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Barron, Rahayu, Varada, and Febriany
On December 27, 1999, a fight broke out between members of the Pasukan Kuning (Yellow Force, representing the sultan of Ternate) and a group of youths. The following morning, clashes between the Yellow and White forces swept through the city. When the Yellow Force set fire to dozens of houses owned by Tidore migrants, thousands came on boats from Tidore and fought the sultan’s forces, who were defeated. These events were quickly forgotten as thousands of displaced Muslims began arriving from Tobelo. Muslims set aside their political rivalries and sought to retaliate against Christians in the Kao region and Tobelo/Galela on Halmahera, forming the Jihad Force. The attempted attacks against Kao were halted by military and police. The militia that traveled to Galela faced much less resistance from the security forces (Wilson 2008, 147–76). The first target of the Jihad Force was the main Christian stronghold of Duma village in Galela. Approximately 250 Christians died. Unable to attack Tobelo city, the Jihad Force disbanded, and most members returned to their homes or to refugee camps in Ternate. After 10 months of terrible carnage, the region was free of major violence. But around 4,000 people had lost their lives in North Maluku, making it perhaps the worst communal violence in Indonesia’s transition to democracy. Approximately 300,000 people were displaced from their homes, and much of the province’s infrastructure was destroyed, particularly on Halmahera island. The conflict between Christians and Muslims in 1999–2000 devastated all five of our sample villages in North Maluku. In Barumangga village, the earlier White-Yellow conflict also led to deaths. Specific examples illustrate these consequences. In Galalolo, West Halmahera, around 600–700 houses were destroyed and three people died. One informant described his experience: “My parents’ house was burned to the ground, their goats were lost, and everything else was damaged or lost.” In Bodolenge, in the same district, around 100 Muslims left to live in another village located 13 kilometers away. Relationships between Christians and Muslims quickly deteriorated, even though some of them were related to one another. The Muslims never returned. Two Muslims and three Christians were killed. In Yasapira, North Halmahera, about 200 people died and another 20 were injured; 168 families were evacuated and did not return until 2003. All property was destroyed, including 764 houses. All the school buildings were burnt down and hundreds of cattle were lost. A male villager in Yasapira recalled, “Children saw what happened and were traumatized. Children who could talk told their mothers, ‘Mum, don’t carry us on your back, because