Yahudi di Indonesia

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EHN

Satu lagi berita yang cukup bikin panas kuping mendengar, membaca bahkan melihat di TV bahwa di Surabaya terdapat sinagog (synagogue) tempat ibadah umat Yahusi.... 

Langsung googling... the fact hurts...

Sejarah panjang umat dan praktek ibadah Yahudi di Indonesia sudah berjalan lama (dan aman - serta biasa saja .... ).

Walau ngga ngaruh, tapi faktanya beberapa tokoh Indonesia pun merupakan keturunan umat Yahudi. Sebut saja, Yapto, Marini, Shellomita, Cornelia Agatha, Ahmad Dani....

Satu hal yang membuat saya curios - I thought you have to born Jew to become a Jew.....

Bener ngga ya?

Kalo ngga bener koq di Indonesia ada umat Yahudi.... ???

Satu lagi, ternyata ada sebuah perusahaan yang pernah (atau masih???) melakukan kontak dagang dengan Israel....

(1) JEJAK YAHUDI DI INDONESIA

SEJAK gerakan zionis internasional Freemasonry didirikan di Inggris tahun 1717, orang Yahudi lebih suka menyelubungi aktivitas mereka dengan selimut perkumpulan teosofi yang bertujuan "kemanusiaan". Pengumpulan dana dipusatkan di New York. Sejak 17 November 1875, pimpinannya adalah seorang Yahudi di Rusia, Nyonya Blavatsky. Jurnal The Theosofist, yang diterbitkan di New York, pada terbitan tahun 1881 menyiarkan kabar bahwa Blavatsky mengutus Baron van Tengnagel untuk mendirikan loge, rumah ibadat kaum Vrijmetselarij/Freemasonry di Pekalongan. Kota ini dipilih karena sejak 1868 berubah status dari desa menjadi kota, di samping dikenal sebagai konsentrasi santri di Jawa Tengah. Loge didirikan tahun 1883, tetapi tidak berkembang karena reaksi keras masyarakat berhubung praktek ritualisme mereka, yaitu memanggil arwah. Karena itu, penduduk menyebut loge sebagai gedong setan.

Pengalaman Pekalongan memaksa mereka mengalihkan kegiatan ke Batavia. Dua loge besar didirikan di Jalan Merdeka Barat (sebelumnya bernama Blavatsky Straat), dan Jalan Budi Utomo (sebelumnya bernama Vrijmetselarijweg). Dua loge itu, di samping loge yang didirikan di Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, menjadi pusat kegiatan ritual saja, untuk Yahudi Belanda dan Eropa, yang bekerja di Hindia Belanda di sektor birokrasi VOC/Pemerintah Hindia Belanda, dan swasta.

Hindia Belanda dianggap negeri yang aman sebagai wilayah operasi mereka, karena penduduk menganggap Yahudi Belanda/Eropa sebagai orang Nasrani. Di samping itu, Gubernur Hindia Belanda selalu menjadi pembina Rotary Club.

Aktivitas ritual belaka berujung pada kebuntuan: gerakan zionis jalan di tempat. Maka, gerakan zionisme intenasional untuk Asia, yang berpusat di Adyar, India, pada 31 Mei 1909 mengutus Ir. A.J.E. van Bloomenstein ke Jawa.

Untuk mengubah pola pergerakan, pada 12 November 1912 Bloomenstein berhasil mendirikan Theosofische Vereeniging (TV), yang kemudian mendapatkan rechtpersoon, pengakuan, dan dimuat dalam Staatblaad No. 543.

TV bekerja di kalangan intelektual dan calon intelektual bumiputra. TV pun membiayai Kongres Pemuda I, 1926. Kongres itu bahkan digelar di loge Broederkaten di Vrijmetselarijweg. Akibatnya, ormas pemuda memboikot kongres itu, dan reaksinya adalah, pada 27 dan 28 Oktober 1928 ormas pemuda menggelar Kongres Pemuda II yang menghasilkan Sumpah Pemuda.

Aktivitas zionis yang kian meningkat di Hindia Belanda tidak saja di kalangan masyarakat, melainkan juga di pemerintahan, menjelang dan pasca-Perang Dunia I itu, menggelisahkan orang-orang Jerman. Terutama peran Snouk Hurgronje, Belanda Yahudi, dalam Perang Aceh.

Seperti diketahui, Turki sebagai sekutu Jerman gagal membantu Aceh karena panjangnya garis supply. Kehadiran agen zionis internasional Sneevliet di Jawa, yang berhasil mengkader pemuda intelektual Indonesia, makin menguatkan tekad Jerman untuk meruntuhkan pemerintah zionis Hindia Belanda.

Hal itu tercium oleh agen Belanda. Tersebarlah isu bahwa H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto menerima dana 2 juta gulden untuk mengkudeta kompeni. Untuk mengonfirmasi kebenaran isu itu, Agus Salim ditugaskan menguntit Tjokroaminoto. Ironisnya, kewibawaan Tjokroaminoto malah mempesona Salim, dan tahun 1918 Salim mengetok kawat dari Surabaya, mengabarkan bahwa ia masuk SI (Sarikat Islam) dan berhenti sebagai agen.

Di bidang bisnis, orang Yahudi di Jakarta menguasai pusat bisnis elite di Pasar Baru, Jalan Juanda, dan Jalan Majapahit. Mereka menguasai perdagangan permata, jam tangan, dan kacamata. Pusat hiburan elite di Jakarta juga diramaikan oleh pemusik Yahudi Polandia. Akhirnya, Batavia menjadi salah satu kota zionis yang terpenting di Asia.

Maka, tidak mengherankan ketika Jepang sebagai sekutu Jerman merebut Indonesia dari tangan Belanda, Jepang melakukan kampanye anti-zionis itu. Tokoh-tokoh zionis Hindia Belanda, seperti Ir. Van Leeweun, dikirim ke kamp tahanan dan tewas di situ. Kesadaran anti-zionis juga merebak di kalangan rakyat. Dr. Ratulangi pada Maret 1943 memimpin rapat raksasa di Lapangan Ikada, mengutuk zionisme.

Usaha menghidupkan lagi gerakan zionisme masih dilakukan pascakemerdekaan. Pada 14 Juni 1954, berdiri Jewish Community in Indonesia, dipimpin Ketua F. Dias Santilhano dan Panitera I. Khazam. Di dalam anggaran dasarnya dinyatakan, perkumpulan itu merupakan kelanjutan dari Vereeniging Voor Joodsche Belangen in Nerderlandsch-Indie te Batavia, yang berdiri pada 16 Juli 1927.

Tidak jelas, apakah perkumpulan itu di masa reformasi kini masih eksis atau tidak. Namun, pembicaraan yang menyeruak akhir-akhir ini, tentang operasi zionis internasional di Indonesia, kiranya mempunyai dasar yang kuat. Baik ditilik dari sejarah kita maupun data muktahir, seperti kesaksian mantan Pangkopkamtib Jenderal Soemitro, yang termuat dalam memoarnya yang ditulis oleh Ramadhan KH. Di situ antara lain dikatakan, "Saya sendiri tidak pernah punya hubungan dengan Israel, paling-paling, saya ingat, saya pernah datang ke Jalan Tosari memenuhi undangan mata rantai Israel yang ada di Jakarta."

Sumber: http://www.gatra.com/VI/2/KOL2-2.html

(2) RI secretly allows trade with Israel

By Grace Nirang / Reuters - 09/02/2001

JAKARTA- Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, has secretly opened trade links with Israel in a move likely to ignite protests by Islamic groups opposed to ties with the Jewish state, an industry official said yesterday. Just two weeks ago, officials fearing a public backlash denied the ban on trade with Israel had been lifted, after Tel Aviv said it had received a letter from Trade and Industry Minister Luhut Pandjaitan saying trade could resume. "Trade between private sectors in both countries is allowed- There have been no more restrictive or prohibitive laws on the Indonesian side since February 2000".

Jasindo was the first Indonesian company to resume formal trade links with Israel after the ban was revoked.

Allowing private sector trade between the two countries did not translate to a full resumption of trade relations."If the government says there are no trade relations between Indonesia and Israel, they are telling the truth.

Indonesia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. President Abdurrahman Wahid hinted in late 1999 he planned to resume formal trade ties with Israel but quickly back-pedaled amid outcry from Muslim groups.

Indonesia first banned all trade with Israel, including through third parties, under a ministerial decree in 1967. Private companies risked losing licenses or permits if they traded with Israeli firms during the ban.

Agriculture leads trade.

Jasindo resumed its links with Israel in March last year when it signed a cooperative agreement with Credit Risk Insurance Assure Ltd, a member of Israel Land Development Insurance Holdings.

Under the agreement, the two companies provide credit insurance for direct trade to guarantee the receipt of goods and payment.

Jasindo had underwritten trade for several companies with Israel, mainly selling agricultural products.
Indonesia would benefit immensely from trade with Israel, especially in the field of agro and biotechnology.

Israel is well known for its agricultural technology, particularly its successful conversion of desert into farmland.

"Using Israeli agricultural technology we could increase our farm production, for soybean and rice for example, which could help us reduce our dependency on imports," he added.

(3) Indonesian insurance company signs agreement to cover bilateral trade

          By ELI GRONER

The first step towards facilitating bilateral trade with Indonesia was it announced yesterday, when Credit Risk Insurance Assure Ltd., a member 'If Israel Land Development Insurance Holdings announced a cooperative agreement with Indonesia's slate owned insurance company, Asuransi Jasindo. The two companies, will each provide credit insurance for direct trade - meaning that importers and exporters would be guaranteed receiving merchandise and payments respectively -thereby overcoming the primary impediment to direct trade between Israel and the largest populated Moslem country in the world.

The Indonesian company chose to open it first international office in Israel. There are no diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia but an Asuransi Jasindo official expressed the hope that this would precipitate the process.

"Being a state-owned company, we've been given the authority, to move forward:' said Asuransi Jasindo . The respective governments had very little to do with this deal, notwithstanding, previous meetings between Industry and Trade Minister Ran Cohen arid his Indonesian counterpart at the World Trade Organization's conference in Seattle in January, and then later that month in Davos Switzerland. "

Asuransi Jasindo's Israeli representative, Mr. Steve Stein - who will head the Indonesian company's from his Zichron Ya'aqov office - said that no formal discussions have begun yet with any potential Israeli exporters, although there are a few targeted companies which he declined to mention. "In this instance, the chicken came before the egg," he said. adding that Indonesian companies are ready to export to Israel.

Lenny Roth, the vice president of corporate development for MA Industries, the world's largest maker of generic agrochemicals, said that Machteshim Agan could potentially be very interested in exporting to Indonesia. "Indonesia is a huge market:" he said, adding that Israeli companies have functioned there, but that this agreement could potentially increase the range of flexibility and openness that may be available. Our, company would view the Indonesian market as an attractive market in which to expand our activities"

www.israindo.com/prvtSector2.html

(3) Two Israeli companies register in Jakarta

Two Israeli companies register in Jakarta 

In January, the first deliveries of Israeli goods went directly to 
Indonesia, without going through a third country. 

Keren Tsuriel-Harari 5 Feb 03 17:33 

Israeli-Indonesian commercial ties have taken a step forward. For the first 
time, two Israeli companies registered in Jakarta, which makes them eligible 
to receive multiple-entry business visas. 
Steve Stein, the Israeli representative of the largest government insurance 
company in Indonesia, Jasindo, said, the first deliveries of Israeli 
consumer goods went directly to a major Indonesian company, in January, 
without going through a third country. 

The goods carried Israeli export documentation, and were released from 
Indonesian customs without difficulty. Stein, who accompanied the shipment, 
said the Israeli supplier competed against international companies, and the 
Indonesian customer¡¦s satisfaction would probably lead to more orders. The 
first order was for less than $1 million. 

In addition, changes in Indonesian private sector commercial law now permit 
foreign companies, including Israelis, to register in Jakarta. This will 
shorten visa procedures. Since Israel and Indonesia do not have diplomatic 
relations, obtaining visas require special procedures. 

In contrast to various reports, Stein said Israelis have no trouble 
obtaining visas, as long as the procedures are followed. He said scores of 
Israelis receive Indonesian visas for business purposes. 

Jasindo also insures foreign trade and political risks, Jasindo has 
maintained an office in Israel, managed by Stein, since 1997, which 
specializes in insuring and accompanying deals between the two countries. 
Business received a major push in early 2000 when Indonesia¡¦s then-Minister 
of Trade and Industry Yusuf Kalla lifted Indonesia¡¦s trade sanctions 
against Israel. 

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 5, 2003

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