I read an article today about how protesters in Barcelona hurled rocks at police, bank offices and shop fronts. We constantly hear in the media about men and women being stoned to death for crimes against Islam, like adultery.
Here, in Timor Leste, the weapon of choice seems to always be the stone. Yesterday, we had to stop because a dog decided to take his break on the road. Some kids witnessed and started throwing stones at the dog to make it move, apparently for them it's better than honking the horn or just shooing it away, which is always my preferred means of handling these situations. Kids, when they play with each other, are constantly throwing stones at one another and if you've been reading this blog from the start, you know that I've also been a 'victim' of stoning when coming out of a nightclub in Dili. I decided to look into the history of stoning - yes, I'll be honest, there hasn't been enough work around here to keep me well occupied, between the regular reports, everything is at a standstill until they start voter education activities next week.
According to the all-knowing site, wikipedia, stoning or lapidation is "a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the case of a judicial executioner. Stoning is slower than other forms of execution, and hence is a form of execution by torture."
However, in Timor's case, stoning is usually never that extreme. People do throw stones when a conflict arises, at most often at other people, but usually never in a collective with the intention to kill. The machete and the rifle have been the weapon of murder during Timor's long war against Indonesia. So why do people feel the need to throw stones, regardless of the target? Is it education, is it ignorance, is it poverty? The concept of throwing stones, albeit abominable to me at the same time, is rather fascinating, much like the Timorese's constant and severe mistreatment of dogs...all I can ask is WHY?
I wanted to know more about Timor's use of stones so I typed in "Timor throws stone" into google and these are some of the headlines that caught my eyes:
"Mob Throws Stones At UN Police In E Timor Before UN Visit Associated Press November 10, 2000"
Here, in Timor Leste, the weapon of choice seems to always be the stone. Yesterday, we had to stop because a dog decided to take his break on the road. Some kids witnessed and started throwing stones at the dog to make it move, apparently for them it's better than honking the horn or just shooing it away, which is always my preferred means of handling these situations. Kids, when they play with each other, are constantly throwing stones at one another and if you've been reading this blog from the start, you know that I've also been a 'victim' of stoning when coming out of a nightclub in Dili. I decided to look into the history of stoning - yes, I'll be honest, there hasn't been enough work around here to keep me well occupied, between the regular reports, everything is at a standstill until they start voter education activities next week.
According to the all-knowing site, wikipedia, stoning or lapidation is "a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the case of a judicial executioner. Stoning is slower than other forms of execution, and hence is a form of execution by torture."
However, in Timor's case, stoning is usually never that extreme. People do throw stones when a conflict arises, at most often at other people, but usually never in a collective with the intention to kill. The machete and the rifle have been the weapon of murder during Timor's long war against Indonesia. So why do people feel the need to throw stones, regardless of the target? Is it education, is it ignorance, is it poverty? The concept of throwing stones, albeit abominable to me at the same time, is rather fascinating, much like the Timorese's constant and severe mistreatment of dogs...all I can ask is WHY?
I wanted to know more about Timor's use of stones so I typed in "Timor throws stone" into google and these are some of the headlines that caught my eyes:
"Mob Throws Stones At UN Police In E Timor Before UN Visit Associated Press November 10, 2000"
"A East Timorese youth throws stones during a clash between gangs in Dili ABC News May 6 2011", this one even came with the photo below
"People stone United Nations car after traffic accident leaves a Timorese boy dead ETLJB December 12 2011"
Even travel guides mention it, advising caution when coming to Timor Leste! Here's what Lonely Planet had to say: " Given the regular bouts of political instability in East Timor, check the current situation before you visit (although government travel advisories are usually cautious in the extreme). Outside of mass unrest, political violence is not aimed at non-Timorese. If you see stone throwing or other provocations, vamoose."
What you get from these headlines is also that Timorese don't like the UN, and that is true! The people are waiting anxiously for the day when UNMIT's mandate runs out and every wrong step taken by the UN is a cause for stoning or badmouthing in the press...because of this we tread lightly when interacting with our national counterparts.
This doesn't, of course, mean that if you come to Timor Leste you will most definitely find yourself in stone throwing situations but the likelihood of you witnessing some stone throwing is rather higher than the government would wish. And I guess, in regards to my question of why, the answer problem lies in the fact that the Timorese can be extremely hot-headed and what would seem to you as a normal and perhaps just over-heated argument can quickly escalate into conflict and violence, and the easiest weapon at hand...the stone. Kids see this and copy in their childhood games, not having plastic toy guns to play with stones became the medium and it becomes ingrained in their memory as the weapon of choice...which begs the question, how to change a society's mentality in regards to conflict and its resolution, especially after suffering from more than 20 years of foreign aggression?
Food for thought
I'm glad we passed that stage here in Portugal: with our cobblestone sidewalks, can you imagine how easy it would be to set a battle with so many "weapons" always available?!
ReplyDeleteTake care ... and beware of the stones!