VZCZCXYZ0022
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJA #1646 1641021
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131021Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5081
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHJA/ISLAMIC CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0814
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1539

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001646 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KISL ID
SUBJECT: WAHID INSTITUTE, WIESENTHAL CENTER CO-HOST 
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE CONFERENCE IN INDONESIA 
 
 
¶1.  (U) On June 12, the Wahid Institute, an Indonesian 
non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by former 
president Abdurrahman Wahid (aka Gus Dur), co-sponsored a 
one-day conference in Bali on "Tolerance between Religions: 
A Blessing for All Creation" with the Simon Wiesenthal 
Center's Museum of Tolerance and North Carolina-based NGO 
LibForAll.  The conference, which focused on ways to reduce 
inter-religious tensions around the world, included 
participation by Wahid, Israeli Rabbi Daniel Landes from 
Jerusalem's Pardes Institute, Indian Hindu guru Sri Sri Ravi 
Shankar, Jewish-American scholar Alfred Balitzer, Japanese 
philosopher Yoichi Kawada, and Holocaust survivor Sol 
Teichman.  A press release from the Wiesenthal Center noted 
that although Rabbi Landes was allowed to attend, the 
Indonesian government refused a visa for former Israeli Chief 
Rabbi Israel Lau.  Lau, who co-authored a June 12 Wall Street 
Journal editorial with Gus Dur, holds an Israeli diplomatic 
passport; Indonesia does not officially recognize Israel. 
 
¶2.  (U) Other notable Indonesian attendees included former 
Muhammadiyah Chairman Syafi'i Maarif, Jakarta-based Catholic 
leader Franz Magnis-Suseno, Nahdlatul Ulama Kyai Yusuf 
Khudlori, and Muhammadiyah Islamic scholar Abdul Munir 
Mulkhan.  Indonesian popular musicians Dhani and Once, from 
the band Dewa, and several victims of the Bali I and II 
bombings were also among the approximately 100 invited 
participants.  (Note:  Wahid, Dhani, Magnis-Suseno, Mulkhan 
are all members of U.S. NGO LibForAll's Boards of Directors 
and Advisors.  End Note).  During the conference, former Thai 
Foreign Minister Surin Pituswan gave a presentation on "The 
Road Ahead for People of Faith in an Era of Extremism," and 
while Gus Dur spoke on "Religious Faith: Source of Conflict 
or a Blessing for All Creation?," with Maarif moderating. 
Although the seminar was closed to the public, Farah Niba of 
the Wahid Institute told ConGen Surabaya that discussions 
focused on global religious tolerance and inter-faith 
cooperation. 
 
¶3.  (U) Islamic scholar Abdul Munir Mulkhan told us that the 
approximately 200-member audience also included 
schoolchildren from Indonesian religious boarding schools 
(pesantren) and public schools.  He pointed to Gus Dur as the 
power behind bringing together such a divergent group to hear 
the message asking members of all religions to work together 
and respect one another to give a blessing for all creation. 
 
¶4.  (U) Mulkhan added that the Holocaust was not a primary 
topic of the conference, but said that when the question was 
asked, Gus Dur spoke out against Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad,s statements denying the Holocaust.  The media 
reported a slightly different account, saying that the 
conference was organized in part to balance Ahmadinejad's 
ongoing Holocaust-denial campaign, and quoting Gus Dur as 
quipping that "although I'm a good friend of Ahmadinejad, I 
have to say that he is wrong.  I have visited Auschwitz's 
Museum of Holocaust and I saw many shoes of dead people. 
Because of this, I believe the Holocaust happened." 
 
¶5.  (U) Robin McDowell of the Associated Press, who attended 
the entire conference told us that she saw the most 
significant aspect of the conference as being the fact that a 
packed audience of mostly Indonesian Muslims listened 
attentively to Jews talking about the Holocaust.  The 
conference started off focusing on that issue but turned into 
a more general discussion of how to foster religious 
tolerance, McDowell said.   She said Syafi'i Maarif spoke 
mostly about how Muslims can promote tolerance.  Publicity 
for the conference was discreet, security tight, and few 
journalists attended, she said. 
HEFFERN