Jakarta/Brussels, 28 February 2008: The Indonesian government should more closely monitor publishers associated with Indonesia’s most prominent extremist organisation, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

Indonesia: Jemaah Islamiyah’s Publishing Industry,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines how a handful of JI members and persons close to JI have developed a profitable publishing consortium, producing books that reflect the lively debate taking place within the organisation about tactics and strategy. The main aim seems to be religious outreach; the output of books has jumped dramatically as JI has weakened over the last few years, perhaps reflecting its focus on consolidation and rebuilding.  

“These publishers are disseminating a radical message, but they also may be playing a positive role by channelling JI energies into jihad through the printed word rather than through acts of violence,” says Sidney Jones, Crisis Group’s Senior Adviser.

The importance of the JI publishers goes beyond the material they publish. The network of printers, translators, designers, marketers, and distributing agents is one of many webs binding the organisation together. If JI has shown extraordinary resilience, the personal ties binding individuals involved in the publishing industry helps explain why.

Publishing also provides a meeting ground between leading figures in the JI mainstream, opposed to al-Qaeda-style bombings on Indonesian soil, and a few men more associated with fugitive terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top, who act as translators of Arabic texts. While some of the books published are simply downloads from al-Qaeda websites, others are tracts by well-known Middle Eastern radicals who have rejected terrorist tactics. These jihadi texts appear to be subsidised by the sale of vastly more popular books on Islamic lifestyle and worship.

“These publishing houses should not be closed down or their books banned,” says John Virgoe, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Project Director. “But by enforcing existing laws on labour, trade, publishing and taxation, the government could exert closer scrutiny than it is doing now and gain valuable information at the same time.”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A handful of members and persons close to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Indonesia’s most prominent extremist organisation, have developed a profitable publishing consortium in and around the pesantren (religious school) founded by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and Abdullah Sungkar in Solo, Central Java. The consortium has become an important vehicle for the dissemination of jihadi thought, getting cheap and attractively printed books into mosques, bookstores and discussion groups. The publishing venture demonstrates JI’s resilience and the extent to which radical ideology has developed roots in Indonesia. The Indonesian government should monitor these enterprises more closely, but they may be playing a useful role by channelling JI energies into waging jihad through the printed page rather than acts of violence.

Examining the titles printed permits tracking of a lively internal debate within JI over the desirability of al-Qaeda tactics. That debate seems to be taking place spontaneously, without any assistance from the government “deradicalisation” program, and it is important that it continue. Banning the publishers or their books would be counterproductive. But more scrutiny of the publishing activities would be desirable for several reasons:

• Publishing has increased as JI has weakened, likely reflecting a decision from the top to focus on religious outreach and recruitment as a way of rebuilding the organisation. The books produced may be part of that effort.
• From translator to distributor, the publishing web is an example of the social network that holds JI together, particularly at a time of weakness. JI has proven itself extraordinarily able to rebound from setbacks, and the networks underpinning it may help explain why.
• Although the publishing houses are owned by individuals, not JI per se, some revenues are almost certainly being ploughed back into JI activities.

• Individual members close to Noordin Mohammed Top, perhaps the region’s most dangerous at-large terrorist, may be working as translators for JI publishers, despite the ideological gulf between Noordin and the JI mainstream.

The best way to ensure adequate scrutiny would be for the Indonesian government to enforce its own laws with respect to publishing, labour, corporate registration and taxation. Such enforcement would not only offer a means of monitoring these enterprises, but it could also yield valuable information about the size and status of the JI organisation.

Jakarta/Brussels, 28 February 2008