Christian Theological School Attacked by muslim Militants in Indonesia
Pastor Dale Morgan
Christian Theological School Attacked by muslim Militants in Indonesia*
A Christian theological school has been attacked by a group of muslim
militants in east Jakarta.
by Daniel Blake
Saturday, March 17, 2007, 9:10 (GMT)
A Christian theological school has been attacked by a group of muslim
militants in east Jakarta, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide
(CSW).
Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA), which was established
in 1987, is one of the biggest Evangelical theology schools in
Indonesia. The school was attacked on 8 March 2007, and the following
Saturday, over 200 militants besieged the school for three hours,
shouting threats and demanding the closure of the school.
In the attack some of the outlying ventilation buildings of the new
dormitory were burned down and the attackers threatened to bring a crowd
of 1000 militants to close the school down on Saturday 11 March, CSW has
said. The islamist militant groups front pembela islam (FPI) and FBR are
believed to be behind the attack.
Reports explain that the school was besieged by over 200 militants for
three hours from 9.30am. The crowd shouted threats and demanding the
closure of the school. Indonesian police reportedly sent a detachment of
some 400 police officers in order to prevent the mob from further
attacking the school.
FPI claimed that the school is illegal despite the fact that SETIA has
official permits both for the existing buildings and the new dormitory.
FPI has a reputation for violent demonstrations and attacks but in the
past they primarily targeted nightclubs and restaurants serving alcohol
during the islamic holy month of ramadan, CSW has reported.
SETIA’s vice-principal, Juwanto, stated: “This is now a common
occurrence in Indonesia. SETIA has all the necessary permits but it does
not matter. The demonstration is mainly by outsiders not local
community. But today the government showed that it cares about the
situation. We do not know if this group will return. We need to pay
attention to security and pray to the Lord.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, says:
“This incident is deeply concerning as it took place in the capital
rather than one of the regions which has experienced problems before. It
also targeted a well established institute with all the official
permits. We are pleased the Indonesian authorities deployed police to
quell this attack, but they must now send a clear signal to the
militants that attacks of this nature will not be tolerated.”