Jews and Islam

Jew and Islam in Indonesia

Dan kalau ekonomi negara-negara Islam selalu hancur bahkan malah
terlibat hutang dengan lembaga keuangan dunia, maka itupun ulah yahudi. Dan jangan lupa, kalau ada negara Islam yang merdeka dan berdaulat tiba-tiba dirampok dan dibubarkan lalu didirikan negara baru seperti Israel dan Iraq, maka itu pun ulah yahudi.

“If the economic conditions in Islamic countries are always devastated and they even have massive debt from international monetary organisation, it is because of Jews. Noteworthy, if there is an independent Islamic country and is suddenly robbed then emerge a new country from that bankrupt country such as Israel and Iraq; Jews must be responsible for this”.

I quote this passage from the Indonesian Moslem mailing list. I feel deeply apologetic if the translation does not make any sense for native speaker.

The quote above is one of examples that Yahudi (Jew) has a derogatory meaning in the religious discourse in Indonesia. It is not clear, however, what they really mean by Jews. A guy in a mailing list wrote that Jews masterminded all disasters and many multinational companies are working to help Jews achieving their goal to rule the world. As his comments bewilder me, I asked him what does he mean by Jews? Does it mean the Israeli government? Or are CEO in MNC mainly Jews? If they are the Chosen Ones and the king of the world, what happened to their power when Nazi brutally murdered them? Gulp. He could not support his argument. He maintained, however, that Jews as the Chosen One is ubiquitous and is consistently working to dismantle Moslem power around the globe. Many Moslems in Indonesia, particularly those who have a rather radical perspective, believe that Jews conspiracy is very powerful. Jews are the main culprit for all troubles that are found in Islamic countries.

According to Martin van Bruinessen (Indonesian version), anti-Semitism in Indonesia originates from Middle East. Israel’s hostility towards Palestine leads to a growing sympathy amongst Moslems. Yet another interesting fact that he pointed is that the source which is often cited by Moslems in Indonesia is The Protocols of the Learned Elders Zion that is indeed a fabricated facts written by anti-Semitist in Russia. The protocols which were once used by Nazi to justify the Shoah, reached Middle East. A grand plan of conquering the world would be carried out by introducing modernisation, democracy, capitalism, communism and secularism are included in the protocols.

There are some articles in the Quran that refers to the maliciousness of Jew. But Van Bruinessen suggested that anti-Semitism in Indonesia is initially not based on the analysis of these articles. It is rather the political tumult in the Middle East which leads to resentment against Jews. The hatred feeling is justified by articles in the Quran.

I feel sad, however, that people in Indonesia still believe this misleading information. But i am not daft enough to come to preachers and ask them to give me any evidence for Jews conspiracy. I hope they realise the irony that their existence depends very much on the ever-present threat from Jews conspiracy.