Why would Jihadis target Balinese?

Terrorizing the Tolerant Geoffrey Clarfield , National Post, October 6, 2005

Geoffrey Clarfield is a Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Canadian Coalition for Democracies

[. . . . ] By the end of the sixteenth century much of Indonesia had been converted to Islam, especially the inhabitants of its largest islands, Java and Sumatra.

Until the early 1500s Java and Bali, which had been ruled by the Hindus of the Majapahit Empire, was conquered by local Muslim dynasties. Most of the Hindu remnants of the Majapahits migrated to the island of Bali to escape conversion. Until today the majority of Bali's more than three million inhabitants are devout Hindus. They are the last remnant of what was once the dominant culture of the region before the coming of Islam. [. . . . ]

It is therefore not surprising that Indonesian suicide bombers take great delight in carrying out their attacks against their Australian enemies who holiday on the island of Bali. In their eyes, if Balinese Hindus die during their attacks this is not a moral dilemma. They are not thought of as fellow citizens. In the eyes of suicide bombers they are infidels, and like their ancestors they can either convert or die. Before 9/11 Westerners and Balinese Hindus seemed worlds apart. It took Muslim terrorists to teach us how alike we really are.

Balinese Hinduism -- an historical overview. Worth reading.

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