Indonesia: 8 killed during riots protesting last months election where their candidate came....second.

(Jakarta)  Last month (17th April)  saw a general election in Indonesia. The incumbent President Joko Widodo defeated his rival Prabowo Subianto with a small increase of votes (2%) since their last meeting at the polls in 2014.  Naturally the loser in a country where religion is used to claim the moral high ground has claimed foul play and is now pursuing a legal challenge complaining the vote was rigged. Yup just what you would expect from somebody drummed out of the military for human rights abuses.

(During the run up to the election Subianto claimed that terrorist attacks in Indonesia were caused by poverty and perpetrated by non-Muslims disguised as Muslims, sent by other countries and controlled by foreigners.)

Well as Indonesia is a country which has been turning towards conservative Islam. those who are quick to find offence did so and after a number of days of rioting across the country in support of the thug who lost the election 8 people have been killed , 700 injured and 200 arrested.

Ramadan death toll stands at 841

Indonesia: Muslims offended by a compass road mosaic as it looks like a cross.

(Surakarta) The local city administration in Central Java, decided to spend a bit of money in which to update the city and as is the way of the bureaucrat they started off with cleaning up the area outside city hall. They pulled in an Islamic architect to design the new look for the city and guess what, the local shariah board aren’t happy. It appears that the mosaic laid down in front of city hall has offended them due to it resembling a cross. Yup so after holding a number of protests, the last yesterday the city council has seen the error of its ways and decided that the offending mosaic laid down only last month will be covered up with paint  

In response the mayor Hadi Rudyatmo, who is a Catholic, said his administration never planned to have a cross-shaped road mosaic in front of his office.  

“If I [had planned] a cross on a road, I would have blasphemed my own religion. A cross is very much respected by Christians. No cross is placed down below. All are placed up above.” 

He also stated that the mosaic was actually inspired by keraton (royalty) symbols of the Surakarta Sultanate and that its designer was also a Muslim. The public works agency's secretary, Mr Taufan Basuki, said the mosaic design had been integrated with the Pemandengan Statue, Gladag traffic circle and the Kasunanan Surakarta Palace hall, all located in the area.

"The design has to be seen as one, starting from the Pemandengan Statue until the Gladag traffic circle. Not separately,He also explained that the mosaic was designed based on the eight directions of a compass with the Pemandengan Statue as the centre point. The eight directions are shown with the yellow lines of the mosaic.

The ethical latte brigade keep on screaming that the west is intolerant and racist towards others and using that drum beat demand that mosques and other vestiges of the Islamic faith be allowed to be built as if they were in their home countries , despite not fitting in with local building rules , yet as we have seen time and time again, that  courtesy isn't mirrored in the countries these people come from, or for that matter in areas in the west where there are large Islamic populations. tolerance is a two way street , yet to the faithful , it can only be a oneway street when it concerns them.

  

Indonesia :Another family suicide attack rocks the country.

(Surabaya) Less than 24 hours after a family of 6 carried out suicide attacks on 3 Roman Catholic churches across Indonesia’s second city.  The country has been rocked by yet another suicide attack carried out by another family on the police headquarters in the same city.

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A car bomb has exploded at police headquarters in the Indonesian city of #Surabaya - "We can confirm there are casualties among our members, but that's all we can say now," police said. #terrorism #Indonesia #SurabayaAttacks https://t.co/d9gqEOHX7X

— I Sea (@RiffRaffBriz) May 14, 2018

Video footage of the latest attack on the police headquarters shows two motorbikes approaching a checkpoint just before the blast. Six civilians and four police officers were injured. Miraculously the suicide bombers  eight-year-old daughter who had been wedged between her mother and father on the motorbike as they carried out the attack survived the latest attack.

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There was indeed a child who made it out alive. pic.twitter.com/HuvmRNzt6E

— Tisa (@ticooi) May 14, 2018

Indonesia: Entire family carries out suicide bomb attacks on 3 Churches, 11 dead, 40 injured.

(Surabaya) Last night in Indonesia saw 3 churches blown up resulting in the deaths of 11 people and injuring at least 40 more in an ISIS attack on people carrying out Sunday morning mass.

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BREAKING: Police say five suicide bombers—including a woman who had two children—attacked three churches in #Surabaya, killing at least 11 people. The attackers are believed to have belonged to the local ISIS-inspired group, Jemaah Ansharut Daulah pic.twitter.com/bUQfjxV1uf

— Auskar Surbakti (@AuskarSurbakti) May 13, 2018

Police have revealed that the attacks were all the work of one really messed up family with the the family's father carrying out one of the attacks by exploding a car bomb, while the man's two sons, aged 18 and 16, used a motorbike in their attack. Their mother carried out another attack with her two children, aged 12 and nine.

Anybody want to explain the mindset to me which can have you blow up your children, against people of a different faith minding their own business. Because for the life in me, I can't get my head around this one.

Indonesia : Preacher proclaims those who go to Starbucks will go to Hell.

(Jakarta)  Popular Islamic preacher Abdul Somad who has something of a cult following on You Tube has pushed out his latest edict and as it concerns drinking coffee at a very popular chain of coffee shops the message is sugar free.

It appears that Abdul, was answering a question from the public regards drinking at Starbucks . And it appears he objects to the coffeeshop chain as they support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and so as is the way of the religious bigot he has stated that those people who drink at Starbucks will go to hell:

“In the afterlife the angels will ask the LGBT community ‘How did your community grow so big?’  The LGBT community will respond, ‘Because of the donations given to us 'who gave you the donations?'  'Those who are in heaven.'" God will pull out those who are in heaven and throw them into hell for donating to Starbucks.

I dread to think what he has to say about one of Indonesia most famous exports : Civet cat coffee which is made by processing the berries the little civet cat has eaten than craps out.

Indonesia: Islamic university bans burqas on campus

(Yogyakarta) The Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Yogyakarta has barred its female students from wearing burkas during any campus activity.

University Rector Yudian Wahyudi said there would be seven warnings and counselling sessions before the university expelled any female students who insisted on wearing burkas. Yudian explained the University had formed a counselling team to nurture the 41 burka-wearing female students. He explained these students would be dismissed should they refuse to cooperate with campus policies after participating in seven counselling sessions.

He also added the  university is based on moderate Islamic views, These viewpoints on Islam acknowledge Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution, the Pancasila state ideology, and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. However this hasn't gone down well, with those who find offence everywhere they look. The Islamic Defenders Front, a conservative group that campaigns against activities it deems un-Islamic, said in a statement the policy “did not make sense” and was in conflict with the country’s efforts to preserve diversity. A women’s rights activist decried what she described as a limitation on the freedom of women to wear what they want.

“Using full-face veils is a choice and we cannot interfere in their choice and their freedom,”

In reply Yudian Wahyudi said radicalization, as exemplified by the burqas, undermined learning.

“Female students wearing the burqa, and radical groups, they are disturbing the teaching process, We are putting moderate Islam forward,” he said, adding that the policy was a “preventive action to save the students”.

Students would be allowed to continue using regular headscarves that do not cover the face,

Indonesia : Buys 11 Su-35 fighter jets

(Jakarta) The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Russia to procure the Sukhoi Su-35 'Flanker-E' multirole combat aircraft. The contract was signed on 14 February and features the acquisition of 11 aircraft.

The Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E is the top Russian air-superiority fighter in service today, and represents the pinnacle of fourth-generation jet fighter design. It is an evolution of the Su-27 Flanker, a late Cold War design intended to match the F-15 in concept: a heavy twin-engine multirole fighter combining excellent speed and weapons loadout with dogfighting agility.

Indonesia: Police shoot knife man attacking people inside a church.

(Yogyakarta)  A priest and three other people were seriously injured when a man attacked a church congregation with a sword during Sunday mass in Indonesia.

Around  100 people were at St Lidwina Church in Sleman on the Island of Java when a man wielding a metre-long blade burst in and began lashing out at worshippers, Christian imagery and a number of books , He also beheaded a statue of the Virgin Mary . 

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Machete attack on Sunday morning church service in Yogyakarta. Priest and at at least three others injured. Attacker shot. pic.twitter.com/mOlzODDElQ

— Adam Harvey (@adharves) February 11, 2018

When the Police arrived they fired a warning shot, but the attacker took no heed, so they were forced to wound him. A police spokesman’s explained:

“After the warning shot was fired, the attacker charged towards the officer with his sword. The officer then shot him below his stomach, but he managed to injure the cop before being subdued."

Police have identified the attacker as a university student in his early 20s but could not confirm if the incident was terror-related.

Indonesia :Muslim group makes Protestants cancel celebration

(Yogyakarta)  A Muslim group in Indonesia have forced the cancellation of a Reformation celebration event, saying they were plotting to convert Muslims to Christianity.  

The Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia had organised an open-air service at a football stadium in the city of Yogyakarta. Which was supposed to be one of 17 major events to be held in Indonesian cities to mark 500 years since the Reformation began in October 1517, which resulted in the split with Rome by Protestants. 

However, the event was scrapped after the Forum Ukhuwah Islamiyah (FUI), an arm of the Indonesian Ulema Council, wrote to stadium officials calling on them not to allow the gathering, saying it was an attempt to Christianize Muslims. They also threatened to disrupt the service if it went ahead.The Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia has issued a statement:

"For the shake of interreligious harmony … and to avoid acts of intolerance, the committee decided to call off the national prayer service to mark 500 years of Reformation,"

Police rejected the claim that hardliner pressure forced the cancellation of the service. Saying the event did not go ahead because organizers did not have a permit to stage it.

Indonesia: Suicide bombers kill 3,injure 10

(Jakarta) Two suicide bombers targeted a bus station in the capital this evening killing three police officers and injuring 10 on Wednesday. The blasts went off five minutes apart at Jakarta’s Kampung Melayu terminal,

Police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said three officers had been killed, and that examination of the scene had shown that there appeared to have been two suicide bombers, Five officers and five civilians were wounded. 

The strange thing about this bombing is that the suicide bombers targeted police who were escorting a pawai obor parade (Burning torch parade) which the locals carry out in which to welcome in the fasting month of Ramadan which begins in 2 days time.

Indonesia: Islamists target ethnic Chinese wealth

(JAKARTA) Days after Islamic Intolerance saw the Indonesians capital's former governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, (Aka Ahok) an ethnic-Chinese Christian jailed on trumped up charges of blasphemy.  The leader of the powerful Indonesian Islamist organisation that led the push to jail him has laid out plans for a new, racially charged campaign targeting economic inequality and foreign investment. Yup Saudi-trained cleric, Bachtiar Nasir has said that the wealth of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese minority is a problem and advocates an affirmative action programme for native Indonesians.

The irony here is former Indonesian President Suharto blocked Chinese Indonesians from many public posts and denied them cultural expression, forcing them to drop their Chinese names. Marginalised politically and socially, many turned to business and became wealthy and now they have made something of their lives, the Islamic bigots continue to play the them and us card.

It appears that even when Muslims are the majority in a country, they can only be the victims of non-Muslims.  The decision to jail Ahok has raised worries that moderate Islam in the world’s largest Muslim country is being eroded while hardliners grow in strength . Funny enough 3 of the 5 Islamic judges who presided on the Purnama blasphemy case, were promoted 1 day after the sentence was passed.

Indonesia: Former governor of Jakarta, jailed for offending ...Muslims.

(Jakarta)  Basuki Tjahaja Purnama aka Ahok the former Christian governor of Jakarta has been found guilty of blasphemy against Islam and jailed for 2 years.  According to the verdict, Purnama was “found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, the reason for the stiff sentence was that “the defendant didn’t feel guilt and the defendant’s act has caused anxiety and hurt to Muslims.”.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, arriving at court on Monday.

So what exactly did Ahok do?  Well in a nutshell he was the first ethnic Chinese Christian to run the Indonesian capital, and he reapplied to be re-elected. This didn’t go down with the rabble rousers of the mainly Islamic country and so they quoted variations of Verse 51 of Al Maidah from the Koran:

O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

In which to play the Muslim card, against the Christian Governor who had made a name for himself as a just and good governor. On hearing about this  Ahok quoted that verse from the Koran "to prove to his supporters that there were no restrictions on Muslims voting for a non-Muslim politician" in reply the rabble rousers edited his reply and thus, in a Muslim majority country Ahok could only be guilty of…Blasphemy . Why? because he quoted the koran. Which is why, he received a 2 year prison sentence. Naturally the Islamic haters feel that 2 years wasn't enough and feel that Ahok should be ‘Punished’

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Some Protestors not happy with 2 year sentence for Ahok. Wanted 5 pic.twitter.com/cuYdlD3XGq

— Samantha Hawley (@samanthahawley) May 9, 2017

The worrying aspect about this whole charade of a court case, is that Islamic intolerance has not only jailed an innocence man , but in doing so they simply reinforced that so called 'allah ' given right for Muslims to silence anybody they don't approve of , a move which wea re seeing more and more of not only in Islamic countries but in the non Islamic West.

Indonesia: 2 terrorists shot dead during police raid

(Purwakarta district) A police raid on an Islamist den saw 2 idiots shot dead and attacks to be carried out during the festive period foiled.

Acting on informing gleaned from arrested suspects, police raided a floating home on Jatiluhur dam looking for 4 Islamist idiots planning to spread their version of Christmas cheer their own special way. 2 of the idiots surrendered without a fight, the other two picked up knives in which to show the machine gun armed police that they were willing to take their chance and fight their way out. Big mistake.

Indonesia: One dead, seven injured after Islamist march

(Jakarta) In Indonesia (the world’s most populous Muslim country), a massive protest against a charge of blasphemy by a Christian politician Basuki Tjahaja Purnama turned violent last night. The march on the capital by thousands of religious bigots led to one person dying and seven being injured in the streets of the capital Jakarta.

The protest came about after a video of a speech by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama that was considered to be edited and went viral among Muslims. In the video, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama challenged his constituents to not be easily deceived by Muslim scholars who are using their interpretation of the Koran (Surah Al Maidah, verse 51) in which to have the faithful not elect non-Muslims as their leaders; but he acknowledged that if they chose to vote against him, it would be their right.

In a nutshell, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is seeking a second term as Jakarta governor. He is seen as a blunt speaker who does not tolerate corruption and articulates a vision of making the chaotic, dysfunctional city more like clean, orderly and efficient Singapore. But the anti-corruption stance has made him enemies, and played to a stereotype of Chinese as exploiters of Indonesia’s poor Muslim masses. So the so called Islamic leaders have promoted the message that Muslims should not vote for a non-Muslim. He in turn has mentioned this overt religious gerrymandering, and faster than you can utter ‘Allah Ackba’ he has been classed as a blasphemer, which, as we all know, is the best way to galvanise the faithful who mobilise in seconds in which to demand the arrest of the person in question. Yup, nothing like playing dirty when you wish to dirty the image of an innocent person in any Islamic-rich environment.

Indonesia: Suicide bomber fails to blow up church,attacks priest with axe.

(Medan) Ivan Armadi Hasugian a teenage Jihadist targeted a congregation celebrating mass at St Joseph's Church, Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, with a home-made I.E.D on Sunday.

It appears Ivan sat amongst the congregation, assembled his device stood up, and then with his rucksack giving off "smoke, sparks and faint sounds of firecrackers" rushed towards the priest near the pulpit, thankfully it failed to detonate, so the prick then pulled an axe out of his rucksack and attacked the priest resulting in an injury to the priest's arm.

Ivan Armadi Hasugian failed suicide bomber

The congregation jumped to the rescue and detained rucksack man until the police arrived. On searching his belongings the police found a knife, and a note with "La ilaha illallah" in Arabic written on it. It is a declaration of the Islamic faith which means "there is no God but Allah"

Terrorists nabbed in Indonesia raid

(Surabaya) Indonesia's elite anti-terrorist unit Detachment 88, or Densus 88, raided a house in Surabaya yesterday afternoon and nabbed three suspected militants. They also discovered two homemade bombs and weapons in the single-storey house located in a district in the country's second-largest city.

Homegrown jihadi intellectual behind Islamic State attack on Indonesia

GRAPHIC PHOTO: Massive explosion rocks #Jakarta. Heavy exchanges of gunfire, casualties reported. #Indonesia pic.twitter.com/hFUDIInmNk

— Israel News Flash (@ILNewsFlash) January 14, 2016

UPDATE: Explosions and gunfire in central #Jakarta occurred near UN agency office, at least 3 dead. #Indonesia pic.twitter.com/3G446AwOOG

— Israel News Flash (@ILNewsFlash) January 14, 2016

Islamic State Carries Out Massive Coordinated Attacks in Jakarta, at Least 17 Dead https://t.co/Xg2MwYRfCi pic.twitter.com/UisB3swnNV

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 14, 2016

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Seven years ago, Bahrun Naim was quietly running an Internet cafe in the small Indonesian city of Solo.

On Thursday he was identified by police as the mastermind behind the deadly attack on Jakarta claimed by Islamic State, pulling the strings from Raqqa, the radical group's de facto capital in Syria.

In between, Naim was arrested in 2011 for illegal arms possession and jailed for three years, and police say that since then he has emerged as a key player in militant networks that have sprouted around Solo and across Central Java.

A year ago, he left for Syria to join the frontlines of Islamic State, and police believe Naim was closely involved in coordinating Thursday's assault.

Five of the attackers and two civilians were killed in Islamic State's first strike against Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation where the group wants to establish an Asian beachhead for its "caliphate".

There had been hints of what was to come for weeks.

After the coordinated attacks across Paris in November, the militant intellectual published a blog in which he explained to his followers how it was easy to move jihad from "guerrilla warfare" in Indonesia's equatorial jungles to a city.

Reuters contacted Naim on Nov. 24 on Telegram social messaging, using details provided by one of his acquaintances. In that exchange, he said there were more than enough Islamic State supporters to "carry out an action" in Indonesia.

"Just waiting for the right trigger," the man identifying himself as Naim said.

Naim could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Intelligence experts say that, not long after that Telegram exchange, intelligence officials began to pick up talk in social messaging chatrooms that an attack on Indonesia was imminent.

"Chatter among Islamists began to become more organized last month and there were discussions for the first time of a multiple attack," said a Jakarta-based security adviser, who monitors radical group discussions on mobile messaging services for the government.

Counter-terrorism officials believe there are at least 1,000 sympathizers of the radical jihadist group across Indonesia.

More...

Indonesia to Cane Woman After Recovery From C-Section

A woman being led to a caning in Indonesia (Photo: © Reuters)

(Clarion Project) Three women were publicly caned in Indonesia for the crime of khalwat, affectionate contact between an unmarried couple. The caning of a fourth convicted woman was postponed because she had recently given birth by Caesarean section.

“She’ll be caned once she’s recovered,” said the head of the prosecutor’s office in Banda Aceh, as quoted in the Jakarta post .

Banda Aceh is the capital of the Aceh province, the only province to apply sharia law in full. In 2014, Aceh passed legislation to extend sharia law to non-Muslims in the province as well.

In total, 34 people were caned in Aceh on Friday, the largest number of people caned on a single day since sharia law went into effect in Aceh.

Most were convicted on charges of gambling. Most offenders were sentenced to between six and eight cane strokes, with some offenders able to choose to serve time in jail for less strokes of the cane. In general, one month in jail cancels out one cane stroke.

“Punishing [miscreants] in front of a crowd has a strong deterrent effect,” said Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Sa’adudin Djamal, who attended the caning.

The mayor added, “[Now,] the public needs to support and supervise the convicts to help them return to the straight and narrow.”

Friday’s canings represented the largest number of offenders to be caned on a single day since Aceh introduced sharia law as its legal system. Since then, canings have been carried out almost every month in Aceh.

The reborn Jews of Indonesia

(JPost) Scattered across islands in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesians of Jewish-Dutch heritage are converting back to their ancestral religion.

Assisted by rabbis and religious leaders from Israel, the US and Australia, the groups have begun to form a unified central Indonesian Jewish organization, complete with a prayer book translated from Hebrew into Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia.

Related: History of the Jews in Indonesia