VZCZCXRO5425
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0004/01 0131015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131015Z JAN 09
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0347
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0168
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0333
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0353

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000004 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, INR/EAP, DRL/PHD, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINS ID PHUM KISL
SUBJECT: EAST JAVA AND CENTRAL SULAWESI: RHETORIC HEATS UP PEACEFUL 
PROTESTS LINKING US TO ISRAELI ACTION IN GAZA 
 
SURABAYA 00000004  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary: Demonstrations against Israeli military 
action in the Gaza strip remain peaceful in Surabaya.  Four 
recent demonstrations have focused on the Consulate itself and 
one on the Consular Agency in Bali.    In Surabaya, protestors 
led by a local leader in the Islamic Cleric's Association (MUI), 
entered the front courtyard of one of Indonesia's few synagogues 
on January 7.  Some demonstrators called for the "sweeping" of 
Israelis and "evicting" of Americans coupled with a boycott of 
US products.  Local media report small demonstrations occurring 
daily in other cities in East Java.  In Central Sulawesi 
demonstrators ransacked a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in 
Palu.  In Poso, some demonstrators who participated in past 
sectarian conflict locally have "registered" to participate in 
jihad in Palestine.  The Consulate was able to continue safe 
operations during the demonstrations.  End Summary 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Demonstrations at Congen Surabaya opposing Israeli 
military action in Gaza remain peaceful.  There has not been any 
violence, injury or arrest despite calls to "sweep" Israelis and 
Americans.  In 2007 two members of the Islamic Defenders Front 
(FPI) were arrested and eventually convicted for damaging the 
Consulate's front gate during a 2006 demonstration.  The term 
"sweep" has been used by FPI elsewhere in Indonesia to describe 
everything from makeshift road blocks to ransacking businesses 
and intimidation.  As a consequence of the 2006 demonstration, 
Surabaya city authorities maintain a "demonstration limit line" 
one hundred meters to either side of the Consulate's front 
entrance.  This new line, coupled with well-coordinated police 
response has greatly improved the safety of the Consulate. 
 
 
 
Now Routine and Largely Peaceful 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  On January 9 thirty members of Masyarakat Ormawa 
Uwks, an Islamic Student Group, burned the Israeli flag and 
collected donations for Palestine during their demonstration at 
the Consulate.  Three members of the group requested direct 
negotiations with the US Consul General, the police refused to 
let them pass their barricade.  Protestors were met by 75 police 
from the Indonesian National Police Mobile Brigade (BRIMOB) 
uniformed and undercover police.  No arrests were made, there 
was no damage to property, and the demonstration ended 
peacefully. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  On January 8, roughly one thousand members of Front 
Umat Islam (FUI), Forum Pembela Islam (FPI) from Lamongan and 
Sidoarjo and Forum Madura Bersatu (Formabes) demonstrated at 
Congen Surabaya.  The Secretary General of FPI, Mohamad 
Khaerudin said "the U.S. is behind Israel's attack on 
Palestine."  They demanded the UN take action or they will 
"sweep" Israeli tourists and boycott U.S. products.  The chair 
of Formabes, HR Nasir Zaini claimed that 55 members of his 
organization had signed up for jihad in Palestine.  Some thirty 
FPI protestors tried to outflank police by using a side street 
to access the Consulate's front gate but were stopped by police. 
 Approximately 400 Mobile Brigade and Surabaya city police were 
on hand to protect the Consulate. 
 
 
 
Surabaya's Synagogue a Target 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Protestors entered the courtyard of the Jalan Kayoon 
Synagogue and burned Israeli flags and symbolically "sealed" the 
courtyard gate with a chain on January 7.  A small Star of 
David, part of a mezuzah door ornament at the building's 
entrance was reportedly broken and burned by protestors. 
 
SURABAYA 00000004  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Abdushomad Buchori, Head of East Java Islamic Clerics 
Association told local media that the synagogue is a "symbol of 
Judaism and Zionism and should be closed permanently."  Congen 
Surabaya confirmed that the Synagogue courtyard gates are now 
locked from within by the synagogue's caretakers and is not now 
"sealed" with a chain by protestors.  The caretaker told Congen 
Surabaya that no further demonstrations have occurred there 
since January 7. 
 
 
 
Largest Ever Demonstration at Bali Consular Agency 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
----------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Roughly 300 men and women from a various Islamic 
organizations, NGO's, and universities protested Israel at the 
U.S. Consular Agency in Denpasar on January 2.  Two provincial 
legislators from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) joined the 
students march from the governor's mansion to the Consular 
Agency.  The demonstrators chanted, "Israel is barbaric", 
"America is a puppet of Israel", and "America is the Father of 
Israel".  This was the largest demonstration on record at the 
U.S. Consular Agency in Denpasar and the facility was closed at 
noon as a precaution. 
 
 
 
Central Sulawesi 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU)  The most recent and largest demonstration in Central 
Sulawesi has been in Palu where hundreds of members from the 
Muslim Students Association (HMI), the Indonesia Islamic Student 
Association(PII), and various Islamic organizations gathered in 
front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on January 7.  A 
local witness told Congen Surabaya that the demonstrators called 
for a general boycott of U.S. products.  The protest was 
peaceful until some started to burn tires and U.S. and Israeli 
flags.  Demonstrators then forced their way into the restaurant, 
breaking chairs and stealing frozen chicken and restaurant 
supplies.  They demanded that the KFC close for three days.  The 
restaurant owner agreed to close on Friday, January 9 and opened 
the next day.  Events in Gaza have become linked with Central 
Sulawesi's own long-standing sectarian conflict.  In Poso, some 
men known locally as combatants during the conflict have started 
to "register" as volunteers for jihad in Palestine.  So far 50 
people have registered for jihad through Forum Mujahid Poso, and 
are reportedly undergoing physical training. 
MCCLELLAND