Ambon City
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Ambon City (1990 pop. 275,888) is the main city and seaport of Ambon Island, and is the capital of Maluku (Indonesian province) province of Indonesia. It is one of the largest cities in eastern Indonesia. The city was the site of some of the worst violence between Christian and Muslim groups that gripped the Maluku archipelago between 2000 and 2002.
Ambon City has an airport, and was home to the Pattimura University, a state university, and the Indonesian Christian University of Maluku (Universitas Kristen Indonesia Maluku, or UKIM), a private Protestant university, though both were seriously damaged during the violence in 2000-2002.
Ambon was colonized by Portugal in 1526, until the Portuguese were driven out by the Dutch in 1609. Except for brief periods of British rule, the island remained under Dutch control until Indonesia's independence in 1948. During the Dutch period, Ambon City was the seat of the Dutch resident and military commander of the Moluccas. The town was protected by Fort Victoria, and a 1911 encyclopedia characterized it as "a clean little town with wide streets, well planted". The population was divided into two classes: orang burger or citizens, and orang negri or villagers, the former being a class of native origin enjoying certain privileges conferred on their ancestors by the old Dutch East India Company. There were also, besides the Dutch, some Arabs, Chinese and a few Portuguese settlers. Ambon City was the site of a major Dutch naval base, which was captured in World War II by the Japanese in 1942. Ambon was a center of Christian missionary activity, and Ambon and the surrounding islands have many Christians as well as the Muslims that predominate in most of Indonesia.
In 1950, Ambon City was the center of an uprising against Indonesian rule, which resulted in the Republic of the South Moluccas declaring its independence from Indonesia. Indonesia reasserted control in 1952. Nationalist sentiment continued on the islands.
Inter-communal violence between Christians and Muslims broke out in January 1999, and resulted in the destruction of parts of Ambon City, including parts of Pattimura University.
Fighting has erupted sporadically since 1999, and many Ambonese were been displaced by the violence. The violence decreased in late 2002, and, aside from a spate of bombings in April 2004, as of January 2005, the city is relatively peaceful. The Islamic group Laskar Jihad, which was involved in some of the violence, disbanded itself in October 2002, though rumours after the April 2004 bombings held that it had regrouped.
What are involved in the riot: from simple things like knives, arrows, until big and advanced thing like bomb, and big guns. That was a war. At the beginning period (1999-2000), the police and Indonesian army were not professional at all, they were taking side. if the police member is Muslim, they will stand with Muslim and attack Christian, and vice versa.
Some people have turned this issue for political purposes. Jihad people had training in some places in Java and then being sent to Ambon to "protect" their Muslim people. This is a politic of Muslim expansion to east Indonesia (FYI: Ambon and other towns in East Indonesia, has majority of Christians, and we have been the reason why Indonesia never be a Muslim country). These group are well-organized and have fund from their supporters.
Another thing is (as you read above), in early years (1950) after Indonesian Independence, the country was struggling to find the perfect government, and as result there were many failures in country arrangement and conflicts. At that time some local people at my place decided that we should have our own country, and not depend on Javanese Government. These people had support from Netherland and Europe. They declared their own country, but of course it was a rebellion, so the government cut them down. Now, there are still some people that think Moluccas should be independent and Ambon will be its capital. Encouraged by East Timor's Independence, they are rising now, and using the current situation to get what they want. In 2001, the Police figured out that one of the activist is responsible in planning some major attacks, set the bombs, and created the conflicts when the situation was cooling down. These people are organized, and they have funds and support from outside as well.
Politic is the reason why there is still unrest in Ambon until now. Foreign people are encouraged to stay away, unless there is really important matter. Tension is building up at certain time, like 25th of April (RSM anniversary), Muslim's Public Holiday (Idul Fitri, Qorban, etc), or Christian's Public Holiday (Christmas, Easter, etc).
The city of Ambon is still partially segregated along religious lines, due to painful memories from the conflict. However, since the peace accord, people from both faiths has had increasing rate of interaction through trade and commerce, and multi-faith schools are appearing once more.