Christmas 2012 - Islamist intolerance in Indonesia and Nigeria

Deadly Christmas attack on Nigeria church



Gunmen in northern Yobe state open fire on church on Christmas eve, killing at least five worshipers and the pastor.

Gunmen have attacked a church in northern Nigeria, killing at least five people, including the pastor, and setting the building on fire, residents and police have said.

The attack took place on Christmas eve on Monday in the village of Peri, near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state.

"A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church... they opened fire on them [...] They then set fire to the church," said Usman Mansir, a resident of the village.

A senior police official in Yobe confirmed the details to the AFP news agency, but declined to be named.

Yobe police chief Sanusi Rufa'i said the attack was "a security issue" and refused to comment further.

It was not clear who was behind the attack, but fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group, which seeks to impose strict religious law on Nigeria, have carried out several attacks in Yobe, which borders Maiduguri state, where the group is based.

While Yobe's population is overwhelmingly Muslim, the commercial hub of Potiskum has a significant Christian minority. Peri is just two kilometres outside the city.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/2012122514557537669.html

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Rotten egg attack mars Indonesia Christmas celebration



BEKASI, Indonesia - More than 200 Indonesian Muslims threw rotten eggs at Christians wanting to hold a Christmas mass near land outside Jakarta where they plan to build a church, police and a witness said.

Some 100 Christian worshippers intended to hold a mass near empty land where they hope to build a church, about 30-kilometers east of the capital, in a project barred by district government and community members in 2009.

Since then, worshippers from the Filadelfia Batak Christian Protestant have held Sunday services under scorching sun outside the property.

On Tuesday, December 25, however, local community members blocked the road near the land, Andri Ananta, a local police chief on Jakarta's outskirts, told AFP.

An AFP photographer witnessed furious locals -- men and women wearing Muslim headscarf, with small children in tow -- physically blocking the road and throwing rotten eggs at the gathering worshippers.

Ananta said police managed to convince the Christians to drop their plan and return home.

"We tried our best to avoid any clash and the Christians agreed to leave," he said, adding 380 police and military personnel including an anti-riot squad were deployed to the area.

Church leader Reverend Palti Panjaitan said the incident came after a Christmas Eve attack Monday evening when "intolerant people" threw not only rotten eggs but plastic bags filled with urine and cow dung at them.

"Everything had happened while police were there. They were just watching without doing anything to stop them from harming us," he told AFP.

The country's high court last year overruled the district government's 2009 decision, but constant intimidation from Muslims in the area has delayed the church's construction, church officials said.

Indonesia's constitution guarantees freedom of religion but rights groups say violence against minorities including Christians and the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect has escalated since 2008.

Ninety percent of Indonesia's population of 240 million identify themselves as Muslim but the vast majority practize a moderate form of Islam. - Agence France-Presse

http://www.rappler.com/world/18563-rotten-egg-attack-mars-indonesia-christmas-celebration

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But...but...Indonesia is the shining example for a "tolerant" Muslim-majority country...riiiight, rocketsjudoka?

And all these problems in the Middle East and Southeast Asia are "cultural" and have nothing to do with Islam...right, Mathloom and leftists?

 

Thank you for bringing up a positive, encouraging example. It was educational for me, too. I did read up on Islam in Senegal - seems like they are practicing a very different brand of Islam there. Hopefully it will not be infiltrated by intolerance, like it has been happening in Indonesia and Nigeria already.

 

Do you think that the Al Jazeera journalists who reported the crime in Nigeria "exhibited intolerance toward Muslims" by making their report?

Would you prefer that such incidents not be reported?

 

Do you have any suggestion on how to fix this? I would very much welcome it.

Fixing something starts with acknowledging that a) it's happening and b) it's wrong...correct?

When the only reaction is anger that it is mentioned that it is happening and anger at the person who is mentioning it - does that indicate a willingness to fix something?

I would love it if we could put together ideas and suggestions on how to fix it.

I thought fchowd's link was interesting - perhaps a first step in fixing something is analyzing why these things are happening in some countries while they apparently are not happening (as much) in other countries.

It's kind of like diagnosing a disease...where is the source of the disease. Perhaps it is not the whole body (religion) that is rotten but some virus (Saudi Arabian brand of Islam?) has the potential to make the whole body infectious.

 

I assume you must mean the Islamists who attacked and murdered Christians in church and who threw plastic bags filled with urine and cow dung at Christians?

 

Good to see that you find these news funny.

I guess that is all you could come up with, considering it doesn't fit with your propaganda that Indonesia is a haven of religious tolerance.

 

Thanks for your concern. It is noted that you are very concerned about me going to a tolerance workshop, but not in the least about the people who murder people in churches or throw urine and cow dung at other people going to tolerance workshops.

Merry Christmas, Grinch glynch.