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June
Friday June 15, 2018, most Muslims around the world celebrated Eid Mubarak so-called ‘Idul Fitri’ in Indonesia. This great holiday is the peak of the fasting month carried out during the month of Ramadan. So, it is no wonder if this Idul Fitri is said to be a victory day for all Muslims after a full month throughout the world, including in Indonesia, fasting and refraining from hunger, thirst and lust in the month of Ramadan. The day of triumph was greeted with joy. In the mosques, both in the cities and in the villages, there was an incessant sounding of takbir, praising God's greatness. For Muslims, Idul Fitri can mean returning to a holy state, or free from all sins and taints so that it is in a holy state or fitrah. On the day of Idul Fitri particularly in Indonesia, Muslims are encouraged to forgive each other for any wrong-doings whether intentional or not. After Idul Fitri, Muslims are expected to keep doing all good things like what they have practiced during the holy month of Ramadan. This means that they must refrain from carnal desire and keep doing something good. Indeed, the essence of fasting in the month of Ramadan is the improvement of one’s quality to become a better human being.
June
Increased Purchasing Power ahead of Idul Fitri Stimulates Economy
Written by nuke
Idul Fitri holiday is only a few days ahead. The government has spent 35.76 trillion rupiah for holiday allowances and 13th salary for state officials, state apparatuses and pensioners. The allocation is up 68.9 percent compared to last year. Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani said that the addition of holiday allowance component and the 13th salary is expected to encourage the growth of public consumption so that it can stimulate the economy.
According to the plan, the central government started disbursing the holiday allowance the end of May 2018. Meanwhile, the 13th salary is expected to be disbursed by the end of June or early July 2018. It seems that the government's efforts to boost the economy are successful. The situation of retail sales in late May and early June was considered quite exciting. Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita announced the retail report in May 2018 which generally grew 10 to 15 percent. He remarked that the report shows no weakening of purchasing power, even predicted to continue to grow until July 2018.
Association of Indonesian Shopping Center Tenants -Hippindo noted that the average sales of its members in May 2018 grew 15 percent compared with the same month last year. Chairman of Hippindo, Budihardjo Iduansjah mentioned that clothing products contribute the highest in the growth. Sales transactions reached 50 trillion rupiah. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs (Aprindo), Roy Mandey reported that the increase in retail sales reached 4.7 percent. This increase makes the retailers optimistic; sales will continue to rise until Lebaran day. The public optimism of the country's economic growth is also supported by the results of a government survey. Bank Indonesia retail sales survey shows a growth trend with the Real Sales Index in April 2018 of 4.1 percent. The data does not refer to major retailers, but traders in traditional markets throughout Indonesia.
On one hand, high demand of certain products such as chicken and meat ahead of the holiday will certainly lead to price hike. But the phenomenon that occurs each year, do not discourage public spending if viewed from the data mentioned earlier. On the other hand, the government is expected to maintain the price hike under control. As a result, this may create a business climate that encourages the increase of people's income. Thus, people's purchasing power can continue to grow.
June
Terrorism and violence often occur anywhere, including in Indonesia in the reasons of poverty, social matter, ethnicity, and religion. Indonesia is now building a civilization through a religious side based on Islamic education to counter radicalism and violence. Referring to building a tolerant and moderate Islam that is counter-violent, the government of Indonesia is establishing the International Islamic University of Indonesia (UIII). The construction of the UIII was inaugurated through the launching of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 57/2016 on Establishment of International Islamic University of Indonesia.
In laying the first stone of UIII Campus construction at RRI Cimanggis Complex, Depok, West Java on Tuesday, June 5, President Joko Widodo said that the UIII campus construction has a goal to really become the center of study and research of Islamic civilization, considering Indonesia is the world’s largest number of Muslims. This Islamic campus has been planned since 2 years ago with the construction cost reaching Rp 3.5 trillion and this construction is one of the government’s national strategic projects.
Meanwhile, Minister of Religious Affairs, Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin hopes that the establishment of the campus will reduce the intolerance that occurs everywhere, including amid Indonesian people. He said that students studying at this campus will explore Islamic values, specifically by studying and developing Islamic studies. Through their study, he hopes that Islam can be better understood in accordance with the essence and substance that can improve humans’ civilization. He also hopes that the establishment of the International Islamic University of Indonesia can contribute positively to Indonesia in a bid to participate in monitoring the civilization of the world.
Professor of State Islamic University, Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Asep Usman Ismail said that Indonesia is the productive object of spreading the seeds of radicalism exhaled from abroad. So, strengthening educational institutions to counter radicalism includes three points. They are in the family, school and community. He perceived that the educational institutions are not only formal education, but also non-formal one.
Indeed, with the ability of human common sense, we can distinguish the good and the true by relying on cultural values, ethics and custom that come from the family milieu. Then if someone undergoes a low education, he or she will have difficulty in understanding or interpreting a teaching. Therefore, the establishment of the International Islamic University of Indonesia by the government is aimed at creating moderate graduates who can think in the way of Islam and this should be appreciated. In addition, the government of Indonesia plans to send the priests and scholars of UIII graduates to Western countries to provide a moderate and tolerant Islam that refers to the universal Islam. The academics and priests graduated from UIII are expected to promote tolerant, friendly and moderate Islam to the international world. Thus, this will make Indonesia as a major center of Islamic civilization.
June
Being elected as Non-Permanent Member of UNSC, Indonesia Carries out the Trust of International Community
Written by MaryatiIndonesia was elected as Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council - UNSC for the period 2019-2020. This is the fourth time for Indonesia to be elected to that position. The result of the election makes Indonesia directly becomes viral in Indonesia. Shortly after the result election in the General Assembly of the UN read out, President Joko Widodo in his twitter account expressed his gratitude. With some promises, Indonesia will carry out the world’s order based on independence, eternal peace and social justice. Indonesia becomes a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, replacing Kazakhstan whose membership period will expire in December 2018. Since the beginning of the nomination, Indonesia has already been in great confidence to be re-elected as a member of the UNSC. Through the voting process, Indonesian defeats Maldives that might want to expand its influence in the UNSC against sea level rise. So far, Indonesia has been known as one of the top 10 countries sending peacekeepers to various conflicting regions through the United Nations –UN. Indonesia’s contribution to frequently participate in fighting against terrorism and radicalism becomes an advantage to have reached 144 votes of 190 UN member countries. A lot of friendly countries delivered ‘Congratulations’ to Indonesia. One of them is the United Kingdom Ambassador to Indonesia, Moazzam Malik. In his twitter account, Ambassador Moazzam Malik said that the UK is ready to cooperate with Indonesia to maintain the world peace. By being elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Indonesia is entrusted with the international community. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi views that the support of member countries of the UN must not be separated from the track record of Indonesian diplomacy. They also see democracy and tolerance in Indonesia as an asset to be able to play an active role in the UNSC. The world is waiting for the concrete work of Indonesia as a member of the UN Security Council from January 1, 2019. The hard work to maintain and build world peace, prevent conflict in some regions across the world should be implemented in a bid to create a global peace and stability ecosystem. The voice of Indonesia which also represents the Asia Pacific countries is expected to be stronger in every formulation of the UNSC policy. Hopefully, the trust of UN member states can be carried out as expected. Indonesia should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council with strong influence in maintaining world peace, countering terrorism problems and realizing independence for the Palestinians. Thanks to the people of the world who support Indonesia as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council –UNSC.
June
The United Nations Security Council -UNSC failed to produce a Resolution that opposes the use of force by Israel against Palestinian civilians. The draft resolution did not materialize due to a veto used by the United States. The draft resolution proposed by Kuwait, a non permanent member of UNSC representing Asia-Pacific, was countered by the United States, a permanent member. As the US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said, the draft resolution is unbalanced for not mentioning the Palestinian Hammas group. According to the United States, Hamas can not simply be ruled out for violence in the Gaza Strip. The United States accuses Hamas of being a terrorist group that must be held accountable for the appalling conditions that have occurred in Gaza. The draft resolution to oppose Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians initiated by Kuwait over the weekend has received the support of other permanent Security Council members namely, France, Russia and China. The US became the only one who refused, while Britain abstained. Meanwhile, non permanent members encouraging the adoption of the draft Resolution are Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Peru, Sweden and the Equatorial Guinea. While the Netherlands, Poland and Ethiopia abstained. As it is known, a UN Security Council Resolution can only be ratified when it gets at least nine votes out of the ten non permanent members, and none of the five permanent members of the Security Council is using a negative vote or veto. Following the failure to pass a resolution condemning Israel, the United States, Israel's main ally, proposed a counter draft. The main Israeli supporter stated that Hamas is guilty of violence in the Gaza Strip. In fact, only the United States supports the draft that it made itself, while 3 UNSC members refused and 10 other abstained. The United States, a key ally and supporter of Israel, will always be an obstacle to pressure Israel. The power of its veto in the UN Security Council will always be exploited to pursue any resolution that harms Israel. Since Donald Trump came to power, support for Israel has become more visible and stronger. For example, the current conflict at the Palestinian Israeli border, was a result of the US embassy relocation to Jerusalem. The failure of UN Security Council resolutions may further make Israel feel more free to commit acts of violence to Palestinian civilians.
June
The arrest of three suspected terrorists at the State University of Riau (UNRI) campus on last Saturday (2/6) showed that campus is not a place free from thoughts or acts of radicalism. Institutions of higher education that graduate the nation's young intellectuals seem increasingly 'exposed' with individuals and radical groups. Even, campus that may be far from the intervention or police supervision is now used by university students or alumni to launch the terrorist movement. They regard the campus as a safe place to carry out their mission.
Some time ago, Head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Budi Gunawan at the IV Congress of BEM in Semarang on Saturday (28/4) said that about 39% of college students have been exposed to radical understanding.
He perceived that based on data, 24% of senior high school students and 23.3% of university students agree with jihad for the establishment of an Islamic state. This condition is very worrying because it threatens the sustainability of the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia -NKRI.
Suspected terrorist -MNZ along with two colleagues who were arrested in UNRI campus admitted assembling bombs in the campus because it is considered safe and unreachable from the police. In addition, he also claimed to assemble the explosives in campus because it is easy to get explosives from the laboratory.
MNZ is also suspected of having links with the network of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) terror group that carried out the attack at Riau Regional Police Headquarters (Mapolda) some time ago. He claimed to have received a bomb order from the perpetrators of the attack. The JAD network is chaired by the defendant of Thamrin bomb case -Aman Abdurrahman. Aman is also the chairman of ISIS in Indonesia. JAD was established as an organization to support the Islamic caliphate. This means that the existence and capability of MNZ with his friends should not be underestimated.
However, the steps taken by the security apparatus -Densus 88 and the Riau Police who entered UNRI campus posed strong protest from Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives –DPR, Fahri Hamzah. Through his Twitter account @ Fahrihamzah on Saturday (2/6/2018) at 19:40 pm, Fahri said that Mr. @ jokowi, this should not be allowed to happen, if long-barreled weapons entered the campus, we have returned to the Stone Age! Maybe, you never became an activist, so you let this happen. This is a war with the students! Even Fahri also tagged Twitter account of President Joko Widodo -@ jokowi, who called Jokowi never became an activist.
The actions taken by the security forces are correct, because what they faced at that time was not a student demonstration or ordinary crime, but people who could endanger the lives of others. Thus, common views are needed to deal with radicalism or suspected terrorists in campus so that the acts of terrorism that have occurred recently and killed dozens of lives can be eradicated across Indonesia.
June
Starting June 9, 2018, Indonesian tourists are banned to enter Israel. Israeli government has issued a policy as a form of retaliation for the ban on Israeli tourists entering Indonesia. The Israeli government says, Indonesian tourists can still go to Israel until June 9. However, after June 9, they both individuals and groups will not be allowed to enter Israel. The decision is regretted by many parties because the city of Jerusalem in Israel is one of the frequently visited cities as a place of worship and religious tourism for Indonesian tourists. Indeed, Indonesia and Israel have no diplomatic relations until now. However, for tourist affairs, especially religious tourism in Israel, Indonesian tourists have a special visa. In regard to the next ban, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the people of Indonesia to understand. Therefore, each country has a policy related to the granting of visa facility. For this matter, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi has coordinated with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights (Menkumham), Yasonna Laoly. The ban on the entry of Indonesian tourists to Israel is disadvantageous not only with Indonesian tourists themselves, but also managers of travel agencies. As we known that Jerusalem is a holy city worth visiting for believers of three religions, namely Jews, Christians, and Islam. Every year, Muslims from various countries, including Indonesia visit Al-Aqsa Mosque on special visas. In addition, Indonesian Christians also make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is estimated that the number of tourists from Indonesia to Israel reaches about 40 thousand each year. With gross calculation, the financial loss due to Indonesian tourists who cannot travel to Israel per year could reach Rp 2.23 trillion. The calculation is by including the assumption of the number of tourists reaching as many as 40 thousand people and each person spends around Rp 55.8 million for the tourism cost. Indeed, the ban on Indonesian tourists to Israel does not have an economic impact for Indonesia. The ban is more social impact, especially for Muslims and Christians who want to carry out religious visit to the Holy City of Jerusalem. Especially for Christians, visiting the Holy City of Jerusalem is like doing Umrah to Saudi Arabia for Muslims. Jerusalem is the holy city for the populations of the world. Everyone has the same right to visit a place that is considered holy. So, it is not appropriate to ban anyone to make a visit to holy sites.
May
The marathon session was conducted by the Board for Investigation of Preparation for Indonesian Independence -BPUPKI from 28 May to 1 June 1945. In the time, there were 3 figures who explained about the basic state. They were Muhammad Yamin, Soepomo and Sukarno. On the 1st of June, the term Pancasila –five principles was introduced by Soekarno and by the members of the board. However, the formulation of the content of this Pancasila was being discussed at some time afterwards, as in the Jakarta Charter. The information about the emergence of the term Pancasila itself was mentioned in Sukarno's speech, which stated about Pancasila as the basis of the state. This was also the basis for the emergence of Presidential Decree No. 24/ 2016 issued by President Joko Widodo on the birth of Pancasila. Thus, June 1st is also decided as national holiday and the implementation process of the Presidential Decree began in 2017.
The history of the birth of Pancasila itself comes from the Board for Investigation of Preparation for Indonesian Independence –BPUPKI, which was conducted in Chuo Sangi In Building in Jakarta. In the Dutch Colonial era, this was called ‘Volksraad’ building. Now, the building is known as Pancasila Building. BPUPKI itself is a body formed by the Japanese occupation government on 29 April 1945. This is actually one of the engineerings to gain sympathy and support from the people of Indonesia, where Japan would give independence to the people of Indonesia.
BPUPKI formed Committee 9 whose task was to formulate the state principles and the Constitution to be included in the text of the proclamation. In making the formulation of Pancasila by the Committee 9, it was varied. There were proposals from Mohammad Yamin and Soepomo. While the formulation submitted by Sukarno at that time was different from the order of Pancasila that we know today. The state basis submitted by Sukarno at that time was in sequence namely: Nationality, Internationalism or humanity, Consensus or democracy, Social welfare, and Belief in the Almighty. But finally, Pancasila was arranged in the following order: Belief in the One, Just and Civilized Humanity, Indonesian Unity, Democracy led by Wisdom in Consensus and Social Justice for All Indonesian People.
The celebration of Pancasila's birthday in 2018 highlights the theme, "We are Pancasila: United, Sharing, Achieving" which means that Pancasila makes the Indonesian nation united and encourage the younger generation to freely enjoy a prosperous life that provides motivation to share. At the 73 year old, Pancasila is not a young age anymore. Of course, the attitude and spirit of Pancasila that exist in the younger generation need to be reawakened so as not to fade away. With the anniversary of the birth of Pancasila conducted routinely, it is expected that Indonesian young people will be more sensitive in understanding the importance of Pancasila as the state basis of Indonesian that is able to function as a unifying tool of the Indonesian nation.
June
On Tuesday (May 29, 2018) by using rockets and mortars, Hamas, a movement controlling the Gaza Strip, launched attack targeting in southern Israel. This large attack was the first since 4 years ago. Israel, which has recently committed acts of violence against Palestinian civilians, then launched a counterattack, at least 35 times, to several targets in Gaza. Israeli warplanes took part in the attack mission to the 7 locations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including ammunition warehouses.
Israel claimed no casualties on its side. Both Hamas and Israel have finally agreed to a ceasefire since Wednesday (May 30, 2018). Since the wave of Palestinian people's protests on late March, at least 120 Palestinians have been killed. The protesters called for Israel to return the occupied territory. Some of them were killed during a rally on the Gaza-Israel border, including 61 people two weeks ago. The rest were killed by Israeli air strikes.
The Israeli side claimed to simply defend the border and blame Hamas for pushing the protesters through the border. In addition to restricting the land area, Israel also conducted a blockade in the territorial waters off the coast of Gaza. This was done by installing a barrier to avoid infiltration from the Gaza Strip into the Israeli territory as happened in 2014. The Palestinians protested against the blockade. A ship carrying 20 people and several other small boats then left the fishing port of Gaza. There has been no response from the Israeli military regarding protests against the sea blockade.
The occurrence of mutual attack is certainly very unfortunate. Because Israel used sophisticated fighter jets, which were bigger than just rocket and mortar attacks. Hopefully, the ceasefire can last a long time. Both sides should refrain and prioritize negotiations. Indonesia, which supports the two-state solution, certainly wants Palestine as a real country to be established soon. Thus, one of the problems in the Middle East region can be ended.
May
Although there has been a psy-war through harsh statements, the United States and North Korea, apparently continue to prepare for the High Level Meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. US State Department Spokesman Heather Nauert in Washington said Monday, a US delegation had been on the border of the two Koreas , and that South Korea was already in talks with North Korean officials. He said both sides continue to prepare for the meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Previously , it was reported that a number of South Korean officials had even visited North Korea, and met up with the country’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. Besides preparation for possibile High Level Conference in North Korea and the borders of the two Koreas, both US and North Korean officials have visited Singapore which is planned to be the location of the Summit. Preparatory efforts can give signal that Wahington and Pyong Yang are still committed to resuming talks, although diplomatic statements may heat things up. One of the US allies, Japan, issued a declaration that gave pressure to North Korea. In a telephone conversation between Washington and Tokyo, Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to urge North Korea to dismantle all its nuclear testing sites. The Trump and Abe talks came just after high-ranking North Korean and US officials met in Pan Mun Jom to discuss the possibility of a high-level meeting. Trump and Abe, also agreed to meet before the Singapore Summit. The steps of the United States and its allies are openly expressed through media coverage. What remains unknown is the North Korean move with its greatest ally, China. North Korea certainly does not stay silent in the face of diplomatic moves by Washington. However, China’s position as a North Korean ally certainly can not be disregarded.
