Pinar Ilkkaracan : All of her sexualities, all of her Islams

The Jakarta Post, Julia Suryakusuma, Contributor, Jakarta | Wed, 10/06/2010 9:53 AM

Once upon a time there were two Muslims, one from Indonesia, the other from Turkey. Yes, they share a religion, but there’s scarcely any connection between the two in terms of how their faith affects their attitude to life.

Courtesy of Pinar Ilkkaracan

The one from Indonesia is Tifatul Sembiring, minister of what should be called the (Mis)communication and (Mis)information Department in the Second (Dis)United Indonesian Cabinet.

Yes, Tifatul is notorious for his odious statements and tweets, the most recent ones in reaction to the Q! Film Festival (http://www.q-munity.org). He targeted gays with a series of homophobic tweets blaming “perverted sex acts” for the spread of HIV/AIDS, quoted a passage from the Koran about God “smiting with rocks from a burning land”, and broke down the acronym AIDS as “Akibat Itunya Dipakai Sembarangan” (what you get for sticking your penis into just about everything).

Titaful’s tweets would be insulting, offensive and deeply inappropriate coming from anyone, but being a Cabinet minister only makes this embarrassingly flagrant display of bigotry and ignorance worse.

Now, compare our pathetic minister with that other Muslim I mentioned, Pinar Ilkkaracan. She is a researcher, activist, trainer, psychotherapist — one of Turkey’s leading feminists — and her mission in life is to do the exact opposite of people like Tifatul wherever possible.

Pinar was the executive director of Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR)-New Ways for twelve years (1994-2006), an organization she founded in 1993. WWHR engages in advocacy and lobbying for women’s human rights at the national, regional and international levels, conducts training programs, and coordinates an international program to promote sexual and bodily rights as human rights in Muslim societies.

For almost two decades Pinar has worked tirelessly to dispel prejudices and promote understanding about the centrality of human sexuality and the difference it can make in people’s lives.

In her country, the campaign led by Pinar’s organization brought about the reform of the Turkish Penal Code in 2004, which included 30 amendments that constituted a major step to the protection of women’s human rights. Internationally Pinar is also very active in UN forums. She recalls being involved in a milestone event when as a result of immense pressure from thousands of women and women’s groups, the UN finally recognized that women and girls have human rights — only in 1993!

Pinar was recently in Jakarta in her capacity as one of the international coordinators of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights (CSBR) in Muslim Societies (see my column “Divided by Culture, United by Religion and… Sex”, in TJP, Sept. 29 2010). This was not the first time she’s conducted an event in

Indonesia.

She says she loves it here because she was inspired by what she saw then as the tolerance for sexual diversities. That’s why in 2004 Pinar organized the first South and Southeast Asian Conference on Sexuality and Human Rights in Muslim Societies here in Jakarta (http://www.wwhr.org/files/jakarta.pdf), in collaboration with the Indonesian Women’s Health Foundation (http://ykesehatanperempuan.org/).

WWHR gathered 25 NGO representatives and researchers from Muslim societies in Jakarta, to discuss key issues on sexual and bodily rights, sexual politics and human rights. If Tifatul invokes the Koran to justify hatred, Pinar’s press statement at the 2004 conference invoked it in the name of an all-embracing love. It emphasized that “social justice and the dignity of women and men are enshrined in the Koran” and that sexual oppression was not Islamic but, like so many things, a result of political, social and economic inequalities.

Despite the taboo on sex in many Muslim societies, many scholars have argued that the Koran itself discusses these things openly, and in great detail. Pinar has certainly picked up on this and is one of an increasing number of Muslim scholars who reinterpret texts to allow for a wider spectrum of sexual relationships, including homosexuality. In Islam, she says, sex is pretty cool — in fact, it’s obligatory within marriage.

Why did Pinar chose Indonesia again, given increasing violent protests and demonstrations against a number of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) events this year by Muslim hard-liners like FPI (Islam Defenders Front)? She said that’s precisely why she felt it was important to hold the event in Indonesia: to counter the bigotry of the thugs who call themselves Muslims. Not just Tifatul, but also the likes of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) who also gave the thumbs down on the Q! Film Fest.

So which one of the two Muslim leaders do you think takes the inner message of their religion seriously?

Tifatul the turkey or Pinar from Turkey? The answer wouldn’t surprise anyone except of course, Titaful and that man in the palace who thought he was Ministerial material! Wrong again, Pak Beye!

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Yudhoyono cancels visit to Holland

Antara News, Tuesday, October 5, 2010

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono waves to journalists while walking to his official car at Halim Perdana Kusuma airport in East Jakarta, on Tuesday. The President canceled an eagerly awaited state visit to the Netherlands after a Dutch-based South Moluccan separatist group filed a court request to have the President arrested. Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono canceled his three-day state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday on indications human rights groups in Holland were planning to raise human right issues against Indonesia.

"I have decided to cancel this visit," President Yudhoyono told newsmen at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, East Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon.

He said his state visit to Holland had to be postponed until a yet to be determined time frame.

The head of state and his entourage had been scheduled to leave Jakarta by the Indonesian Air Force One (Garuda Indonesia`s Airbus 330-200) on Tuesday at about 01:30 pm local time.

As a result of the movement of certain elements in Holland that would file lawsuit on human rights issues in Indonesia, President Yudhoyono said he decided to cancel his state visit.

"More than that, there has even been a demand for the arrest of Indonesia`s president," he said.

A spokesman of the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague, Firdaus Dahlan, said earlier that the Dutch government would fully ensure the security of President Yudhoyono during his visit.

The Dutch government`s assurance was issued following a threat from John Wattilette, the self-styled president of the separatist "Republic of South Maluku" (RMS) movement in exile.

Firdaus Dahlan said the Dutch government had reiterated it did not recognize the RMS.

He said Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands JE Habibie had contacted political elites in the country to fully ensure security for President Yudhoyono.

In the meantime, a number of media publications reported that RMS elements in the Netherlands had asked for the arrest of President Yudhoyono during his state visit to the Netherlands on October 5-9.

The demand for the arrest of the Indonesian president was made by John Wattilette in a teletext statement to the Dutch broadcasting network Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) on Saturday.

Wattilette also demanded that the Indonesian president explain the place where former RMS leader Soumokil was buried.

But Firdaus Dahlan said President Yudhoyono`s much awaited visit to the Netherlands would go undisturbed because the Dutch government had expressed its full commitment to ensure the president`s security.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, reviewing a military parade during the 65th anniversary of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) on Tuesday. The same day, he called off a trip to the Netherlands after taking offense to a protest there. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

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School offers training to preserve royal culture

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Tue, 10/05/2010

A pawiyatan cultural school was set up by the Yogyakarta Palace to provide special training to palace servants or abdi dalem in a hope to preserve Javanese traditions and culture at the royal palace.

Yogyakarta royal ruler Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X recently inaugurated the school in a traditional ceremony attended by members of the palace servants and soldiers.

“Abdi dalem must master the knowledge and culture of Jawa Ngayogyakarta,” said Sri Sultan, referring to Yogyakarta’s Javanese traditions and culture.

Abdi dalem, he said, was part of the culture, meaning its members must master the culture and the very detailed aspects of the palace.

Mastering them, he said, would create a cultural bastion of the nation in the era of global cultural

infiltration.

The palace official, Gusti Bendoro Pengeran Haryo (GBPH) Gusti Joyokusumo, said the school was set up to comprehensively preserve Yogyakarta’s traditions and culture as well as its royal values and philosophy.

Previously, members of the palace’s abdi dalem were recruited without being given specialized training, posing the risk that they may lack understanding on the palace’s values and philosophy,

he added.

“In the hope of ensuring the abdi dalem really understands and appreciates the palace culture, the pawiyatan must be formed,” Joyo-kusumo said.

The pawiyatan school will be opened periodically, and in its initial stage it is predicted to accommodate 100 abdi dalem apprentices. Two meetings will be held on a weekly basis and each training session will last for a month.

“After completing the training, participants will obtain certificates from the palace,” said Joyokusumo, adding that participants would also receive lessons on the royal language, governance and palace ranks.

Mayors win antigraft award

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 10/05/2010 9:54 AM

The Yogyakarta municipal administration under Mayor Herry Zudianto and Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo has won the 2010 Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award, the panel of judges announced Monday.

The two winners beat 36 other candidates in the selection rounds that took about six weeks.

Zoemrotin K. Susilo, on the judges’ panel, said that both Joko and Herry had succeeded in building transparent systems in their regional administrations.

“They tried to establish transparent budgeting and one-stop public service centers, which have resulted in efficiency,” Zoemrotin said.

One of Herry’s efforts, she said, was to issue a mayoral decree stipulating that the municipal administration would provide schools with an additional budget allocation to eradicate “illegal fees” imposed on students.

“Previously the municipal administration received a lot of reports about the illegal fees. With the issuance of the decree, he tried to respond to the problem and overcome corruption,” she added.

The other winner, Joko, succeeded in handling street vendors in a humane way, Zoemrotin said.

“The municipal administration always communicated with the street vendors instead of just evicting them as is commonly seen in other cities. Joko made a good approach by moving the vendors into strategic business locations and they only had to pay daily retribution fees,” Zoemrotin said.

“Doing this, he has shown that it is not low-income people who should be treated as enemies, but poverty itself,” she added.

According to Zoemrotin, the judges evaluated the nominees based on their credibility, commitment to corruption eradication, and their new systems, along with the impacts. “For example, the reform that Herry initiated has changed the people’s perception of corruption in Yogyakarta. We can also see his breakthroughs in the regulations and their impacts,” she said.

The Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award Foundation was established in 2003. It first granted the award to the late Moh. Yamin, Syamsul Qomar, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas and Karaniya Dharmasaputra in 2003. In the following year, it honored Gamawan Fauzi and Saldi Isra.

After an absence of three years, the foundation issued the award again in 2008 with a focus on law and finance. The award went to former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy leader Amien Sunaryadi, and Judicial Commission chairman M. Busyro Muqoddas.

Natalia Soebagjo, the chairwoman of the foundation that grants the award, said that the 2010 award focused on bureaucratic reform and delivery of public services. “The goal of corruption eradication is to improve public services to the people,” Natalia added.

The judges, Betti Alisjahbana, Zoemrotin, Eko Prasojo and Rikard Bagun, selected the two from eight names who passed two selection rounds. (lnd)

Dutch Here To Play, Not Enjoy the Scenery, Riedl Says

Jakarta Globe, Wimbo Satwiko | October 04, 2010

Jakarta. One thing is certain for national team coach Alfred Riedl. If the Dutch players arrive in Jakarta as planned, they won’t be spending a lot of time sightseeing.

Jeffrey de Visscher

Dutch nationals Jhon van Beukering, Rafael Guillermo Maitimu and Jeffrey de Visscher are expected to arrive today to join the Indonesian national team.

With the inclusion of the three players, Merah Putih will feature non-Indonesians for the first time in its history.

Their inclusion is part of a state program to naturalize foreigner players of Indonesian descent and boost the national team’s chances in international competition.

That scheme will immediately be given a stern test when Indonesia takes on Uruguay in a friendly on Friday.

Riedl said the Dutch players wouldn’t be sitting by idly.

“They’re coming here, so they have to play,” Riedl said on Monday. “They’re not coming here to enjoy the city scene, are they?”

“Of course, I’ll give others a chance to play as we have to think of the whole team for the [Asean Football Federation] Cup,” he added.

To prepare his squad for the Uruguay match, Riedl reopened training camp on Monday at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

It was Riedl’s first public appearance since concluding a scouting trip to the Netherlands last month.

On the visit, Riedl picked out forward van Beukering and midfielder de Visscher, who play in the Dutch second-tier, and midfielder Maitimu, who is signed with a Chinese second-tier team.

Jhon van Beukering

Riedl told his players the game against Uruguay was serious and he wanted them to treat it as “a learning experience.”

“We’ll try to make a good match out of this, and we hope we can learn from them,” Riedl said.

Uruguay is expected to field Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan on Friday, scorer of five goals in the World Cup in June and winner of the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

Goalkeeper Markus Haris Maulana said he wouldn’t be too disappointed if the visitors kept him busy.

“I’m not too concerned that Uruguay will score a lot as it’s only a friendly,” he said. “The most important thing is we learn from this match to make us better for the AFF Cup.”

Riedl has called up several players who weren’t on the first training camp last month.

The coach has added more firepower by bringing in Persipura Jayapura striker Boaz Solossa and balance in the midfield with Persela Lamongan’s Slamet Riyadi, Arema’s Irfan Raditya and Sriwijaya FC’s Oktovianus Maniani and Fauzal Mubarak.

Defender Yesaya Desnam of Persiwa Wamena was recalled after Ricardo Salampessy was ruled out with a foot injury.

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Gus Dur to Receive National Hero Honors: E. Java Official

Jakarta Globe, Amir Tejo & Candra Malik | October 05, 2010       

Jakarta. The government will soon declare late President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid a national hero in response to widespread demand from the people of East Java.

Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, seen in this file photo,
 will soon be named a national hero by the government
 in response to widespread demand from the people
of East Java. (JG Photo)    

Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf said he had received verbal notification from the Ministry of Social Affairs and was now waiting for the formal letter to be issued as the province plans to officially announce the honor on National Heroes day on Nov. 10.

Gus Dur, much noted for his efforts in promoting pluralism in the country, was born in Jombang district, East Java.

“We are waiting for the president to sign the letter to be handed over in time for National Heroes day,” Syaifullah said. “We thank the government for its prompt response to our request.”

There were many spontaneous appeals to the government to grant Gus Dur the honor after he passed away in December.

However, Gus Dur’s family said it had not been notified by the government of the plan to declare him a hero.

“Our family has never proposed anything to the government to honor Gus Dur in any form. We did not request the government to renovate his grave, nor did we ask for a national hero title,” Annita Hayatunnufus, Gus Dur’s third daughter, told the Jakarta Globe.

The family said it would wait for formal notification before responding.

In addition to the national honor, the provincial government is planning to renovate the former president’s burial site by widening the access road to allow more visitors.

About 8,000 visitors make their way to the tomb for weekend pilgrimages, with 4,000 more coming during the week, according to provincial government data.

Gus Dur, known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam, died at the age of 69.

He was Indonesia’s fourth president and was the first elected head of state after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998.

Educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, Gus Dur had a reputation for religious tolerance and moderate politics.

Aside from his prominent political role, he was also leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim organization with about 40 million members and one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world.

Kuta beach: foreign tourist carries beach

Kuta beach : A foreign tourist carries a surfboard at sunset at Kuta beach, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)

Indonesia Police Kill Six Suspected Indonesian Terrorists

Jakarta Globe, October 03, 2010

Indonesian police escorting n terror suspect after his arrest in northern Sumatra. North Sumatra Police said on Sunday that they had killed six men believed to be linked to a group suspected of killing a police officer in a spectacular bank robbery in Medan city in August to raise funds for terrorist attacks. (AFP Photo)

Dolok Sagala, Indonesia. Indonesian police shot dead six suspected Islamist militants and arrested four others in a raid on their hideout on Sumatra island, police said Sunday.

Four suspects were killed and a policeman injured in a gunbattle on Saturday on an oil-palm plantation in Dolok Sagala village in North Sumatra province, provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said.

Two more were killed on Sunday, he said in an update to reporters.

“The [sixth] suspect was shot dead after he tried to throw a hand grenade at the police. The grenade then exploded near him,” he added.

Earlier, he said the suspects had put up a fight during the raid and police had “fired a warning shot but they continued to resist.”

Three suspects were arrested Saturday night and one surrendered to residents Sunday, who then handed him over to the police.

Police are hunting several other suspects.

The suspects are believed to be linked to a group suspected of killing a police officer in a spectacular bank robbery in Medan city in August to raise funds for terrorist attacks, he said.

They were also involved in an attack on a police station near Medan in which three police officers were killed, Oegroseno said.

Indonesian anti-terror police last month shot dead three suspects and arrested 15 others in a series of raids in which militants used women and children as human shields.

Muslim-majority Indonesia is struggling to deal with the threat of homegrown Islamist militants who oppose the country’s secular, democratic system and want to create a caliphate across much of Southeast Asia.

Agence France-Presse

Two women caned in Indonesia for selling food during Ramadan

Daily Mail, By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE, 1st October 2010

Two women have been publicly caned in Indonesia for selling food during Ramadan.

Murni Amris, 27, received three lashes and Rukiah Abdullah, 22, two in front of a crowd of hundreds which gathered at a mosque in the city of Jantho, southeast of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

They were found guilty of violating Islamic sharia law by selling rice on a stall at noon during the Muslim fasting festival.

Murni Amris receives three lashes after being caught selling
food to the public in Aceh during the holy month of Ramadhan

During the holy month of Ramadan Muslims are supposed to fast from dawn to dusk. Sharia law was introduced in Aceh in 2005 and is one of several provinces to adopt the Islamic rule.

According to Marzuki Abdullah, head of Aceh’s sharia police, Ms Amris owned the food stall where Ms Abdullah was selling the rice.

He said: 'The two women were found selling rice in a stall at noon during Ramadan. The sharia forbids selling food during fasting hours at Ramadan.'

Mr Abdullah told the Jakarta Globe the women had been arrested on August 23 for violating the regulation that stipulates: 'Whosoever prepares facilities for Muslims that do not fulfill religious standards during the fasting month of Ramadan faces either a year in jail, a fine of Rp 3 million ($340) or being caned in front of an audience for a maximum of six times.'

'They were selling cooked rice in the daytime during Ramadan. They were arrested by Shariah officers at a small stall in the Baitussalam district.,' he added.

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World’s Oldest High-Altitude Human Settlements Found in Papua New Guinea

Jakarta Globe, October 01, 2010

Sydney. The world’s oldest known high-altitude human settlements, dating back up to 49,000 years, have been found sealed in volcanic ash in Papua New Guinea mountains, archaeologists said on Friday.

Researchers have unearthed the remains of about six camps, including fragments of stone tools and food, in an area near the town of Kokoda, said an archaeologist on the team, Andrew Fairbairn.

“What we’ve got there are basically a series of campsites, that’s what they look like anyway. The remains of fires, stone tools, that kind of thing, on ridgetops,” the University of Queensland academic said.

“It’s not like a village or anything like that, they are these campsite areas that have been repeatedly used.”

Fairbairn said the settlements are at about 2,000 meters and believed to be the oldest evidence of our human ancestors, homo sapiens, inhabiting a high-altitude environment.

“For homo sapiens, this is the earliest for us, for modern humans,” he said. “The nearest after this is round about 30,000 years ago in Tibet, and there’s some in the Ethiopian highlands at around about the same type of age.”

Fairbairn said he had been shocked to discover the age of the finds, using radio carbon dating, because this suggested humans had been living in the cold, wet and inhospitable highlands at the height of the last Ice Age.

“We didn’t expect to find anything of that early age,” he said.

The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest that the prehistoric highlanders of Papua New Guinea’s Ivane Valley in the Owen Stanley Range Mountain made stone tools, hunted small animals and ate yams and nuts.

But why they chose to dwell in the harsh conditions of the highlands, where temperatures would have dipped below freezing, rather than remain in the warmer coastal areas, remains a mystery.

“Papua New Guinea’s mountains have long held surprises for the scientific community and here is another one — maybe they were the home of homo sapiens’ earliest mountaineers,” Fairbairn said.

Agence France-Presse