Police and soldiers watched, on Friday (June 27), about 200 Muslims attacked a Christian youth hideout at their Indonesian home, kicking out participants and damaging their property, sources said.
Carrying the banner and screaming, “We will destroy that house and destroy that house,” Friday’s mosque prayer attacked Skabumi in Shidav district, West Java, Skabumi in West Java, Skabumi in West Java and Skabumi in West Java at about 1:30pm, according to Skabumi in Skabumi.
Insisting that the home should not be used as a place of worship, the mob also reportedly threw bikes into a nearby river, damaging the main gate.
A video circulating online shows a man climbing onto a wall and removing a wooden cross attached to it, using it to break a window. In another video, individuals can be seen damaging a property with chairs and various tools. Other videos show damage to the car.
Sources said the officers eventually evacuated 36 Christian Youth Retreat participants and three cars to the site to avoid physical violence. The video shows several frightened boys and girls trying to get into the car as the mob yells to leave the retreat complex.
The protesters argued that they were not intolerant, but rather motivated by the belief that worshipping in an unauthorized venue for religious purposes would disrupt peace.
“It’s not that we are intolerant, but we are concerned if the service is secretly held and worship is held in a 100% Muslim settlement without permission,” one resident said. “Why should I go to an official place of worship?”
The demonstrations and attacks reportedly met Wedy, the younger brother of Maria Veronica Ninna, the owner of the house at the time, and Wedy, Maria Veronica Ninna, to inquire about her status in the House, from Sidaff officials and other authorities.
The head of Tori Lomadno, the national unity and political institution of Skabu Millegency, said the attack was voluntary.
“The incident occurred due to a voluntary reaction by residents to a home that is being used as a place of worship without official permission,” said Tori, according to Sukabumiupdate.com. “This is neither a church nor a worship service. The house is inappropriately used for religious activities.”
According to Permadialya, an Indonesian rights activist known as Abujanda, only church buildings require a construction permit.
According to the joint order of two ministers’ joint order of two ministers’ joint orders written in 2023, “stores and cafes that hold worship services at home do not require permission.”
Such houses, cafes and shophouses can be identified with traditional Muslim prayer rooms (musola), and Christians should be treated equally, as Muslims do not require permission from them.
The local neighbours head, who was identified only as Hendra, said the house was used for worship on three occasions.
“We warned them and banned them, but the activities are still in place,” Hendra said. “The residents can no longer tolerate it because this place is not an official place of worship and has caused anxiety for a while.”
A local community leader who requested anonymity said mediation has been ongoing since April, but said “but worship activities continue.”
According to Mataniusa.com, village chief Ijang Sehabudin confirmed that officials are in consultation with homeowners and residents.
“We gave advice not to use it in worship, but it was ignored,” Yijan reportedly. “So the residents came straight away. They felt that the rights of the environment were being disturbed because this house is not a legal place of worship, but a legal place of residence.”
Arguing that there are certain rules for spaces designated for worship, he said, “This place should be considered a home, not a place of worship. There are rules to follow if you wish to apply for a place of worship.”
The protesting residents agreed to pay damages to the home, Yijan said on Saturday (June 28), but he emphasized that the affected home was a “not a church or a place of worship.”
District officials issued a statement claiming that the church would not take legal action against the perpetrators and that there was an agreement to resolve the dispute through discussion, “requiring homeowners to use their property only as a home, not for worship.”
“We believe that similar incidents will never happen again in the future,” the statement read. “We are ready to compensate for damages and repair the affected home. We will ensure that the incident in question is not a vandalism of a place of worship.”
Intolerance
Permady, a religious liberal activist, described the incident as a matter of intolerance and “Christian horror,” claiming that the government would turn a blind eye to Christians.
“There is no cure for intolerance in western Indonesia,” he said on social media. “Christian students were attacked by residents at the Sukabumi retreat, kicked out of their villas, and the villas were destroyed by the public.”
The attitudes of officials reflect anti-Christian sentiment, he said.
“This is not a matter of permit,” he said. “This is purely a Christian horror and has been permitted by the state since the time of (former President) Jokowi’s Prabowo.”
Since the passage of Indonesia’s Joint Ministerial Order in 2006, Islamic extremists have used the shortage of building permits as an excuse to close or attack church sites. Even when small churches were able to meet the requirement to obtain 90 approval signatures from members of the congregation, they often met delays or lack of responses from officials when they managed to obtain 60 approvals from local households of different religions.
Indonesian society adopts a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelical outreach risk being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to the open door.
