Truth links directory for those seeking more information.

I hope this site will helpfull for anyone to seek truth information. I got it from mailinglist worldcitizen.

Truth links directory for those seeking more information.

http://www.truthzon etv.com
http://www.trueworl dhistory. in fo
http://www.infowars .com
http://www.prisonpl anet.com
http://www.davidick e.com
http://www.whatreal lyhappened. com
http://www.think- aboutit.com
http://www.jordanma xwell.com
http://www.jimmarrs .com
http://www.conspira cyarchive. c om
http://www.lewrockw ell.com
http://www.truthnew s.us
http://www.markdice .com
http://www.jackbloo d.com
http://www.thetruth seeker.co. u k
http://www.prisonpl anet.tv
http://www.infowars .net
http://www.wanttokn ow.info
http://www.conspira cycity.com
http://www.surfingt heapocalyps e.com
http://main. anomalicresearch .c om
http://www.conspira cyworld.com
http://www.illumina ti-news.com
http://www.threewor ldwars.com
http://www.truthpoo l.com
http://dedroidify. blogspot. com
http://www.cuttingt hroughthema trix.com

9-11/London Bombings Truth Movemement:

http://www.911truth .org
http://www.911wekno w.com
http://www.julyseve nth.co.uk
http://www.london77 truth.com
http://www.martiall aw911.info
http://www.wearecha nge.org
http://www.calgary9 11truth.org
http://www.tedgunde rson.com
http://www.911forum .org.uk

Political:

http://www.ronpaulw arroom.com
http://www.canadian actionparty ca
http://www.ronpaul2 008.com
http://www.gravel20 08.us
http://www.canadian s.org
http://www.restoret herepublic. com
http://www.apfn. org
http://www.arnoldex posed.com
http://www.american revolution. com
http://www.larouche pac.com
http://www.rebelsag ainstglobal enslavement. com
http://www.stopthen orthamerica nunion.com
http://www.tinyrevo lution.com
http://www.theameri cancause. or g
http://www.jbs. org
http://www.bcrevolu tion.ca

Secret Societies:

http://www.pehi. eu
http://www.benjamin fulford.com /indexEnglish. html
http://www.projectc amelot.org
http://thefreemanpe rspective. b logspot.com
http://www.crematio nofcare.com

UFOs/Aliens:

http://www.disclosu reproject. o rg
http://www.daniken. com
http://www.sitchin. com
http://www.ufocaseb ook.com
http://www.legendar ytimes.com
http://www.marsanom alyresearch .com
http://www.lunarano malies.com
http://aliencases. conforums. co m
http://www.serpo. org
http://www.ufos- aliens.co. uk
http://www.thewatch erfiles.com

Child Abuse/Mind Control:

http://www.johnnygo sch.com
http://www.franklin case.org
http://www.mindcont rolforums. c om
http://www.trance- formation. co m

Medical/Science:

http://www.whattheb leep.com
http://www.boydgrav es.com
http://www.cancertu tor.com
http://www.whale. to
http://www.wethepeo plewillnotb echipped.com
http://www.educate- yourself. or g
http://www.nealadam s.com/nmu. h tml

The Illuminati/Globaliz ation:

http://www.jonesrep ort.com
http://www.globalre search.ca
http://www.zeitgeis tmovie.com
http://www.freedomt ofascism. co m
http://www.iamthewi tness.com
http://www.bilderbe rg.org
http://www.freemaso nrywatch. or g
http://www.truecons piracies. co m
http://www.roguegov ernment.com
http://www.theforbi ddenknowled ge.com
http://100777. com
http://www.nwotruth .com

News/Radio:

http://www.rense. com
http://www.hourofth etime.com
http://www.noworlds ystem.com
http://www.american freepress. n et
http://www.guerrill anews.com
http://www.blacklis tednews.com
http://www.projectc ensored.org
http://www.fromthew ilderness. c om
http://www.thought- criminal. or g

Media:

http://www.ufovideo .net
http://www.vigilant guardian. co m
http://conspiracyce ntral.net: 6 969/index.html
http://www.documant is.com
http://www.truthzon etv.com

Legal/Judicial:

http://www.judicial watch.org
http://www.livefree now.org
http://showedthelaw .blogspot. c om

Military:

http://www.couraget oresist.org
http://www.powderbu rns.org
http://www.riflewar rior.com

Religious:

http://www.texemarr s.com
http://www.cuttinge dge.org
http://www.yourchri stianpresid ent.com
http://www.jewsagai nstzionism. com

Philosophy:

http://deoxy. org/mckenna. htm
http://www.alanwatt s.com
http://www.gurdjief f.org

Paranormal:

http://www.coasttoc oastam.com
http://www.crystali nks.com
http://www.theunexp lained.org
http://www.unexplai ned-mysteri es.com

Discussion Boards:

http://www.disinfo. com
http://www.abovetop secret.com
http://www.clubcons piracy.com

Suharto, the Model Killer, and His Friends in High Places

Suharto, the Model Killer, and His Friends in High Places

by John Pilger

In my film Death of a Nation, there is a sequence filmed on board an Australian aircraft flying over the island of Timor. A party is in progress, and two men in suits are toasting each other in champagne. “This is an historically unique moment,” says one of them, “that is truly uniquely historical.” This is Gareth Evans, Australia’s foreign minister. The other man is Ali Alatas, principal mouthpiece of the Indonesian dictator, Gen. Suharto. It is 1989, and the two are making a grotesquely symbolic flight to celebrate the signing of a treaty that allowed Australia and the international oil and gas companies to exploit the seabed off East Timor, then illegally and viciously occupied by Suharto. The prize, according to Evans, was “zillions of dollars.”

Beneath them lay a land of crosses: great black crosses etched against the sky, crosses on peaks, crosses in tiers on the hillsides. Filming clandestinely in East Timor, I would walk into the scrub and there were the crosses. They littered the earth and crowded the eye. In 1993, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Australian Parliament reported that “at least 200,000” had died under Indonesia’s occupation: almost a third of the population. And yet East Timor’s horror, which was foretold and nurtured by the U.S., Britain, and Australia, was actually a sequel. “No single American action in the period after 1945,” wrote the historian Gabriel Kolko, “was as bloodthirsty as its role in Indonesia, for it tried to initiate the massacre.” He was referring to Suharto’s seizure of power in 1965-1966, which caused the violent deaths of up to a million people.

To understand the significance of Suharto, who died on Sunday, is to look beneath the surface of the current world order: the so-called global economy and the ruthless cynicism of those who run it. Suharto was our model mass murderer – “our” is used here advisedly. “One of our very best and most valuable friends,” Thatcher called him, speaking for the West. For three decades, the Australian, U.S., and British governments worked tirelessly to minimize the crimes of Suharto’s Gestapo, known as Kopassus, who were trained by the Australian SAS and the British army and who gunned down people with British-supplied Heckler and Koch machine guns from British-supplied Tactica “riot control” vehicles. Prevented by Congress from supplying arms directly, U.S. administrations from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton provided logistic support through the back door and commercial preferences. In one year, the British Department of Trade provided almost a billion pounds worth of so-called soft loans, which allowed Suharto to buy Hawk fighter-bombers. The British taxpayer paid the bill for aircraft that dive-bombed East Timorese villages, and the arms industry reaped the profits. However, the Australians distinguished themselves as the most obsequious. In an infamous cable to Canberra, Richard Woolcott, Australia’s ambassador to Jakarta, who had been forewarned about Suharto’s invasion of East Timor, wrote: “What Indonesia now looks to from Australia … is some understanding of their attitude and possible action to assist public understanding in Australia….” Covering up Suharto’s crimes became a career for those like Woolcott, while “understanding” the mass murderer came in buckets. This left an indelible stain on the reformist government of Gough Whitlam following the cold-blooded killing of two Australian TV crews by Suharto’s troops during the invasion of East Timor. “We know your people love you,” Bob Hawke told the dictator. His successor, Paul Keating, famously regarded the tyrant as a father figure. When Indonesian troops slaughtered at least 200 people in the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, East Timor, and Australian mourners planted crosses outside the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, foreign minister Gareth Evans ordered them destroyed. To Evans, ever-effusive in his support for the regime, the massacre was merely an “aberration. ” This was the view of much of the Australian press, especially that controlled by Rupert Murdoch, whose local retainer, Paul Kelly, led a group of leading newspaper editors to Jakarta, fawn before the dictator.

Here lies a clue as to why Suharto, unlike Saddam Hussein, died not on the gallows but surrounded by the finest medical team his secret billions could buy. Ralph McGehee, a senior CIA operations officer in the 1960s, describes the terror of Suharto’s takeover of Indonesia as “the model operation” for the American-backed coup that got rid of Salvador Allende in Chile seven years later. “The CIA forged a document purporting to reveal a leftist plot to murder Chilean military leaders,” he wrote, “[just like] what happened in Indonesia in 1965.” The U.S. embassy in Jakarta supplied Suharto with a “zap list” of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and crossed off the names when they were killed or captured. Roland Challis, the BBC’s south east Asia correspondent at the time, told me how the British government was secretly involved in this slaughter. “British warships escorted a ship full of Indonesian troops down the Malacca Straits so they could take part in the terrible holocaust,” he said. “I and other correspondents were unaware of this at the time…. There was a deal, you see.”

The deal was that Indonesia under Suharto would offer up what Richard Nixon had called “the richest hoard of natural resources, the greatest prize in southeast Asia.” In November 1967, the greatest prize was handed out at a remarkable three-day conference sponsored by the Time-Life Corporation in Geneva. Led by David Rockefeller, all the corporate giants were represented: the major oil companies and banks, General Motors, Imperial Chemical Industries, British American Tobacco, Siemens, U.S. Steel, and many others. Across the table sat Suharto’s U.S.-trained economists who agreed to the corporate takeover of their country, sector by sector. The Freeport company got a mountain of copper in West Papua. A U.S./ European consortium got the nickel. The giant Alcoa company got the biggest slice of Indonesia’s bauxite. America, Japanese, and French companies got the tropical forests of Sumatra. When the plunder was complete, President Lyndon Johnson sent his congratulations on “a magnificent story of opportunity seen and promise awakened.” Thirty years later, with the genocide in East Timor also complete, the World Bank described the Suharto dictatorship as a “model pupil.”

Shortly before he died, I interviewed Alan Clark, who under Thatcher was Britain’s minister responsible for supplying Suharto with most of his weapons. I asked him, “Did it bother you personally that you were causing such mayhem and human suffering?”

“No, not in the slightest,” he replied. “It never entered my head.”

“I ask the question because I read you are a vegetarian and are seriously concerned with the way animals are killed.”

“Yeah?”

“Doesn’t that concern extend to humans?”

“Curiously not.”

Source: http://www.antiwar. com/pilger/ ?articleid= 12279 January 28, 2008

US Military’s Middle East Crusade for Christ

Published on Monday, June 9, 2008 by CommonDreams. org

by Robert Weitzel

“They are proselytizing not on behalf of the Constitution of the United States . . . but rather on behalf of some sort of fanatical view of end times. And they are using our army to affect that.” -Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson

Last August the watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of “freedom packages” to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic “Left Behind” computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels-nonbelieve rs, Muslims and Jews.

On May 1 the Senate approved the promotion of Brigadier General Robert L. Caslen Jr. to Major General. Currently the commandant of cadets at West Point, he will become the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. He is also president of the stridently fundamentalist Officer’s Christian Fellowship, whose vision is a “spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit.”

General Caslen was promoted despite the Defense Department’s recommended disciplinary action against him and several other senior military leaders because they had “improperly endorsed and participated with a nonfederal entity while in uniform” by participating in a promotional video for the Campus Crusade For Christ’s Christian Embassy, an evangelical organization that ministers to Beltway politicians and sponsors weekly Bible studies at the Pentagon.

According to the DoD Inspector General’s report, one of the generals involved “asserted that Christian Embassy was treated as an instrumentality of the Pentagon Chaplain’s office for over 25 years, and had effectively become a ‘quasi federal entity.’” Arguably, he believed his participation in the video was in the line of duty.

Considering both the Pentagon’s evangelical proclivity and a 2006 Pew survey which found that of the major religious groups in America, evangelicals have the most negative views of Islam and Muslims, the U.S. sniper who was recently caught using the Quran for target practice in the Baghdad neighborhood of Radhwaniya might be excused for thinking the book was a legitimate target upon which to perfect his craft . . . excused for thinking he was acting in the line duty.

And is it any wonder that with evangelicals and fundamentalists at the very top of the military’s officer corps — to say nothing of their Commander in Chief — that an enlisted Marine was passing out Christian “witnessing coins” inscribed in Arabic at a checkpoint in Fallujah? One side of the coin asked, “Where will you spend eternity?” An evangelical favorite, John 3:16, was on the flip side.

Sheik Adul-Rahman al-Zubaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah who was outraged by the Marine’s proselytizing said, “This event did not happen by chance, but it was planned and done intentionally.”

While the Marine’s proselytizing is not the official policy of the predominately Christian force occupying the predominately Islamic Iraq, it was done “in the line of duty” with a wink and a nod from his chain of command. Think Abu Ghraib!

From Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest basic training facility, where trainees are encouraged to attend Campus Crusade’s weekly “God’s Basic Training” programs, to the U.S. Air Force Academy where students are pressured to attend the Crusade’s weekly “cru” (short for crusade) Bible study, American military personnel are, as Campus Crusade’s Scot Blom gloats, “government paid missionaries” when they complete their training.

As the demands of fighting a perpetual war against “radical Islam” begins to strain both the military’s resources and the country’s resolve, the Pentagon has begun outsourcing larger chunks of the war to private contractors. Predictably, our “government paid missionaries” have become more expensive and much less controllable or accountable.

The Bush administration’s favorite contractor, Blackwater, is the most powerful private army in the world. It commands thousands of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, has over a billion dollars in government contracts, and enjoys complete immunity from prosecution for its theater of operations’ conduct.

Blackwater’s founder, Erik Prince, a staunchly conservative Catholic, has also served on the board of directors of Christian Freedom International, a crusading missionary organization operating in the overwhelmingly Islamic countries of Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Prince envisions an evangelical “end time” role for his warriors: “Everybody carries guns, just like Jeremiah rebuilding the temple in Israel — a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.”

No one in the last decade has contributed more to end time, apocalyptic evangelism than John Hagee, a televangelist seen by millions of viewers weekly and pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church. Hagee preaches that in order to bring about the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture of true believers, Islam first has to be destroyed.

In a 2006 interview with National Public Radio’s Terry Gross, Hagee told her, “Those who live by the Quran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.” He went on to claim that there are 200 million Muslims waiting for the chance to attack Israel and the United States. From his pulpit, Hagee makes it clear to his congregation and the radio and television audience what they can expect from American Muslims if such an attack ever took place: “While American Muslims live in America, 82 percent are not loyal to America and are not willing to fight and defend America.”

In his book, “Jerusalem Countdown – A Warning to the World,” Hagee warns that the war between Islam and the West “is a war that Islam cannot and must not win.”

John Hagee is not just a mad evangelizing prophet. He is the mad evangelizing prophet who is courted by a war president, a hawkish presidential candidate and members of Congress from both parties. His Islamophobic bilge has trickled down from Capital Hill, through the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon, and into the chamber of a sniper’s rifle and the hand of a Marine guarding a checkpoint in Fallujah.

Officers in the military are expected to lead by example. Enlisted personnel are expected to follow that example. If the recent incidents at Radhwaniya and Fallujah are not just the acts of renegades, then the chain of command seems to be working the way it was designed.

Robert Weitzel is a contributing editor to Media With a Conscience. His essays regularly appear in The Capital Times in Madison, WI. He can be contacted at: robertweitzel@ mac.com

 

http://www.commondr eams.org/ archive/2008/ 06/09/9510/

Information from KONTRAS: Front of Islamic Defenders (FPI) Attack AKKBB

Dear friends,

herewith the updated information for the attack incident for AKKBB
last sunday.
please support us to urge our government for take an action.

regards,

KontraS.

Call for Action

Government of Indonesia to arrest the violent attacker of Aliansi
Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan (AKKBB)

Briefing

Approximately 75 wounded AKKBB victims of violent attacked by Komando
Laskar Islam that consists of several elements including Forum Pembela
Islam (FPI), Laskar Mujahidin, Brigade Hizbullah, sent to the
hospital, and among them, 1 had to have an operation, 2 had to stay
overnight at hospital for further examination.

AKKBB run a peace parade for commemorating the born of Pancasila in
June 1, 2008. The parade was already set up weeks before and had been
advertised in several national magazines and newspaper calling people
to join. The parade was prepared with some oration from religious and
national leaders starting at 1 pm in Monas (National Monument of
Indonesia), Central Jakarta. AKKBB has informed police weeks before to
hold this peace parade from Monas to Bunderan Hotel Indonesia (Hotel
Indonesia Roundabout).

The starting point for the parade was in the gate of Monas, behind
Gambir Railway Station. From there, due to crowdedness of the place by
PDIP supporters who just recently dismissed from their morning parade,
AKKBB decided to move away and entered into Monas Park. Inside Monas
Park, some of members of AKKBB has taken a place for meeting, which is
in the steps of the monument. Approximately 50 people started to walk
from the gate to the meeting point to join the others who have already
been there. To avoid any unwanted people to join, AKKBB has identified
themselves with small red-white ribbon pin to all the members of
parade. AKKBB also fenced the march by long ropes on each side. The
small march from gate to inside (which is only 100 m), there was no
police guarded us along that way.

The march already reached the meeting point in the steps of monument,
it was suddenly the march of KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM was almost reaching
the same point, approximately 20 meters away. Observing that they took
wider way, the AKKBB instructed its members to move to give them a way
for marching. However, suddenly there was a shouting from KOMANDO
LASKAR ISLAM “Allahu Akbar” many times, and they started to run
towards AKKBB who have been stand peacefully on their right side. The
KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM members run and attacked AKKBB by swinging
sharpened bamboos, wooden sticks, and steel sticks against the AKKBB
members. They started to hit members of AKKBB many times, even though
the victims have already been falling down.

After first layers, the second and last layers of KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM
masses came in wearing black-shirt with ninja mask, and they even
swinging samurai, wooden stick and spread out sands to the eyes of
AKKBB members. The sands incites heat on the skin. The AKKBB members
run away from this angry and violent people to any safe place.

One of member of AKKBB run back to gate to report to the police who
were already scattered for having lunch in the nearest post after
half-day guarded another big parade. The report was responded quickly
by the field commandant that instructed the police to gather and run
inside the park. It took about 10 minutes after the first incident for
the police to come in.

The police car came in, but KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM masses also run
toward the car and kicked the car until the police run away. Some of
AKKBB members tried to ask other police to do something, but they were
gone. Some of them was approached by KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM by saying
“Go away, I know you are Ahmadiyya, go away, and you are dead”, “you
are Ahmadiyya, you Christian, Kafir”. Several brimob with motorcycle
came in and localized the KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM masses. However, the
KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM were still able to destroy the sound-system car,
and the sound-system inside by burning it, in front of the eyes of
police. Meanwhile, some of victims have already been taken away by
ambulances and some others by their relatives to nearest hospitals.
The witnesses also said the attackers were trying to prevent the
ambulance to take away the victims.

There were 3 layers of police came in (around 50 police officers)
marched to the location and localized the area. However there were
none of the attackers arrested. Some of police officers (both informed
by phone or in the field) even blamed AKKBB to incite the tension by
keeping the agenda for peace parade and neglecting police warning on
the possibility of HTI masses.

The AKKBB then agreed to just dismiss and gather in Galeri Nasional,
opposite Gambir to hold a press conference. It took around 45 minutes
to finally most of the members of AKKBB gathered. Some of survived hit
victims stayed to testify.

In 3 pm, the coordinator of AKKBB instructed the members to dismiss
individually to avoid any violent attacks by KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM who
were still eager to attack AKKBB as informed by local police
intelligence. Four hit victims and 1 victim thrown by sand advocated
by LBH Jakarta reported the incident to Polda Metro Jaya (Jakarta
Police Department). While some others started to identify the victims
that sent to hospital.

The four victims reported the chronology to the police, and were sent
for visum in the Hospital of Jakarta. The whole process took about 2,5
hours and the victims agreed to give detail testimony tomorrow
(Monday, 2 June 2008 at 2 pm) after they were recovered from the
dizziness due to harsh hitting in their heads. In the meantime, LBH
Jakarta and AKKBB agreed to gather more information on the other
victims by collecting their identity card and the medical statement
about their condition when they were taken care by doctor or emergency
room in the hospital. The ID card and medical statement would be used
for police to get their visum and testimony later.

At 4 pm, eight motorcycle of KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM stopped in front of
Galeri Nasional and monitoring the situation. However, there were only
few numbers of AKKBB people inside.

How the police treat the incident?

AKKBB informed the police one week before the event about the planning
of the parade. The information stated that AKKBB will hold a peace
parade to commemorate the reborn of Pancasila, and will take place in
Monas Park by having a stage. However, based on the suggestion from
the police and because of the crowds of PDIP masses, police suggested
to hold the stage for only 1 hour and started to walk to HI
Roundabout. The suggestion was accepted.

Although the police admitted that today (June 1, 2008) is the day for
everybody and has informed several elements would also in the same
place doing others things involving big mass, however, they actually
prevent AKKBB to implement the planning. They called several of AKKBB
members to prevent the agenda, but AKKBB already advertised the peace
parade and believed that police would do the best to protect the
parade. However, the police have heard that there had been big
provocation in the mosques to join the parade. On the D-day, KOMANDO
LASKAR ISLAM consolidated their strategy in Istiqal Mosque in Jakarta.

When the attack happened, police officers were unseen. After quick
reports from AKKBB member, the police marched inside and localized the
riots area without anybody to arrest. Some of police blamed AKKBB that
keeping the agenda going, and incited violence.

The absence of police in the field when AKKBB walk inside and even
moreover they allowed AKKBB to walk inside the Monas Park although
they knew already KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM was inside, showed that they
did not do the right thing. When the attack was running, Eva Sundari
(legislative member from PDIP) called Kabag Intel Saleh (Head of
Intelligence Department of Police) asking for help. Kabag Intel Saleh
said that they did not have enough police officers in the field to
face 30 thousands KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM, and asked AKKBB to avoid
KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM instead. This information was sent by sms by Eva
to Anick (coordinator of AKKBB).

After that message, AKKBB dismissed and move the gathering into Galeri
Nasional. There was no police guarded any member of AKKBB, and AKKBB
also did not report the changing the place due to uncertain safety
procedure as well from the police. After press conference, AKKBB with
the 5 victims and LBH Jakarta reported the incident to Polda Metro Jaya.

Public Concern

From the mass media, most of public voices supported AKKBB and condemn
the attacks of Komando Laskar Islam.

* President of Indonesia stated that he regrets the attack and
urged the police to enforce law against the attackers.
* The Vice President of Indonesia stated that pluralism cannot be
changed and urged the police to enforce law.
* Some religious leaders and political party leaders stated the
same comments such as Head of Muhammadiyah Din Syamsuddin, Head of PKB
(Nation Enlightenment Party) Abdurrahman Wahid, Head of Advisory Board
of PDIP Taufiq Kiemas, Head of Legislative Member from PKB,A Effendy
Choirie, and Head of Democrat Party Anas Urbaningrum.

Call for Action

We would like to call international community:

1. To condemn the violent attack of non-state actors against
peaceful group of people
2. To urge the Police of Republic of Indonesia to protect the
victims and the vulnerable by providing more officers in the field,
rather than blaming the victims of failing from avoiding the incidents.
3. To urge the Police of Republic of Indonesia to arrest the actor
or leaders of KOMANDO LASKAR ISLAM who led the attack against AKKBB.
4. To urge Government of Indonesia to bring all the element of
Komando Laskar Islam to court due to their violent principles that
will disturb public order, public moral, democratic values, and
religious values.

Text Box: Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan
(Indonesian Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief) akkbb Jl.
Cempaka Putih Barat XXI No. 34, Jakarta 10520 Telp. 021-42802349,
Faks. 021-4227243 Email: akkbb1@yahoo..com; akkbb2@gmail.com Indonesian
Conference on Religion and Peace, National Integration Movement, The
Wahid Institute, Kontras, LBH Jakarta, Jaringan Islam Kampus, Jaringan
Islam Liberal, Lembaga Studi Agama dan Filsafat, Generasi Muda Antar
Iman, Institut DIAN/Interfidei, Masyarakat Dialog Antar Agama,
Komunitas Jatimulya, eLSAM, Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia
(YLBHI) Aliansi Nasional Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, Lembaga Kajian Agama
dan Jender, Pusaka Padang, Yayasan Tunas Muda Indonesia, Konferensi
Waligereja Indonesia, GANDI, Persekutuan Gereja-gereja Indonesia,
Forum Mahasiswa Ciputat, Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia, Gerakan Ahmadiyah
Indonesia, Tim Pembela Kebebasan Beragama, El_Ai_Em Ambon, Yayasan
Ahimsa (YA) Jakarta, Gedong Gandhi Ashram (GGA) Bali, Koalisi
Perempuan Indonesia (KPI), Dinamika Edukasi Dasar (DED) Jogjakarta,
Forum Persaudaraan Antar-Umat Beriman Jogjakarta, Forum Suara Hati
Kebersamaan Bangsa (FSHKB) Surakarta, SHEEP Indonesia Jogjakarta,
Forum Lintas Agama Jawa Timur Surabaya, Lembaga Kajian Agama dan
Sosial Surabaya, LSM Adriani Poso, PRKP Poso, Komunitas Gereja Damai,
Komunitas Gereja Sukapura, GAKTANA, Wahana Kebangsaan, Yayasan Tifa,
Komunitas Penghayat, Forum Mahasiswa Syariah se-Indonesia NTB, Relawan
untuk Demokrasi dan Hak Asasi Manusia REDHAM) Lombok, Forum Komunikasi
Lintas Iman Gorontalo, Crisis Center SAG Manado, LK3 Banjarmasin,
Forum Dialog Antar Kita (FORLOG-Antar Kita) Sulawesi Selatan Makassar,
Jaringan Antar-iman se-Sulawesi, Forum Dialog Kalimantan Selatan
(FORLOG KALSEL) Banjarmasin, PERCIK Salatiga, Sumatera Cultural
Institut Medan, Muslim Institut Medan; PUSHAM UII Jogjakarta, fSwabine
Yasmine Flores-Ende; Komunitas Peradaban Aceh, Yayasan Jurnal
Perempuan, AJI Damai Yogyakarta, LBH Padang, PP Fatayat NU, Kapal
Perempuan, Indonesia Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Jaringan Islam Anti
Diskriminasi Jawa Timur (JIAD Jawa Timur)

ANNEX 1

The Chronology of Peace Parade for the Reborn of Pancasila

“One Indonesia for All”

Conducted by Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan
Berkeyakinan (AKKBB)
National Monument (MONAS), 1 June 2008

12.45 pm

AKKBB mass started to gather in the meeting point behind Gambir
Railway Station & near gate of National Monument, mixing with big mass
of PDIP parade who were just finished. There were 3-4 police officers
manage the traffic.

12.55 pm

Several AKKBB mass started to come and walked inside the National
Monument Park, and gathered in the meeting point near to the steps
toward National Monument.

1.10 pm

AKKBB mass from the gate walked inside to the Park to join the other
mass who have been settled, and also to avoid any uncoordinated
movement due to big crowds of PDIP masses. There was one un-uniformed
police officer gathered with us, and 2 uniformed police stand a bit
far from the location .

1.20 pm

Five-hundreds FPI-HTI masses walked circling the Monas, and appeared
from the north (from the left-handed AKKBB).

1.25 pm

FPI – HTI masses walked toward AKKBB mass who have been move away to
give them a way for marching, and even some of us sitting on the
steps. However, suddenly, FPI-HTI masses attacked violently by
shouting “Allahu Akbar”, “You are Ahmadiyya”. There was no police
officer seen in the field. FPI – HTI has prepared the attack by having
several layers. The last layers wore black shirts with ninja-mask and
they swung samurai, sharpened wooden stick, and spread out sands to
the eyes of the AKKBB masses. The first layers attacked the AKKBB by
swinging their wooden stick, steel stick, and sharpened bamboo.

1.30 pm

The first layer break up, but second layer came in by shouting “Allahu
Akbar”, and shouted the first layer to keep attack the AKKBB masses.
The police car came in, but FPI-HTI masses also run toward the car and
kicked the car until the police run away. Some of AKKBB members tried
to ask police to do something, but they were gone. Some of them was
approached by FPI-HTI by saying “Go away, I know you are Ahmadiyya, go
away, and you are dead”.

1.35pm

All AKKBB masses run away to save their lives. Several brimob with
motorcycle came in and localized the FPI-HTI masses. However, the
FPI-HTI were still able to destroy the sound-system car, and the
sound-system inside by burning it, in front of the eyes of police.

2 pm
AKKBB team was circling Monas to ensure there was none AKKBB members
inside. However, there were several of them stayed inside and mixed
with the other guests of Monas Park until FPI-HTI dismissed.

2.15 pm

FPI-HTI masses started to walk to the Presidential Palace to join the
other HTI group.

2.28 pm

AKKBB held press conference in the parking lot of Galeri National,
opposite Gambir. There was two policemen warned AKKBB to keep the
press conference simple and short before FPI-HTI mass came again.

3 pm

AKKBB mass dismissed individually from Galeri Nasional.

4 pm

Eight motorcycle of FPI stopped in front of Galeri Nasional and
monitoring the situation. However, the were only few numbers of AKKBB
people inside.

4.30 pm

Five victims of violation of FPI, together with LBH Jakarta reported
the incidents to Polda Metro Jaya (Police Department of Jakarta).

Victims of FPI Attacks (will be updated)

1. Imdadun Rahmat : bodily bruise, rupture head.
2. M. Guntur Romli : bodily bruise, heavily broken nose & eyebrow gash
à having surgery to fix the nose.

3. KH Maman Imanulhaq : bodily bruise, chin gash, breast contusion à
now under neurologist examination.
4. Ahmad Suaedy : back-bone contusion, chin gash
5. Dr. Syafii Anwar : scalp bruise
6. Hamid Taher : concussion, left-hand fracture
7. Sunandar : bodily bruise, eyes wounded by sand
8. Joanes : scalp contusion with 7 stitch
9. Bernard : scalp contusion with 7 stitch

10. Omink : concussion
11. Doni : abdomen and leg contusion
12. Soundsystem car drive: bodily injuries

13. Yogi : Back-bone and hand bruises
14. Heru : Back-bone bruises
15. Siti Maryam : hitting wounded on the right temple and knee
16. Ela : Waist and knee injuries
17. Ataurrahman : eyebrow gash
18. Sarip : back-bone contusion
19. Yaya : neck bruises
20. Dani H : back-bone bruises
21. Nurbarjah : scalp contusion (hitting)

22. Yanto : nose bleeding because of hitting
23. Jaka : bleeding hand because of hitting
24. Lukman : leg and back-bone bruises
25. Suleman : scalp contusion
26. Said : bodily bruises
27. Kusworo : bodily bruises
28. Sair : bleeding finger
29. Soundsystem Car: destroyed
30. Soundsystem : burned

31. Backdrop 9 x 7 : burned
32. Guitar: destroyed

The Commission for Dissapeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
Jl. Borobudur No. 14 Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10320 Indonesia
phone : 62-21-3926983
fax : 62-21-3926821

World food prices soar as a wealthier Asia consumes more

  By Russell Blinch and Brian Love

  Reuters

  Monday, March 31, 2008

  WASHINGTON: Food prices are soaring; a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers cannot keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it is already boiling over.

Around the globe, people are protesting and governments are responding with often counterproductive controls on prices and exports – a new politics of scarcity in which ensuring food supplies is becoming a major challenge for the 21st century.

Damaged by severe weather in producing countries and plundered by a boom in demand from fast-developing nations, global wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have been on the rise for five years, ending decades of inexpensive food.

Drought, a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use of farm land to grow biofuel crops have all contributed to food woes. But population growth and the growing wealth of China and other emerging countries are likely to be more enduring factors.  World population is set to hit 9 billion by 2050, and most of the extra 2.5 billion people will live in the developing world. It is in these countries that the population is demanding dairy and meat, which require more land to produce.

“This is an additional setback for the world economy, at a time when we are already going through major turbulence, but the biggest drama is the  impact of higher food prices on the poor,” Angel Gurría, head of the  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said.

In Gurría’s native Mexico, tens of thousands took to the streets last year over the cost of tortillas, a national staple whose price rocketed in tandem with the price of corn.

Global food prices, based on United Nations records, rose 35 percent in the year to the end of January, markedly accelerating an upturn that began, gently at first, in 2002. Since then, prices have risen65percent.

In 2007 alone, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42percent.”The recent rise in global food commodity prices is more than just a short-term blipping,” the British research group Chatham House said in January. “Society will have to decide the value to be placed on food,” it added, and how “market forces can be reconciled with domestic policy objectives.” Many countries are already facing these choices.

After long opposition, Mexico’s government is considering lifting a ban on genetically modified crops to allow its farmers to compete with the United States, where high-yield, genetically modified corn is the norm.

The European Union and parts of Africa have similar bans that could also be reconsidered.

A number of governments, including Egypt, Argentina, Kazakhstan and China, have imposed restrictions to limit grain exports and keep more of their food at home.

This knee-jerk response to food emergencies can result in farmers producing less food, and it threatens to undermine years of effort to open up international trade.

“If one country after the other adopts a ‘starve-your-neighbor’ policy, then eventually you trade smaller shares of total world production of agricultural products, and that in turn makes the prices more volatile,” said Joachim von Braun, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington.

In Argentina, a government tax on grain led to a strike by farmers that disrupted grain exports. Vietnam and India, both major rice exporters, announced further curbs on overseas sales Friday, sending rice higher on U.S. futures markets. Other food commodities retreated from record highs in recent days, but analysts attributed that less to fundamentals and more to profit-taking by investors.

In the next decade, the price of corn could rise 27 percent, oilseeds like soybeans by 23 percent and rice by 9 percent, according to tentative UN and OECD forecasts in February.

Waves of discontent are already starting to be felt. Violent protests hit Cameroon and Burkina Faso in February. Protesters rallied in Indonesia recently and media reported deaths by starvation. In the Philippines, fast-food chains were urged to cut rice portions to counter a surge in prices.

Trade Minister Kamal Nath of India said Monday that the government was looking to cut duties on food items to rein in rising prices.

“We are looking to cutting our duties on many products on the food front,” he said, ahead of a cabinet committee meeting to consider ways to contain prices. Earlier this month, the government cut the import duty on crude palm oil to 20 percent from 45 percent, and on refined palm oil to 27.5 percent from 52.5 percent.

Last year, the central bank of Australia – where minds were focused by a two-year drought – asked whether the surge in commodity prices could be one of the few really big ones in world history, like those of the mid-1930s or the 1970s.

Real commodity prices remained flat or even fell during the rapid industrialization of the United States and Germany in the early 20^th century. But the industrialization of China, with 1.3 billion people, is on a totally different scale, the Reserve Bank of Australia noted.

“China’s population is proportionately much larger than the countries that industrialized in earlier periods and is almost double that of the current G-7 nations combined,” the central bank said. The emergence of China’s middle class is adding hugely to demand not just for basic commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat, but also for meat, milk and other high-protein foods.

The Chinese, whose rise began in earnest in 2001, ate just 20 kilograms, or 44 pounds, of meat per capita in 1985. They now eat 50 kilograms a year.

Each pound of beef takes about seven pounds of grain to produce, which means land that could be used to grow food for humans is being diverted to growing animal feed.

As the West seeks to tackle the risk of global warming, a drive toward greener fuels is compounding global food problems. It is estimated that one in four bushels of corn from the U.S. corn crop this year will be diverted to make fuel ethanol.

“Turning food into fuel for cars is a major mistake on many fronts,” said Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental group based in Washington. “One, we’re already seeing higher food prices in the American supermarket. Two, perhaps more serious from a global perspective, we’re seeing higher food prices in developing countries where it’s escalated as far as people rioting in the streets.”

Similarly, prices for palm oil are at records because of demand to use it for biofuel, causing pain for low-income families in Indonesia and Malaysia, where it is a staple.But despite the rising criticism of biofuels, the U.S. corn-fed ethanol industry enjoys wide political support because it helps farmers, who suffered years of low prices, and that support is likely to continue.

John Bruton, the European Union’s ambassador to the United States, predicts that the world faces 10 to 15 years of steep rises in food costs. And it is the poor in Africa and, increasingly, Southeast Asia, who will be most vulnerable.

The director of the UN World Food Program, Josette Sheeran, is on a global tour in search of donations to fill a $500 million funding gap caused by the rising prices. The largest U.S. aid program, Food for Peace, has seen its commodity prices jump 40 percent and may have to curtail donations.

But aid and many policy options available to governments for helping the hungry distort markets and cause pain elsewhere in their economies, according to proponents of free markets.

“I was involved in a government that introduced food subsidies in Ireland and we had the devil’s own job to get rid of them,” said Bruton, who was prime minister of Ireland from 1994 to 1997.

Others trust that better fertilizers and higher-yielding crops – some of them genetically modified – will keep production in line with demand.

Bruce Babcock, an economist at Iowa State University, said the rising markets were a signal to farmers that they needed to raise production.

“It’s actually the greatest time in the world to be a farmer around the world,” Babcock said. “We are going to see fairly substantial increases in production because farmers have never had such a large incentive to increase production.”

But others note that expensive seeds and fertilizers are out of reach of farmers in poor countries.

Around the beginning of the 19th century, the British political economist Thomas Malthus said population had the potential to grow much faster than food supply, a prediction that efficient farming consistently proved wrong. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, some are revisiting his predictions.

Batak mythology: human beings and the sky inseparable

Abrar Haris ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/29/2008 11:12 AM  |  Opinion

I am always delighted to see starlit skies. Indonesians are blessed because our country is positioned in such a way we can enjoy a clear night sky.

Every night we can enjoy the complexity of the cosmos’s ecosystem and the brilliant array of the starry equatorial sky. I often sit on the roof and submit to the ocean of crystal, fire and diamonds. It all seems to shimmer and peace fills my soul.

Considering rigid genesis theory is followed by numerous modern scholars, there is nothing wrong with believing we indeed belong to the deep night sky. Our beginning is clear — we fell from the stars. Life and this planet resulted from 10-20 billion years of the stars heating up or the unstable fusion in the turbulence of supernovae.

In my opinion, that is why we feel so close and attached to starry skies; our ancient heritage has been interwoven with the substance of the cosmos since her youth, when light had not yet shown itself.

Raising our heads to the sky, we human beings, since primordial times, have had a sense of family. I call this the discovery of our universal ecclesiastical astronomical origins, which allows us to recognize the relationship between mankind and the upper cosmos.

It is interesting to hear what John McKim Malville, an astronomist, says in his book, Man in Nature. He accurately states we come from below as well as above, from the earth as well as the stars. Malville examines many cultures across the earth and says they were built and sustained by astronomical mythology.

Among the world’s diverse cultures with different mythologies, many tell the story of a diver who appears as animals sent from the sky flying down into primeval earth. Their missions are varied. In many myths, the role of this divine animal is indeed interesting and fascinating.

Kanaga Saba, in his fine essay entitled Kosmologi Masyarakat Batak (The Cosmology of Batak Ethnic), transports us into the setting of North Sumatra to Batak culture, where local cosmogonies intertwine sky and earth.

Batak cosmology recognizes the entity of the deity, the local concept of spirit, the belief in ghosts (hantu), evil (iblis) and ancestors’ spirits (nenek moyang).

The belief is polytheistic where Mulajadi Na Bolon is the supreme deity. This deity is anthropomorphic and dwells in the most blissful state. In the holy presence of Mulajadi Na Bolon stand three lesser deities constituting a trinity or debata na tolu. They are Batara Guru, Soripata and Mangalabulan.

Batara Guru stands as the primary deity. He is responsible for the formation of the universe and is the patron for teaching art and culture; Batak people hold him most dearest. Mangalabulan describes the descent into the dark world and the return to light. His right hand bestows good deeds and virtue.

From his left hand, he commits crimes and wrongdoings. Mangalabulan is the reverence of the local bandit. In some ways, Soripata resembles Vishnu in Hindu belief. He maintains the universe and represents the eternal principle of preservation.

In Batak mythology, the swallow is an idyllic bird that serves as a messenger between the sky and earth. In a Batak myth, the bird is told by Mulajadi Na Balon to deliver lodong, a bamboo-made water sack containing seeds, to Boru Deak-Parujar, daughter of the deity who dwells on earth. On arrival, the bird asks Boru Deak to weave ulos ragidup, a beautiful Batak ceremonial textile. After she does so, the bird asks her to open the sack. Boru Deak follows all the instructions. When she opens the lodong, a fine-looking man is there. As an unmarried woman, she feels fortunate.

The man is Tuan Mulana. It is loud and clear that Mulajadi Na Bolon wants Boru Deak to accept Tuan Mulana as her consort. If she accepts the marriage, Boru Deak will become mortal, a fact Mulajadi thinks she is unaware of. In fact, the maiden is well aware she will become a mortal creature just like her husband.

But the maiden Boru Deak is prepared to relinquish her noble blood. Because of this woman’s great love, the couple were married and created a new people, today known as the Batak people. It explains why the Batak are celebrated for their strength of character.

This myth is the embryo of creation. The Batak cosmos is identified by creative forces that shape space and generate the population as it is now. The Batak myth provides material evidence of how the universe has an ordered and harmonious system relating to humans and upper heavens.

The Batak myth teaches us everything will be settled and ordered after chaos. The sky sends down its delegation in complete and beautiful shapes of birds to generate human beings living on earth. In this land, the cycle of life and death come to pass under the young and dying and the birth of innumerable stars.

It is hard to examine such discourse without quoting Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BC, with his thoughts on unity in experience. Heraclitus said, “The upward path and the downward path is one and the same.”

As a Muslim, I find one surah in the Koran particularly fascinating in terms of science. It has a universal ecclesiastical astronomical flavor; it is surah Al Buruj, which means “mansion of stars and constellations”.

The surah describes the locations and movements of stars in space. When you look at the stars shining brightly, remember, “the upward path and the downward path is one and the same”.

The writer is a member of staff at the Foreign Affairs Cooperation Bureau in the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare and is an avid reader of culture and Nusantara Mythology.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/03/29/batak-mythology-human-beings-and-sky-inseparable.html