Jemaah+Islamiah

 = The Causes of International Terrorism = 

Context Jemaah Islamia (or JI) is the most infamous terror organization inside Indonesia with tendrils as far reaching as Al-Qaeda. the UN defines Terrorism as any “criminal act, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.” JI personnel are committing these acts in accordance with an extremist religious principle.

In the world post 9/11, terrorist attacks are very highly publicized by the media. This increases the potency of both the attacks and the ideas behind them. Fear and hate are critical weapons in achieving political and ideological policies. But before we delve into the philosophical causes of international terrorism, we first have to understand what our organization is, their purpose, what they have done to achieve these goals, who is involved and finally their links to other international terrorist groups to get an overall picture of the global problem.   Introduction Jemaah Islamia was founded on Darul Islam ("House of Islam"), which was an extremist ideal in Indonesia beginning in the 40’s. Abu Bakar Bashir and Abdullah Sungkar officially established JI in Malaysia on The 1st of January 1993. This Malaysian excursion was caused buy a court order, instituted by the hard-line Indonesian Suharto Government, which exiled instituted by the hard-line Indonesian Suharto Government.

Over the last 10 years, Jemaah Islamia has been on the Asia Pacific stage with attacks on ambassadors to other Asian countries (Philippines) and selected international embassies (i.e. Israel, Australia). Many major attacks are attributed to them, including the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings and the devastating 2002 Bali bombings where above 200 people died.



 Jemaah Islamia’s Cause  The reason for the foundation of JI is officially to establish an “Islamic state in South East Asia, incorporating Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Philippines, Singapore and Brunei," but we believe that they have a secondary purpose of expelling all westerners from southern Asia. The purpose of this would be so they can remove fear of retribution for their terror attacks. They will use fear and hate as the basis of their new “Islamic State,” committing acts of terror on nearby western countries.

Major Attacks Jemaah Islamia’s first major attack was the Christmas Bombings of December 2000. These attacks caused the death, at a minimum, of 14 people, the destruction of many Christian churches and millions of dollars worth of property. Occurring throughout Indonesia on Christmas Eve between 9 and 10pm, these attacks were attributed to Jemaah Islamia and their associates Al-Qaeda who they are strongly linked to. After the major threat that foreigners were under was realized, a travel warning was issued by the US State Department imploring westerners to “avoid locations such as bars, restaurants and tourist areas.” This warning was mostly ignored which resulted in the possibility of a major terrorist attack.

Leaders in Jemaah Islamia Abu Bakar Bashir is believed to be the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamia, although he expressly denies knowledge of such a group. Contradicting this, Bashir was arrested and tried for aiding and abetting treason and was sentenced to four years in prison. There have been many experts who have the opinion that he could have been tried for plotting terrorist attacks and for devising a plan to assassinate the president of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri. Some specialists go so far as to call the court’s ruling a “bad decision,” stating that the “evidence was certainly sufficient for convicting him at least of being the head of J.I.” This coincides with the “very high” status he is given by the US Department of Defense.  But before Bashir there was a man called Abdullah Sungkar who lead Jemaah Islamia until his death in November 1999. There is not much information on Sungkar but he is known to be a co-founder of JI. His status is high on the US Department of Defense’s website. Even after his death he is inspiring more hatred as he is seen as a martyr.

Links to Other Terrorist Groups

<span style="font-size: 140%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"> I n 2001 JI was added to a select group of international terrorists, who, according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267, are connected to the major group Al-Qaeda. Prior to this, JI and Al-Qaeda had issued a statement that they would join together to form “one line, facing its enemies.” This link connects the might of Al-Qaeda to JI, which increased JI’s standing to an international terrorist organization. Sidney Jones, a leading expert on Indonesia and its terror organizations, states that there are “solid links” between Osama bin Laden’s network and Jemaah Islamia (J.I.). According to Sidney R. Jones (“a leading expert on Indonesia and its terror movements”) these links have their foundations when the top JI personnel were trained in Afghanistan allegedly with the top Al-Qaeda leaders over a period of ten years between 1985 and the present. The link between these groups was not only ideological though; it also had its roots in financial advancement too.



<span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">The Origin of JI’s Funding <span style="font-size: 140%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The origin of the money JI uses to buy their weapons is a question that many have asked over its short and violent history. Some suggest that they have an income supplemented by other terrorist groups, who, at the opportune moment, supply Jemaah Islamiya with weapons, services (eg training, intelligence), money and sometimes manpower. Recently, there have been reports and confessions to support this theory, including some that blatantly state that Al-Qaeda contributed both funds and training for the Bali bombers.



<span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">The Causes of International Terrorism <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 140%;">International Terrorism is caused by the following factors: -Religion -Drugs -Money -Power -Freedom (or the escape from oppression) These are the most powerful motivating factors of the modern world. a combination of these elements can be mixed in different proportions to cause the person(or group) to commit terrorism.

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<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Time Line
 * [|"August 1], [|2000] Jemaah Islamiyah attempted to assassinate the [|Philippine] ambassador to [|Indonesia], Leonides Caday. The bomb detonated as his car entered his official residence in central [|Jakarta] killing two people and injuring 21 including the Ambassador.
 * [|September 13], [|2000] a car bomb explosion tore through a packed parking deck beneath the [|Jakarta Stock Exchange] building killing 15 people and injuring 20.
 * [|December 24], [|2000] JI took part in a major coordinated terror strike, the [|Christmas Eve 2000 bombings].
 * [|March 12], [|2002] 3 JI members are arrested in [|Manila] carrying [|plastic explosives] in their luggage. One of them is later jailed for 17 years.
 * [|June 5], [|2002] Indonesian authorities arrest Kuwaiti [|Omar al-Faruq]. Handed over to the [|U.S.] authorities, he subsequently confesses he is a senior [|al-Qaeda] operative sent to [|Southeast Asia] to orchestrate attacks against US interests. He reveals to investigators detailed plans of a new terror spree in Southeast Asia.
 * After many warnings by US authorities of a credible terrorist threat in Jakarta, on [|September 23], [|2002] a grenade explodes in a car near the residence of a [|US embassy] official in [|Jakarta], killing one of the attackers.
 * [|September 26], [|2002] the [|US State Department] issued a [|travel warning] urging [|Americans] and other [|Westerners] in Indonesia to avoid locations such as bars, restaurants and tourist areas.
 * [|October 2], [|2002] a [|US Marine] and two Filipinos are killed in a JI nail-bomb attack outside a bar in the southern Philippine city of [|Zamboanga]
 * [|October 10], [|2002] a bomb rips through a bus terminal in the southern Philippine city of [|Kidapawan], killing six people and injuring 24. On the same day The US ambassador in Jakarta, [|Ralph Boyce], personally delivers to the Indonesian President a message of growing concern that Americans could become targets of terrorist actions in her country.
 * [|October 12], [|2002] On the second anniversary of the [|USS Cole bombing] in [|Yemen], a huge car bomb kills more than 202 and injures 300 on the Indonesian resort island of [|Bali]. Most are foreigners, mainly Australian tourists. It is preceded by a blast at the US consulate in nearby[| Denpasar]. The attack known as the [|2002 Bali Bombing] is the most deadly attack executed by JI to date.
 * Bashir was arrested by the Indonesian police and was given a light sentence for [|treason].
 * Hambali was arrested in [|Thailand] on [|August 11], [|2003] and is currently in prison in [|Jordan], according to [|Haaretz].
 * A bomb manual published by the Jemaah Islamiyah was used in the [|2002 Bali terrorist bombing] and the [|2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing].
 * A [|British]-born [|Australian] named [|Jack Roche] confessed to being part of a JI plot to blow up the [|Israeli] Embassy in [|Canberra], Australia on [|28 May] [|2004]. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison on [|31 May]. The man admitted to meeting figures like [|Osama bin Laden] in [|Afghanistan].
 * JI are widely suspected of being responsible for the bombing outside the Australian embassy in [|Jakarta] on [|9 Sep] [|2004] which killed 11 Indonesians and wounded over 160 more.
 * They are also suspected of committing the October 1st [|2005 Bali bombings].
 * 5 August 2006, Al-Qaeda's Al Zawahiri appeared on a recorded video announcing that JI and Al-Qaeda had joined forces and that the two groups will form 'one line, facing its enemies.' "

<span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Bibliography: http://www.cfr.org/publication/6228/jones.html?breadcrumb=%2Fbios%2F3348%2F%3Fpage%3D33# http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ig.htm wed 13/5 10:05 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemaah_Islamiyah wed 13/5 10:20 http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/ji.cfm wed 13/5 10:20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism wed20/5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakar_Ba%27ashir http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/abu_bakar_bashir.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3157478.stm#map http://212.150.54.123/spotlight/det.cfm?id=543 http://www.heritage.org/Research/nationalSecurity/images/CDA08-11_map2.gif