Precedence: bulk THOUSANDS ATTACK CHURCHES IN BEKASI JAKARTA (SiaR, 22 Dec 98). The beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadhan, Sunday (20 Dec) was marked by attacks on a number of churches in Bekasi. More than a thousand people moved that day and also destroyed 30 homes in the Harapan Baru residential area in Bekasi a day earlier. The masses stoned the St. Albert Catholic church, shattering windows and breaking down some doors. The masses also shouted that they wanted to burn the church but police and army personnel were able to drive them away. Having failed to burn the St. Albert Church, the masses moved on to a Portestant church around 200 meters away, smashing its windows. They then moved on to another church in the Pondok Ungu area. Apart from churches, the masses also damaged a Catholic school building and a medical clinic. It is not clear what motivated the masses and what triggered the mass brutality. But sources in Bekasi said that the masses attacked the churches in retaliation for the American and British attack on Bagdad, Iraq.*** ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
