suit Stu.
Good post DDD.
A bit off topic, but noticed this week Aceh is tightening and extending its Sharia law and implementing it for non muslims also, interesting to see if this effects tourism/surfers in Aceh and Simeulue which is also part of Aceh (as are Banyaks)
Seems alcohol would be pretty much banned as even possession by non muslims would be a crime (public lashings if muslim and tried in court if non muslim) hey and if your gay the penalties for gay sex are even bigger.
Yeah, pretty outrageous. There is political tension brewing right now, having lost their direct election of local leaders a few days ago and now that news circulating. Tough gig for JK-Jokowi when they come in!
It will be interesting to see if religion will win out over economy in places like Lhoknga. I first went up there a decade or so ago and the scene was very chill; a reasonable crew of surfers, but surf all day sleep all night kind of scene. I went up last year and it felt a bit like some West Java spots. A crew of mixed-ability surfers, their girlfriends, beers easily available and readily consumed, flat-caps on the local crew and a few Indonesian-Bule love pairings blossoming. And of course the grumpy bastards who have lived there since the GAM days.
I can't imagine that disappearing overnight, considering the economic benefit it brings to a town that has nothing much more than a concrete factory to keep it going.
Ive never actually gotten there, but have heard the last few years its been really crowded, even heard the area is now popular with Russians?
Yeah. It was popular with the French for years. Now it is Russians too. Kite surfing has taken off, so it is crowded pretty much all year round. This is not me trying to scare people off the waves, but I wouldn't recommend going up there to any of my mates that is for sure.
I am going to Bali with my work at the end of October.... It is a bit scary, there is no denying that. I will not be going to night clubs but will be surfing every day and going to some upmarket restaurants. I am slightly concerned about going to restuarants.
However, I work in Sydney CBD and get the train in from the South Coast to Town Hall Station, then go to Circular Quay Station at peak time... As per the news and the police announcements, the police are in a higher state of alert because these IS crack pots are active in Sydney (And Brisbane and Melbourne) plotting things. But I still go to work and I feel more nervous about that than going to Bali.
Am I right though, what is more risky, going through major Sydney train stations or going Bali?
I'd be more worried about some tweaking ice head stabbing you for your wallet on the train instead of the other stuff you mentioned
We just have to get on with it Burgs.
Where does it stop? Terror alerts, Sydney scumbags, sharks, malaria...
Doesn't stop you venturing out to go to work, no point worrying about it, something's going to get us all sooner or later. You just make decisions to reduce the risk to an acceptable (to you) level. You're not in Indo if you haven't been exposed to a few
life threatening situations anyway lol.
Fashion keeps revolving around like a roll of toilet paper.
Beheading/Decapitation has been used as a form for millennia.
It would not surprise me that the "Burning at the stake" will follow....!