American Jewish Committee, Australia - Israel and Jewish Affairs Council Release New Book on Islam in Asia

American Jewish Committee
Wednesday, 10 November 1999

The American Jewish Committee and its Australian partner agency, the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, have jointly released a new book that examines the role and influence of Islam in Asia.

The 177-page book, Islam in Asia: Changing Political Realities, was released during a weeklong visit to Australia by an AJC delegation led by AJC President Bruce M. Ramer. During the visit, the seven AJC leaders met with Australian political leaders, concluding with a private meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday, and with the Australian Jewish community.

Release of Islam in Asia in Melbourne kicked-off the AJC delegation's visit.

"The dearth of research into radical Islam in Asia is in itself a cause for concern," said Jason Isaacson, director of the AJC's Asia and Pacific Rim Institute. "This study is a serious and overdue attempt to meet the needs of the public policy community internationally for further understanding of Islamic movements in Southeast Asia.

Release of Islam in Asia came just days after the election of an Islamist leader as president of Indonesia.

"One cannot really understand events in Southeast Asia without appreciating the importance of Islamic identity and the parties, leaders and institutions associated with it," said Dr. Colin Rubenstein, executive chairman of AIJAC. "The interest of Australia, of the U.S., and of AIJAC and the American Jewish Committee, is in a peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous Southeast Asia. I believe that this timely current study offers the chance to understand and work with the local Islamic forces that can contribute to bringing this about."

Islam in Asia examines the role of Islam in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Southern Philippines, and Southern Thailand. The Indonesia and Malaysia chapters were written by Dr. Greg Barton, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Deakin University, while the other two were written by Dr. Peter Chalk, a policy analyst with the Rand Corporation and previously a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Queensland.

Among the study's key findings:

- In Indonesia, "the potential for Islam…to make a positive contribution to Indonesian society, specifically to the growth of civil society and democracy, greatly outweighs its potential to make a negative contribution." Furthermore, new President Abdulrrahman Wahid, "a democrat and liberal in all of his writings and in his public comments and private discussions," offers strong hopes of achieving this positive contribution, and "it seems reasonable to expect from his presidency a stable and reformist government."

- Despite the fact that Malaysian Islam is often perceived as "anti-liberal, anti-Western and even intolerant…the prospects for social and political change in Malaysia depend very much upon Islam, in particular upon liberal Islamic leaders and a fresh alternative vision of the way in which Islam can contribute to Malaysian society."

- In the Philippines, the threat posed by Islamic Moro groups such as the MILF and Abu Sayyaf is "is far greater than that which ever eventuated from the [nationalist] MNLF." Moreover, both economic conditions and agitation by foreign militants have contributed to these Islamic movements to the extent that "there may be little hope of successfully resolving the present insurgency in the Southern Philippines" in the short and medium term.

- The long-term future of Islamic separatist groups in Southern Thailand "appears highly questionable." Further, an end to this insurgency will depend on a "concerted effort to promote economic investment and infrastructure development" in Thailand's Malay regions, and on continued cooperation in counter-insurgency between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

- The study found that negative intervention from movements outside the region has contributed to radicalism in Southeast Asia. "Iran's continuing Asian tilt and a major effort by several Middle Eastern countries to build strong commercial and political links with Asia could have the effect of neutralizing [Asian] government attempts at controlling radicalism," the study reported.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org