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Police Use Text Message to Urge Calm in Ambon
September 13, 2011

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jsbst18
10:55am Sep 15, 2011

Wow. Indonesians are stupid.

Eric Hiarej, from Ambon, said the religious groups in Ambon identified themselves with international conflicts.

“In some villages, since 30 years ago when I was still a boy until now, they think of a Christian village as ‘Israel’ and Muslim village as ‘Palestine,” he said.


jsbst18
10:53am Sep 15, 2011

Police say: Don't pay attention to text messages, well except ones from the police because Indonesian police are trustworthy and have the bet interest of the population in mind.

Hehe.. Damn the police. Useless clods.

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Ambon. Maluku Police sent thousands of text messages on Tuesday appealing for calm in the aftermath of sectarian violence in Ambon that left at least five people dead and 89 injured over the weekend.

The SMS urged residents to calm down and not be easily provoked by inflammatory text messages.

Police are searching for the sender of a text message that allegedly provoked the clashes between Muslims and Christians.

The police message was sent from the number 3936 and asked the people of Maluku not to believe rumors aimed at creating division among people as well as disturb peace and order.

The situation in Ambon on Tuesday had calmed  but some schools and businesses remained closed.

“We were sent home by the teachers until there is further notice,” said Arthur, a student of Ambon 1 Junior High School.

A political analyst from Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Eric Hiarej, from Ambon, said the religious groups in Ambon identified themselves with international conflicts.

“In some villages, since 30 years ago when I was still a boy until now, they think of a Christian village as ‘Israel’ and Muslim village as ‘Palestine,” he said.

The conflict in Ambon over the weekend also showed that reconciliation in the historically restive area was far from over, fellow UGM political analyst Samsu Rizal Panggabean said.

“Reconciliation and dialog built by the government and local community leaders at the grass-roots level is not yet finished because in some places in Ambon, there is no inter-village communication,” Samsu said.

This led to misunderstandings, he said.

“People misunderstand and are suspicious of each other because they still suffer the trauma of past conflicts,” he said.

Antara, JG