January
7, 2007: Government security forces managed to keep Islamic terrorists,
and Islamic radicals in general, under control in 2006. There were no major
terrorist attacks, and the sectarian violence was kept down as well. While
Islamic conservatism has some appeal to many, if not most, Indonesians (mainly
as a counter to the corruption so rampant in the government), extending that to
Islamic radicalism and terrorist operations, does not have wide support. In
fact, most Indonesians are quite hostile to Islamic terrorism, and have been
willing to turn in terrorists. This has made life difficult for Islamic
terrorists, and most have fled the country. Those that remain, must move very
carefully, lest they be detected and caught. On the downside, this strategy
includes a lot of leniency towards confessed terrorists, and short prison
terms. It's still unclear if many of the Islamic radicals, who have served
their time, will go back to the dark side.
January
6, 2007: Another senior member of Jemaah Islamiah was killed in the
Philippines, by counter-terror operations. Most of the senior leadership of
Jemaah Islamiah is believed to have fled the country, many of them taking
refuge in Moslem areas of the Philippines. But the Islamic terrorists in the
Philippines, mainly Abu Sayyaf, are not all that powerful, just hard to find.
Jemaah Islamiah operatives have been teaching Filipino Islamic radicals how to
make bombs, and this has led to some more attacks, but not a lot of casualties.
January
3, 2007: During the first eleven months of 2006, 3.59 million foreign tourists
arrived, a decline of 4.6 percent from the previous year. An Islamic terrorist
attack in October, 2005, led to many foreign tourists canceling their trips.
Australians, in particular, stayed away in large numbers. But, as with past
terrorist attacks, the tourists eventually return (incentives, like large price
cuts, help). Thus while the overall decline in 2005 is five percent, arrivals
late in the year are actually up. For Indonesia, tourism is a major part of the
economy, generating billions of dollars of business each year, and over a
million jobs.
January
1, 2007: In Papua, police are going after Christian clergy, accusing them of
providing support for separatist rebels. Most Papuans are Christian, or
practice traditional religions. The clergy are a target mainly because the
churches are centers of social activity, and most Papuans would like more
autonomy, and less interference from Malay officials from other parts of
Indonesians (Papuans are Melanesians, a different ethnic group than the Malays
who dominate in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.)
