The Construction of an Anti-Western Islamist Discourse in Indonesian Magazines Juni Alfiah Chusjairi This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for the School of Social Sciences and Psychology University of Western Sydney, Australia 2014 Dedication For my beloved husband, Godo Tjahjono, and my lovely boys, Data Avicenna and Excel Arrayyan Acknowledgements I would like to thank the people who have given me support, both moral and financial, in my studies. I thank the University of Western Sydney for granting me the UWS International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, and also the School of Social Sciences and Psychology which supported my extension. This scholarship allowed me and my family to survive during my PhD studies. To my Principal Supervisor, Dr Steven Drakeley, I am sincerely grateful, not only for his supervision, his supporting my scholarship extension, and his kind understanding and encouragement, but also for his broad knowledge of Islam and Indonesia which greatly extended my understanding. I would not have been able to achieve this without his help. To my other Supervisory Panelists I offer my thanks for their supervision and suggestions: to Associate Professor Hart Cohen and Dr Milissa Deitz from the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, for their critical comments on the area of media and communication as part of this thesis. I thank Ms Vanessa Goldie-Scott, of the special academic English staff, who helped with my English throughout this thesis. Special thank you also to Rhubarb Editing and Expert Editor who carried the copy editing of this thesis. I wish to thank Professors and Senior Lecturers from the Religion and Society Research Centre. I offer my thanks to Associate Professor Adam Possamai, who helped and supported my extension, and to Eva Garcia, who helped with my administrative work in so many ways during my candidature. I am grateful to my friends during the PhD years: to Farjana Mahbuba, a kind and helpful friend, for her help and for sharing some administrative work; to my PhD friends, mbak Atun, mbak Ila, mas Daus; and to my friends who finished earlier, mas Zen and Irfa, mas Muttaqin and mbak Alim, Anne Lawrence and Lisa Worthington. I thank them all for their friendship during my stay in Sydney and for sharing the PhD experience. Other people whom I would like to mention, who were also kind and supported me in many ways, are long time family friends Martin and Chris O’Hare and Melanie Morrison. I thank them for helping me to understand and adapt to the Australian culture. I would also like to thank my friends who have helped during my research in Jakarta, mas Asrori (Gatra), mas Rani (Sabili), Fajar Hermawan (Tempo), Pak Mahladi (Suara Hidayatullah) and a long-time classmate Agus Sudibyo (Indonesian Press Council). I thank friends and colleagues at Paramadina University, Jakarta, who allowed me to take study leave. I would not have been able to undertake the PhD study and this thesis without the sincere prayers and encouragement of my parents, both of whom are university academics: Professor Akhmad Khusyairi and Dra Rosyidah. Their ongoing support never fails. My brothers have also been great supporters: Anton Alifandi, Ivan Syahbana Khusyairi, and my twin brother, Johny Alfian Khusyairi. I thank also my aunt, Aini Munarip, who supported and took care of me during my years in Sydney. This long journey could not have been undertaken without the kind and loving understanding of my husband, Godo Tjahjono, who has always supported me. I feel blessed and grateful for his on-going support in pursuing my dream. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. ...................................................... Juni Alfiah Chusjairi ( March 13, 2014 ) Table of Contents Table of contents i List of figure and tables v Abbreviations vi List of peoples mentioned. viii Abstract x Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Research Questions 5 1.3 Previous studies on terrorism/bombings 7 1.4 Methodological approach 9 1.5 Methodology and data gathering 10 1.5.1 The magazines and articles analysed 10 1.5.2 Profiles of the magazines 11 1.5.3 The selected bombings 14 1.5.4 The readers 16 1.5.5 The Journalists 16 1.6 Structure of the thesis 17 Chapter 2 Political Islam, Islamisation and Islamism in Contemporary Indonesia 18 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 Background of Islam and politics in contemporary Indonesia 19 2.2.1 Islam and politics in the New Order 19 2.2.2 Islam and politics in the post-New Order 24 2.2.4 Islamisation 26 2.3 Islamism and radicalism in Indonesia 29 2.3.1 Defining Islamism 29 2.3.2 Background of radical Islam in Indonesia: Jama’ah Islamiyah and 31 Darul Islam 2.4 Terrorism and anti-Americanism 34 2.4.1 Terrorism and jihad 34 2.4.2 Voices of anti-western sentiments and conspiracy theories 36 2.5 Conclusion 41 Chapter 3 The Indonesian Press in Context 43 3.1 The press in the New Order 43 3.1.1 State control 43 3.1.2 The general and the Islamic press in the New Order 46 3.1.2.1 The general press/publications 46 3.1.2.2 The Islamic press/publications 48 3.2 The press in the reform era 51 3.2.1 Liberalisation of the press and the media 51 i 3.2.2 The Islamic press in the reform era 53 3.2.3 The dissemination of Islamist discourse in the press 55 3.3 Contemporary Indonesian mediascape and the Islamist discourse: 57 An analytical Framework 3.3.1 The social and political context 57 3.3.2 The influence of Muslim globalisation on Indonesia’s 59 Mediascape 3.4 Conclusion 63 Chapter 4 Methodology 64 4.1 The paradigm approach and the social construction of news 65 4.1.1 The paradigm approach 65 4.1.2 The social construction of news 66 4.2 Quantitative content analysis and framing 66 4.3 Coding manual 68 4.3.1 Themes/Topics 69 4.3.2 News Sources 70 4.4 Coding and reliability testing 71 4.4.1 Coding procedure 71 4.4.2 Testing reliability 72 4.5 Social semiotics 72 4.6 Readers’ responses 74 4.7 Additional data collection 75 4.8 Limitations and strengths of the methodology 75 Chapter 5 Islamist Discourse in the General Magazines 76 5.1 Tempo 77 5.2 Tempo news sources 77 5.3 Tempo frames 79 5.4 Gatra 80 5.5 Gatra news sources 81 5.6 Gatra frames 83 5.7 Gatra’s chronological order of the bombings 86 5.8 Choice of words in association with the perpetrators 87 5.9 The journalists: Background and perspective 88 5.10 Discussion 89 5.11 Conclusion 92 Chapter 6 Islamist Discourse in the Islamist Magazines 93 6.1 Sabili 93 6.2 Sabili news sources 94 6.3 The western countries mentioned in the articles 96 6.4 Frames relating to western countries 97 6.5 Bombing frames in chronological order 101 6.6 Suara Hidayatullah 102 6.7 Suara Hidayatullah news sources 102 ii 6.8 Western countries mentioned in Suara Hidayatullah 104 6.9 Frames in Suara Hidayatullah 104 6.10 Discussion 106 6.10.1 The Journalists : Background and perspective 106 6.10.2 Constructing an anti-western Islamist discourse 106 6.11 Conclusion : Sabili and Suara Hidayatullah 110 Chapter 7 A Closer Look at the Articles: The General Magazines 112 7.1 Tempo 113 7.1.1 Bali bomb 1 (12 October 2002) 113 7.1.2 JW Marriott 1 bombing (5 August 2003) 115 7.1.3 Australian Embassy bombing (9 September 2004) 115 7.1.4 Bali bomb 2 (1 October 2005) 117 7.1.5 JW Marriott 2/Ritz Carlton bombing (17 July 2009) 117 7.1.6 Brief summary of Tempo 118 7.2 Gatra 119 7.2.1 Bali bomb 1 (12 October 2002) 119 7.2.2 JW Marriott 1 bombing (5 August 2003) 122 7.2.3 Australian Embassy bombing (9 September 2004) 123 7.2.4 Bali bomb 2 (1 October 2005) 123 7.2.5 JW Marriott 2/Ritz Carlton bombing (17 July 2009) 125 7.2.6 Brief summary of Gatra 127 7.3 Conclusion 128 Chapter 8 A Closer Look at the Articles: The Islamist Magazines 130 8.1 Sabili 130 8.1.1 Bali bomb 1 (12 October 2002) 130 8.1.2 JW Marriott 1 bombing (5 August 2003) 134 8.1.3 Australian Embassy bombing (9 September 2004) 136 8.1.4 Bali bomb 2 (1 October 2005) 138 8.1.5 JW Marriott 2/Ritz Carlton bombing (17 July 2009) 140 8.1.6 Brief summary of Sabili 141 8.2 Suara Hidayatullah 143 8.2.1 Bali bomb 1 (12 October 2002) 143 8.2.2Australian Embassy bombing (9 September 2004) 145 8.2.3 Brief summary of Suara Hidayatullah 147 8.3 Conclusion 148 Chapter 9 The Readers’ Responses 151 9.1 The general magazines readers’ profile 152 9.1.1 Gatra readers’ profile 152 9.1.2 Tempo readers’ profile 152 9.2 The Islamist magazines readers’ profile 153 9.2.1 Sabili readers’ profile 154 9.2.3Suara Hidayatullah readers’ profile 154 9.3 The mixed magazines readers’ profile 154 iii 9.4 Response to and perceptions of western countries 155 9.4.1 An overview 155 9.4.2 Tempo readers 156 9.4.3 Gatra readers 157 9.4.4 Sabili readers 157 9.4.5Suara Hidayatullah readers 158 9.4.6 Mixed readers(Tempo/Gatra and Sabili/ 159 Suara Hidayatullah) 9.5 Response to the bombings and the perpetrators behind the bombings 159 9.5.1 An overview 159 9.5.2 Tempo readers 160 9.5.3 Gatra readers 161 9.5.4 Sabili readers 161 9.5.5 Suara Hidayatullah readers 162 9.5.6 Mixed readers(Tempo/Gatra and Sabili/Suara Hidayatullah).