Christians from troubled parts of Indonesia were among a group of some 100 persecuted people from around the world who participated in a rally outside United Nations headquarters Wednesday. They urged the world body to act against what they called "jihad violence" against non-Muslim minorities and Muslim moderates.
The event, organized by the Illinois-based Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, brought together representatives of communities from eight countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. All the participants claim a common status as victims of Islamic extremism.
The group included Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and moderate and secular Muslims, as well as women from Islamic societies, said coalition secretary-general Keith Roderick, an Episcopalian minister.
Among them was a pastor from Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, who traveled to New York City to bring the plight of his community to the attention of the international community, while leaving his family behind, Roderick said by phone from the U.S.
"Pastor Ferdinand Suraeng's wife and children, and his relatives are still in the region. He's in direct contact with them, directly affected as they're in danger themselves."
The coalition challenges claims that violence in places like Indonesia, Sudan and Nigeria is "sectarian" - a label Roderick said suggested that the two sides were equally to blame.
"This is not necessarily sectarian violence, but almost a genocidal conflict," he said.
Roderick stressed that radical Islamists, rather than ordinary Muslims, were responsible. Muslim women from Afghanistan, who suffered immensely under the harsh rule of the Taliban, also took part in Wednesday's rally.
Indonesian participants brought with them a list of names of Arab and South Asian "jihad fighters" allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda network, some of whom had been involved in recent anti-Christian violence in Central Sulawesi, he said.
Shortly before Christmas, local Christian and Muslim representatives signed a peace accord aimed at ending the violence in the Indonesian province which has cost around 1,000 lives since mid-2000. The agreement followed a spate of attacks on Christian villages since November, attacks attributed by Christians to the arrival in the area of armed militants from Java, Indonesia's main island.
Although tensions have eased, Roderick said, "the pressure is still there."
"Once international attention was drawn to the issue, it was able to subside to a degree, but it's not resolved by any stretch of the imagination."
The New York rally, held in cold and rainy weather, was addressed by speakers from Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Egypt and Nigeria, all claiming persecution in their countries.
Some pointed to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, saying they provided further reason for the international community to pay attention to what was happening to minorities in predominantly Muslim countries.
Other participants included Guardian Angel leader Curtis Sliwa, Christian clinical psychologist Roy Vogel and Rabbi Joel Potasnik, a community leader and chaplain to the New York fire department.
A letter delivered to U.N officials urged secretary-general Kofi Annan and human rights commissioner Mary Robinson to appoint a special envoy to investigate "the status and conditions of non-Muslim minorities, women, and humanist, moderate Muslims in states ruled by Islamic majorities."
The letter decried what it called "the murderous ideology of radical Islamism, which, by dividing humankind into worthy Muslims and inferior 'infidels' is wreaking havoc throughout the world."
Countries like Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran and Pakistan were accused of subjugating those considered "infidels" (unbelievers).
The U.N. was urged to condemn "radical jihad-Islamism" as a form of cultural, racial, religious and ethnic discrimination.
Different backgrounds, common goals
The coalition is an umbrella of organizations representing different communities, including indigenous Christian minorities in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan and elsewhere, as well as other non-Muslim minorities, secular Muslims and women's groups.
Roderick described it as a "resistance movement, an international civil rights movement."
"It's not just a human rights issue dealing with legalities and political realities. It really is a movement of people with a common bond. What they want to do is strengthen their communities, so they can preserve cultural integrity. Ultimately having a strong self-identity and a strong community and institutions is the best form of resistance to the kind of activity perpetrated against them."
What struck him about Wednesday's event, he said, was that it drew together people of completely different nationalities, religions and cultures.
"But when they met together and talked about the process of 'Islamicization' and how it affected their individual communities, there was a common bond established because of a shared experience of suffering."
Roderick said in the "melting pot" that is the United States, people from these threatened communities were able to find each other and work together.
"There are a lot of exiles here. They look for people who can understand what they've been going through and who understand the language they speak. I feel like a facilitator of this process, putting people together to share information and resources," he said.
"For such a long time these people have not had a substantial voice in what has happened to them."