Remembering Bali

By Lea von Martius

 
The terrible images of the October 12^th,  2002 Bali bombings are imprinted on the collective memory of the world: burnt-out buildings, dead bodies piling up on the streets, and the wan face of Umar Patek. Not only do they bear witness to one of the most devastating terrorist attacks in recent history, which took place just one year after 9/11, but represent the rapid expansion of global terrorism. 202 people from 23 different countries lost their lives in the attacks, including Indonesian, Australian, and British nationals. This morning, on the 10^th anniversary of the Bali bombings, a commemoration ceremony was held in Kuta, the southern Balinese town where the attacks happened. Both family members of victims and survivors who barely escaped the horrors themselves attended the event. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose country mourned the most deaths after the attacks, was also present to show her support for the ones left behind. Anggie Dewirini, the SAVE Indonesia representative, attended the ceremony this morning:



Placing flowers in a reflecting pool at the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Kuta bombings

“This morning, on my way to the event, there were police everywhere. When I arrived, I was amazed at how many people were there—family members of victims, survivors, NGO representatives, journalists, security guards, and politicians. The choir that sang touched the hearts of everyone there—I felt like they were singing to each one of us individually. I felt so much empathy with the family members of the victims there that I am among them now. It was as if I too had lost a loved one. I found myself crying as I put flowers in the small reflection pool. I held one of the victims, and my heart went out to her. I can’t even describe how it felt to see all the faces and photographs of the victims on the memorial wall.” Her words reflect the devastation that still holds family members firmly in its grasp even ten years later.

Family members of victims walk past the boards with photos of all the victims

It is easy to forget that that Bali, an extremely popular tourist destination, belongs to Indonesia, the world’s most populous Islamic nation. Although the island is geographically far removed from the Middle East, Al Qaida and a number of jihadist splinter groups who have strongholds there have recently begun exerting influence in Indonesia, which has traditionally been recognized as a very moderate Muslim country. The end of the Suharto autocracy has created a political vacuum which extremist groups are strategically filling with their ideologies of hate and vengeance.

The commemoration ceremony’s messages of peace and progress come in the wake of terrifying news from Pakistan—the attack on Malala Yousafzai last Tuesday. The 14 year old girl, known internationally as an advocate for the rights of children and women in her country and who, at the age of eleven, was awarded the national Peace Prize by the Pakistani government, was shot by Pakistani Taliban. While she is struggling for her life in the hospital, her courage and commitment set an example for individuals around the world to challenge extremist rhetoric and stand up for their rights. Malala, a young girl, almost a child, managed to unsettle the powerful Taliban and draw the attention of the global media to their tactics. Even more importantly, the attack has led to dissension within the ranks of the Taliban: terrorist leaders worldwide have condemned the attack as "barbaric" (source: www.spiegel.de).

Anggie Dewirini adds: “I hope that the terrorists and extremists can see that all humans around the world have the same rights, especially the right to live our lives in peace. Let us see that we are one family—we don’t want to hate each other, we want to be at peace. Let us hold hands, and not see differences as a barrier to peace.”

Resisting revenge: a terrorism victim stops the cycle of violence

Hayati Eka Laksmi © Xenia Hausner

SAVE brought Hayati Eka Laksmi from Indonesia to Vienna in June for the Mothers MOVE conference. This is her story, published first by Common Ground News Service.

On the day of the Bali bombing in 2002, Hayati Eka Laksmi received a call from a representative of a car rental firm. The car her husband rented with some friends had been caught in traffic in the nearby tourist district of Kuta and a bomb had exploded just three vehicles away.

Eka had already heard about the bombing, but it never crossed her mind that her husband could have been affected. Her initial horror that a group could perpetrate such an attack in the name of Islam gave way to personal grief. She began a frantic search for information, trying to find out if her husband was still alive.

It took seven days before Eka found her husband’s body lying in a mortuary. “I had to identify his body based on marks pointed out by the forensic team and through DNA testing,” said Eka. “I was deeply shocked when it was confirmed that ‘Mr. X’ in Bag Number 145 was the body of my husband.”

The loss of her husband left Eka to bring up her two young sons on her own. “I relied on my husband’s income. My two boys were very young at the time, two and three years old. We were all deeply affected. I became traumatised and depressed.”

Eka noticed that her children were also becoming angry, sad and sometimes aggressive. On the first anniversary of the bombing, she felt that she must do something to move her family out of the grief into which they had sunk.

For six months, Eka received counselling from at a non-governmental organisation that actively helps survivors and victims’ families. Once she completed therapy, the organisation asked her to start working for them, which allowed her to earn some money. Like many women affected by terrorism, she had lost the household’s main breadwinner, and struggled to keep the family going economically. With the help of her mother, she opened a small shop selling domestic goods like sugar, coffee and gas.

Once she had resolved the most pressing needs of everyday life, Eka turned to the emotional needs of her children, taking them to counselling. She recognised that many families were going through the same trauma, and decided to bring friends who had also lost relatives in the bombings to counselling as well.

Gradually, Eka helped create a network of victims called Isana Dewata (Wives Husbands Children of Victims of the Bali Bombings). Through discussion and mutual support, victims were able to find the strength and spirit to overcome their hardships and turn their grief into positive action. The group now consists of 22 families, including 47 children.

The Bali bombings killed people from 22 countries around the world and from several different religions.

Eka recently travelled to Vienna for the Mothers MOVE conference, organised by SAVE-Sisters Against Violent Extremism, the world’s first female counter-terrorism platform. SAVE aims to break through barriers of nationalism, religion and ethnicity to create a global network of women dedicated to ending violent extremism, and to highlight the voices of victims to expose the human cost of terrorism.

In Vienna, Eka joined women from Nigeria, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Israel and Northern Ireland, all of whom have lost relatives to terrorism or who are working actively to counter violent extremism. Eka shared her own story and learnt from the experiences of others. Over the three days, the women built up an intimate trust. They gained inspiration from each other’s stories and recognised that even across cultures, the pain a mother feels on losing a husband or child is the same.

Eka recognises that a mother’s influence is very important: “Mothers are the basis of the family. [A mother] can give her children direction. Those children who were affected by the Bali bombing might have anger in their hearts. Mothers can explain to them that it is no good to seek revenge. Through cooperation with other mothers, women can better support their children.”

“My children’s lives were changed because of cowards who acted in the name of religion, but these bombings are not about religion,” Eka adds. “Islam does not teach us to kill each other. Religion is a basic need, and it is my foundation for life. I have learnt to appreciate the blessings that God has given to us and accept all of this with a sincere heart and without a grudge against anyone, not even against the terrorists who killed my husband.”

This is how Mothers MOVE Against Violent Extremism!

From June 6-8, 13 inspirational women came together in Vienna to share their experiences as activists and mothers in countering violent extremism. The Mothers MOVE conference gave participants from Yemen, Northern Ireland, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Israel and Palestine the opportunity to hear from women from different cultural contexts, with the aim of learning from each other’s experiences, sharing best practices and comparing the similarities and differences of mothers’ role in the security arena between cultures.

Our good friends at the US-European Media Hub in Brussels captured these women's voices in a short film that captures the essence of the discussions over the three day conference. This video is dedicated to the memory of Werner Ertel, the cameraman who filmed the conference and many other Women without Borders events. Werner was truly a brother to our cause, and he will be deeply missed.





Consultant Mehru Jaffer and film-maker Ali Hasnain also filmed the event, capturing the activists' statements about how women as mothers can combat violent extremism.

The Triangle of Peacebuilding, by Lily Zakiyah Munir

Women, faith, and peace are crucial elements of a peacebuilding process. A woman with faith and peace is a powerful force in peacebuilding both at home and in public. A mother of a peaceful home radiates love and peace to her loved ones in the family. It goes along with an Arabic saying, “Family is the first school in one’s life.” A mother is the first teacher who will lay the foundation for her children’s future. The natural blood bond between a mother and a child is fundamental for this purpose.


However, this important role will not materialize if the mother is entangled in a violent situation in her family. Domestic violence has an unimaginable and multi-pronged impact on women. Dehumanized, helpless, deprived, worthless, inferior—these are some of the adjectives that can illustrate the feelings of a victim of domestic violence. It is no surprise, therefore, that peace has been declared as a prerequisite for women to achieve equality and development. This trilogy of equality, peace, and development was coined back in 1985 in Nairobi as a forward-looking strategy for the advancement of women. This momentum was preceded by the decade for women in 1975-1985. The spirit of equality, development, and peace was reinforced in Beijing in 1995, where 35,000 women from all over the world gathered and expressed their solidarity and mutual support for each other in a global sisterhood.


Now, how is faith related with women and peace? Faith is like a double-edged sword. It can be a source of inspiration for peace and peacebuilding. But it can also be hijacked to crush peace. Islam, for example, literally means “peace and submission.” The religion is laden with teachings on peace, tolerance, respect for diversity, freedom of religion, equality of all human beings, and more. But these teachings are not always manifested in the lives of the Muslims. Thus, there are people who claim to be Muslims but do not implement Islamic values and principles on peace.


The gap between Islamic teachings and their reality is also found in the area of women and gender. There are numerous verses in the Qur’an which are explicit about women’s equal status with men as well as women’s rights and their obligations in both public and private spheres. But these teachings that would serve to emancipate women do not seem to be internalized and absorbed in the minds of many Muslims. Their mindsets, often shaped by patriarchal cultures, are too resistant to discern new progressive ideas regarding women.


Women, constituting half of humankind, cannot be left neglected. We need to tap into their potential as valuable resources. Along with other advances, women have moved forward from passive recipients of peace to becoming active agents of peacebuilding. The important role of women in peace building is recognized globally as stated in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.


Women worldwide, stand up! Fight against oppression and injustices. With your active role, our dream for peace will come true…


Lily Zakiyah Munir is a noted Islamic scholar and activist in Indonesia as well as the founding member of SAVE Indonesia. In Indonesia, she is the director of the Center for Pesantren and Democracy Studies (CePDeS), an NGO which she co-founded in 2003. CePDeS envisions the birth of progressive Muslim leaders through democracy and human rights education in Muslim society. SAVE Indonesia, which has mobilized several hundred students against violence and terrorism to date, and maintains their network through monthly reunion meetings. Lily started the youth camps “because of deep concerns about the violence which has emerged using religious doctrines and dogmas mainly targeted at youth. We hope these camps will give birth to a new generation of Indonesian youth who will internalize the values of love, peace, and appreciation of diversity.” You can find more of Lily's work here. For more information about Women without Borders or SAVE, you can visit us on the web at www.women-without-borders.org, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SAVEalerts, and join us on Facebook!

Indonesian Students Declare "SAVE Indonesia!"

One hundred students from fifty Javanese high schools, universities, and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) came together in late December 2009 to declare the birth of SAVE Indonesia (Students Against Violence and Extremism). The students drafted a 10-point declaration, resolving to respect every difference, refuse discriminatory behaviour, speak out against violence and promote the spirit of sisterhood in Indonesia. The declaration was the culmination of two Indonesian Students’ Youth Peace Camps 2009 held in Tawangmangu and Lembang, in central and west Java. The camps were organized by the Center for Pesantren and Democracy Studies (CePDeS) Jakarta in cooperation with local organizations in Solo and Bandung, with the support of Initiatives of Change (IofC) Indonesia.

Lily Zakiyah Munir, Director of CePDeS and SAVE Member, emphasized that the “activities were initiated because of deep concerns [about the] violence which has emerged using religious doctrines and dogmas mainly targeted [at] youth. We hope these camps will give birth to a new generation of Indonesian youth who will internalize the values of love and peace, and appreciation of diversity.” Each camp lasted for four days, during which the participants reflected on acceptance of self, belief in diversity and ability to lead.

Declaration of Indonesian Students on Peace in 2009:

1. I, the Indonesian young generation, highly respect every difference that should be safeguarded and respected in our daily lives;
2. I will cast away from any discriminatory attitudes and behaviours disadvantaging other individuals or groups;
3. I will prevent any kind of acts of violence and extremism;
4. I refuse any forms of violence and extremism on whatever grounds;
5. I am prepared and committed to become a peace activist and to be part of an international peace network that continually seeks to end all forms of violence and extremism;
6. I fully support all positive actions of the Indonesian young generation in performing peace activities;
7. I am prepared to become pioneer of peace movement and form the SAVE Indonesia Network developed by Indonesian students and santris;
8. I will involve the government, students’ organizations and the society to play an active role in safeguarding Indonesia’s young generation from all forms of violence and extremism;
9. I will uplift the spirit of sisterhood, mutual respect and peace in guarding Indonesia’s harmony and diversity;
10. I will speak out against all forms of discrimination and violence by anybody through various media.