Muslim militants' burning of churches, persecution of Christians in Indonesia spurred by imams' jihad order

Indonesian police try to lift and take away a crying Christian woman while others can only weep at the sight as their church at the Siompin village in Aceh Singkil, Aceh province, was demolished on Oct. 19, 2015. Reuters

Indonesian imams have ordered jihad against Christians living in the Aceh region, giving Muslim militants the mandate to attack and burn churches and driving away many members of minority groups to bordering provinces, according to a report.

Gatestone Institute's report titled "The Indonesia Jihad on Christian Churches'' said violence in the Sharia-law governed region began in October with Islamic leaders calling on Muslims to torch area churches, Fox News said.

"We will not stop hunting Christians and burning churches. Christians are Allah's enemies," one Islamic leader said, according to the report.

Indonesia, where about 90 percent of its 250 million people are Muslim, was once seen as an example that a large Muslim majority can live in relative peace alongside Christian and Hindu minority groups.

At the heart of the Indonesian city of Manado, for example, stands a 153-foot statue of an open-armed Jesus, an odd sight in a region under siege by Muslim mobs.

Last October, hundreds of Muslims paraded in the streets of the city wielding machetes and torching churches, including one in Suka Makmur. "The group of Muslim hard-liners had apparently had enough of their Christian neighbors' open display of faith," the report said, as quoted by Foreign Policy magazine.

The violent clashes displaced a total 8,000 Christians in Aceh and killed a Muslim attacker who was shot in the head, it said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in attempts to ease tension, has tweeted: "Stop violence in Aceh Singkil. Any act of violence, whatever the reasons behind it, not to mention if it is related to religion and faith, will kill diversity —Jkw."

The head of the local chapter of the hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front told Reuters he was demanding the closure of 10 more churches because they lacked proper permits.

The think tank's report said the church attacks are not limited to Aceh. Muslim mobs in other areas have also demanded that local authorities block new churches from being built, and at times, have taken it upon themselves to stop Christians from establishing houses of worship.

The report cited a widely reported incident on Christmas Day, 2012, in which Christians gathered on an empty lot in Bekasi — nearly 1,500 miles south of Aceh, where they hoped to build.

Even though the church had filed the necessary paperwork, the church was shut down after hundreds of Muslims, including women and children, threw rotten eggs, rocks, and plastic bags filled with urine and faeces at the Christians assembled on the lot.

"We are constantly having to change our location because our existence appears to be unwanted, and we have to hide so that we are not intimidated by intolerant groups," a church spokesman told the think tank, adding police authorities were even part of the attacks.

Moderate Muslims, meanwhile, are said to be cautious of the growing extremist trends as many outsiders have mushroomed into the Jakarta suburb in search of work, bringing with them their own religions, traditions and values.

"That has made conservative Islamic clerics nervous. Some have used sermons to warn their flock to be on the lookout for signs of proselytisation,'' it said.

The shift also reportedly reflects a greater problem in Indonesia, which is struggling to stamp out extremist movements without losing the support of moderates, who condemn violence but are sensitive to perceptions that the government is subservient to the West, said Fox News.

related articles
Indonesia: One dead and three churches destroyed after religious clashes
Indonesia: One dead and three churches destroyed after religious clashes

Indonesia: One dead and three churches destroyed after religious clashes

Indonesian Muslims in uproar as flip-flops bear Allah\'s printed name on their soles
Indonesian Muslims in uproar as flip-flops bear Allah's printed name on their soles

Indonesian Muslims in uproar as flip-flops bear Allah's printed name on their soles

Christians worldwide asked to unite in prayer as Muslim extremists burn churches, spread violence in Indonesia
Christians worldwide asked to unite in prayer as Muslim extremists burn churches, spread violence in Indonesia

Christians worldwide asked to unite in prayer as Muslim extremists burn churches, spread violence in Indonesia

Sharia law imposed in Indonesia's Aceh province

Sharia law imposed in Indonesia's Aceh province

This country\'s anti-drug czar wants death-row prisoners guarded by ferocious crocodiles, animals that \'can\'t be bribed\'
This country's anti-drug czar wants death-row prisoners guarded by ferocious crocodiles, animals that 'can't be bribed'

This country's anti-drug czar wants death-row prisoners guarded by ferocious crocodiles, animals that 'can't be bribed'

News
Fear and silence grip Colombian hamlet after eight Christians vanish
Fear and silence grip Colombian hamlet after eight Christians vanish

A Colombian hamlet is gripped by fear following the forced disappearance of eight residents - seven of them Protestant church leaders and members - after responding to orders issued by a guerrilla group earlier this month.

A decade of bloodshed: NGO report reveals more than 20,000 Christians slain in south-east Nigeria
A decade of bloodshed: NGO report reveals more than 20,000 Christians slain in south-east Nigeria

More than 20,000 Christians have reportedly been brutally killed over the past decade across south-east Nigeria, according to a disturbing report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), a Catholic-inspired human rights organisation.

Cardiff Council refuses to remove logo from church advertisements
Cardiff Council refuses to remove logo from church advertisements

In a surprising move, Cardiff Council has refused to give in to demands from humanists to remove its logo from adverts across the city encouraging people to go to church this Easter. 

Plea to meet MPs ahead of assisted suicide vote
Plea to meet MPs ahead of assisted suicide vote

If just 23 MPs change their mind, the Bill will fall.