Five Examples of Indonesia’s Turn to Conservative Islam

Indonesia has had a tradition of moderate Islam in a culture influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. But the tenor has changed in recent years, with conservative Muslims and hard-line groups gaining traction in pushing for stricter moral laws and social norms. Here are some examples that show the country’s turn to conservative Islam.

1 Reviving Efforts to Criminalize Cohabitation of Unmarried Couples
Indonesia considered criminalizing cohabitation and sex among singles in early 2013. The idea fizzled at the time, but recently proponents revived the effort, asking the Supreme Court for a constitutional prohibition. Also this year, religious hard-liners staged antigay rallies, and the government threatened to block websites it says promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles.

2 Aceh Province Passes Stricter Islamic Laws
In 2014, the province of Aceh passed a stricter Islamic code, expanding caning punishments to adultery, homosexual acts and public displays of affection, and extending Shariah law to non-Muslims.

3 Islamic Parties Push to Ban Sale of Alcohol
Indonesia banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in minimarts in April 2015. The ban was later relaxed, but now Islamic parties are pushing a bill that would ban the sale of beer, wine and spirits across the country.

4 Telecom Provider Blocks Access to Netflix
In January of this year, Indonesia’s biggest telecommunications provider blocked access to Netflix Inc.’s video-streaming service after the Indonesian Film Censorship Board and traditional cable-television operators complained about what it said was violent and adult content.

5 100,000 Protest in Jakarta Against Christian Governor
On Friday, some 100,000 Muslims gather in Jakarta to protest the city’s Christian governor for making a reference to the Quran they say amounted to blasphemy. Days before, an influential council of Islamic leaders released a statement reminding Muslims that they shouldn’t vote for candidates of other faiths.

http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2016/11/04/indoislam5things/

Ahmad Rahami: Fixture in Family’s Business and, Lately, a ‘Completely Different Person’

(..) Ahmad Khan Rahami (..) In recent years, though, some friends noticed a marked change in his personality and religious devotion after what they believed was a trip to Afghanistan, where he and his relatives are from.

(..) Around four years ago, though, Mr. Rahami disappeared for a while. Mr. Jones said one of the younger Rahami brothers told him that he had gone to Afghanistan. When he returned, some patrons noticed a certain transformation. He grew a beard and exchanged his typical wardrobe of T-shirts and sweatpants for traditional Muslim garb. He began to pray in the back of the store.

His previous genial bearing turned more stern. “It’s like he was a completely different person,” Mr. Jones said. “He got serious and completely closed off.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/nyregion/ahmad-khan-rahami-bombing-suspect.html?_r=0

for Europe’s leaders, who now consider themselves at war with the Islamic State after large-scale terrorist attacks at home, the challenge is more complicated: The enemy’s hide-outs are ghettoized parts of Paris, Brussels and other European cities that amount to mini failed states inside their own borders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/world/europe/a-quandary-for-europe-fighting-a-war-on-isis-within-its-borders.html?_r=0

The European countries with the most residents either fighting in Syria or Iraq, planning to go to fight or having returned from the fight are France, with about 1,800 to 1,850; Germany and Britain, each with roughly 750 to 800; and Belgium, with 450,
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/26/us/politics/isis-spreading-in-europe-clapper-warns.html

Valls said nearly 15,000 people in France are being tracked because they are suspected of being in the process of radicalization, while 1,350 are under investigation — 293 of them for alleged links with a terrorism network.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/11/world/europe/ap-eu-france-plot-arrest.html

According to German newspaper Die Welt, Kepel said the terror group’s aim is to incite hatred towards Muslims from the rest of the society which would eventually radicalise others to the point that Europe could enter into full-blown civil war.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1775496/massive-european-civil-war-predicted-by-scholar-of-islam-who-says-jobless-young-muslims-are-increasingly-turning-to-radical-groups/

Attack over women’s ‘shorts’ in southern France inflames social media

Controversy around female clothing in France gained further momentum after a dozen young men assaulted a family in the country’s south. Males suffered a severe beating after attackers deemed the women’s clothes excessively revealing.

The incident occurred last Sunday in the city of Toulon, southern France. According to local prosecutor Bernard Marchal, the family of two sisters, their husbands, their brother and three children aged between 10 and 14 had been riding bikes and rollerblading through an eastern neighborhood of the city. They were approached by a group of about 10 young men, who insulted the women for wearing ‘inappropriate’ clothing. The husbands and brother intervened and were severely beaten. One of them suffered multiple facial fractures, and another got his nose broken.

“They [the attackers] shouted to them [the women] 'whores' and 'go on, get naked’,” the Valeurs Acuelles magazine quoted Marchal as saying.

Two suspects, reportedly one 17-year-old and one 19-year-old, were apprehended on Tuesday. It is thought they have a preexisting criminal record. The identity of the alleged perpetrators remains undisclosed. An investigation is underway to track down the others.

Mayor of Toulon Hubert Falco said that “attacking my fellow citizens in shorts is abnormal and pitiable.”

“I am happy that thanks to the efficiency of the national police and CCTV cameras of the city, we could apprehend the perpetrators. One does not attack a woman because she is wearing shorts. This heinous act must be punished harshly,” France Bleu quoted the Mayor as saying.

One of the victims, named only as Marie, commented on the incident to the Nice Matin newspaper on Friday.

“We were not wearing shorts. We were in sportswear. One youngster badmouthed us and then things quickly escalated,” newspaper quotes the victim.

There is no information on the alleged perpetrators’ identities, nationalities, citizenship or religion. However, some in France linked the attacks on short-wearers to the burkini controversy and Islam in general. Julien Leonardelli, the department secretary for the far-right National Front in Haute-Garonne, claimed on Twitter, that "Sharia is already installed in Toulon."

https://www.rt.com/news/358949-france-toulon-attack-shorts/

France church attack: Priest killed in hostage-taking near Rouen

The area has been cordoned off and police have told people to stay away
A priest has been killed in an attack by two armed men at his church in a suburb of Rouen in northern France.

The attackers entered the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during Mass, taking the priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, 84, and four other people hostage.
Police later surrounded the church and French TV said shots were fired. Both hostage-takers are now dead.

President Francois Hollande said the men claimed to be from so-called Islamic State (IS).
Speaking in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, he said the attackers had committed a "cowardly assassination" and France would fight IS "by all means".

The IS-linked Amaq news agency said "two soldiers of the Islamic State" had carried out the attack.

Pope Francis decried the "pain and horror of this absurd violence".
French interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henri Brandet, said one of the hostages had been critically wounded. He said the hostage-takers had been "neutralised" after coming out of the church. Police were now searching the church for explosives.

Police sources said it appeared the attackers had slit the priest's throat with a knife.
The area has been cordoned off and police have told people to stay away.

Mr Brandet said the investigation into the incident would be led by anti-terrorism prosecutors. One of the men was known to the French intelligence services, French TV channel M6 has reported.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36892785

Ansbach explosion: Syrian asylum seeker blows himself up in Germany

A failed Syrian asylum seeker has blown himself up and injured 12 other people with a backpack bomb near a festival in the south German town of Ansbach.

The state of Bavaria's interior minister said the 27-year-old man had detonated the device after being refused entry to the music festival.

About 2,500 people were evacuated from the venue after the explosion. Bavaria has been on edge since a knife rampage on a train claimed by so-called Islamic State last Monday.

The Ansbach blast is reported to have happened at about 22:10 (20:10 GMT) outside the Eugens Weinstube bar in the centre of the town, which has a population of 40,000 and is home to a US military base.

The bomb went off close to the entrance to the Ansbach Open music festival.
A witness, Thomas Debinski, reported "panic" after the explosion, although some people had thought it was caused by a gas explosion. "Then people came past and said it was a rucksack that had exploded," he told Sky News.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36880758