Grade 12 Culminating Activity
Checkpoint #2
Sissi Zheng
Source 1: News, BBC. "Looking into the Massacres of Indonesia's past." BBC News. BBC, 02 June 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016
Summary
This article investigates one of the darkest chapters of Indonesian history in 1965, the anti-communist purge, based on the reports' interviews with the locals. As many as 1 million civilians were slaughtered, and the killers were never prosecuted. Instead, they ascended to the highest positions in government and lorded their violence over a populace that has been scared into silence. Furthermore, the article states that the U.S. government had a role in the massacre, which targeted Communists during the Cold War. There is proof that the American Embassy gave …show more content…
The director has also filmed at the school where Adi’s two children attend. A teacher gives a short lecture of the fabricated history to justify the genocide, and most of his students have no problem with accepting the falsehood of how vicious communists ruthlessly tortured some gallant, patriotic generals. The article states that, the attorney general's office banned textbooks that do not represent "historical truth", leading officials to burn thousands of textbooks that failed to mention PKI in 2007. It demonstrates anti-communist rhetoric absolutely still holds power today in Indonesia. It is still widely used both to legitimize the current establishment and as a scapegoat for the country's problems. In the documentary, the survivors and victims' family members show strong hope for justice. They want to bring closure to his family and other survivors through apologies and reconciliations. Unfortunately, the perpetrators choose to justify their crimes or plead self-defense for their remorseless killings. The article shows that some government officials have actually apologized for the tragedy, including Palu Mayor Rusdy Mastura, who stated in 2013: "This nation must learn to acknowledge mistakes in the past." …show more content…
In the documentary, the director shows the video clips of some perpetrators cruelly boasting of their mass slaughter in the past to construct his message that human beings have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. Individuals can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities. In these video clips, people enthusiastically recount how they used to kill people savagely and deliver detailed descriptions of their gruesome killing methods. One elder man even brags about his atrocious deed that he used to drink the blood of the communists just to keep his sanity intact. In the article, the survivor, Tumiso, tells the reporter that his toenails were ripped out and his mangled toes were jammed under a table leg. The perpetrators of the massacre hit his nose with an iron bar until it was deformed. Tumiso got abnormal vision because people hit him with whatever they found on the ground. Furthermore, the article reveals that children schooled during the Suharto regime were fed a diet of communism fear and loathing. Most were exposed to annual screenings of the bloody government-sponsored propaganda film. It proves the footage in the documentary that a teacher is telling elementary school students fabricated history of the anti-communist purge. Moreover, the article explains the consequences of the Indonesian genocide of
Checkpoint #2
Sissi Zheng
Source 1: News, BBC. "Looking into the Massacres of Indonesia's past." BBC News. BBC, 02 June 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016
Summary
This article investigates one of the darkest chapters of Indonesian history in 1965, the anti-communist purge, based on the reports' interviews with the locals. As many as 1 million civilians were slaughtered, and the killers were never prosecuted. Instead, they ascended to the highest positions in government and lorded their violence over a populace that has been scared into silence. Furthermore, the article states that the U.S. government had a role in the massacre, which targeted Communists during the Cold War. There is proof that the American Embassy gave …show more content…
The director has also filmed at the school where Adi’s two children attend. A teacher gives a short lecture of the fabricated history to justify the genocide, and most of his students have no problem with accepting the falsehood of how vicious communists ruthlessly tortured some gallant, patriotic generals. The article states that, the attorney general's office banned textbooks that do not represent "historical truth", leading officials to burn thousands of textbooks that failed to mention PKI in 2007. It demonstrates anti-communist rhetoric absolutely still holds power today in Indonesia. It is still widely used both to legitimize the current establishment and as a scapegoat for the country's problems. In the documentary, the survivors and victims' family members show strong hope for justice. They want to bring closure to his family and other survivors through apologies and reconciliations. Unfortunately, the perpetrators choose to justify their crimes or plead self-defense for their remorseless killings. The article shows that some government officials have actually apologized for the tragedy, including Palu Mayor Rusdy Mastura, who stated in 2013: "This nation must learn to acknowledge mistakes in the past." …show more content…
In the documentary, the director shows the video clips of some perpetrators cruelly boasting of their mass slaughter in the past to construct his message that human beings have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. Individuals can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities. In these video clips, people enthusiastically recount how they used to kill people savagely and deliver detailed descriptions of their gruesome killing methods. One elder man even brags about his atrocious deed that he used to drink the blood of the communists just to keep his sanity intact. In the article, the survivor, Tumiso, tells the reporter that his toenails were ripped out and his mangled toes were jammed under a table leg. The perpetrators of the massacre hit his nose with an iron bar until it was deformed. Tumiso got abnormal vision because people hit him with whatever they found on the ground. Furthermore, the article reveals that children schooled during the Suharto regime were fed a diet of communism fear and loathing. Most were exposed to annual screenings of the bloody government-sponsored propaganda film. It proves the footage in the documentary that a teacher is telling elementary school students fabricated history of the anti-communist purge. Moreover, the article explains the consequences of the Indonesian genocide of