A few questions in response to Paul's email.
Does opposition to a UN-authorised, Australian-led 'intervention' force
(or to any intervention at all) mean that you support the activities of
the Indonesian occupiers (military and 'settlers') over the last 25 years,
particularly of late? Does that mean you feel the Indonesian invasion and
occupation of East Timor was justified?
Does that mean you are happy for the East Timorese to be driven from their
own country; just as they appear to be on the verge of getting at least
some say in their own affairs?
The Indonesians moved into East Timor when Portugal no longer had the will
or the power to resist them or to continue administering the colony.
The Indonesians were occupiers and colonists at least as much as the
Portugese had ever been. I feel a worse crime than a heavy-handed
intervention now was the complicity of regional governments (including
Australia) and the 'international community' at the time and for most of
the intervening period.
It shall be interesting to see what happens in those other parts of the
Indonesian archipelago where local peoples' rights and economic power have
been subverted by the influx of people from other parts of Indonesia,
notably Javanese. Places such as Aceh and Ambon are already seeing a great
deal of unrest. Will the local movements there take heart from the
'success' of the East Timorese and escalate matters?
Another issue is how East Timor has really only become a media topic in
the northern hemisphere quite lately. Yes, there were the occasional items
over the years but no detailed coverage until now.
The Australian media has had a much longer involvement, and the story was
kept running. Admittedly you could argue a kind of self-interest - five
Australian (or Australian-based) journalists were killed in the invasion
and their deaths have never adequately been explained.
As for East Timor's economic viability or otherwise I would be interested
in hearing more about what is going to happen with the Timor Gap Treaty -
an agreement signed by the Indonesian and Australian governments some
years ago agreeing to the exploration and exploitation of the oil fields
in the Timor Sea. Will those rights now switch to the East Timorese? How
much a role have these resources played in motivating involvement by
outside powers, particularly Australia?
----
au revoir
niall johnson
Email: [log in to unmask]
Department of Geography and Sidney Sussex College
University of Cambridge Cambridge
United Kingdom CB2 3EN United Kingdom CB2 3HU
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