Beat Up Western Tourists - Radical Muslim Cleric

I have said repeatedly on this blog that certain radical Islamic clergymen have a stranglehold on sections of the Muslim population and they won't give up their postitions of authority and power without a long and bloody fight!

This holds true in Indonesia as well as the Middle-East as witnessed by this Iman who is back to his old tricks!

Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has returned to his hardline rhetoric with a call for followers to beat up Western tourists and for young Muslims to die as martyrs.

“The youth movement here must aspire to a martyrdom death,” said the cleric, who was convicted of conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, but was later cleared and released from prison.

“The young must be first at the front line - don’t hide at the back. You must be at the front, die as martyrs and all your sins will be forgiven. This is how to achieve forgiveness.”

“Immediately after Abu Bakar Bashir was released from incarceration he was very cautious in spreading hatred,” said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

“The remarks show that Abu Bakar Bashir has gone back to the pre-incarceration period where he was in a very similar way urging JI members, encouraging JI members to move in the direction of violence, especially violence including terrorism.”

The cleric has warned of retribution should the Bali bombers be executed by firing squad.

Bashir likened non-Muslims to crawling animals. “Worms, snakes, maggots - those are animals that crawl. Take a look at Bali … those infidel tourists. They are naked.”

He called for signs to be erected across Indonesia warning tourists they were entering a Muslim area, and directing they cover up appropriately.

But in east Java, he urged the Islamist youth to “beat up” foreigners.

“God willing, there are none here,” Bashir said. “If there were infidels here, just beat them up. Do not tolerate them.”

Bashir has never sought to hide his support for the Mujahideen, or holy warriors, who seek to wage jihad and die as martyrs in defence of Islam. However, he has in the past been careful to distance himself from the Bali bombings, praising the bombers’ intention but not their method.

Dr Gunaratna said the radical nature of Bashir’s current sermons showed that Indonesia’s legal system was still not equipped to police terrorism.

“The very fact that Abu Bakar Bashir is spreading hatred and ideological extremism is testimony to the fact that Australia has failed in engagement with Indonesia to build a robust Indonesian counter-terrorism legislation,” Dr Gunaratna said.


Bashir’s address contained many direct challenges to Indonesian secularism.

The cleric urged his supporters to reject the laws of the nation’s parliament and said following state laws that contradicted Islamic Shariah law was an act of “blasphemy.”

“Don’t be scared if you are called a hardliner Muslim,” Bashir said. “It must be like that. We can’t follow human law that is in conflict with Allah’s law.” (In other words, if they are not Bashir's laws then they don't apply!)

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com