Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-fv566 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T17:45:14.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Breaching Boundaries in Muslim and Christian Tourism from Indonesia to Israel and Palestine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

Mirjam Lücking*
Affiliation:
Martin Buber Society of Fellows, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*
*Corresponding author. Email: Mirjam.Lucking@mail.huji.ac.il

Abstract

Studies on tourism and pilgrimage show that spatial mobility, including transregional travel, mostly confirms and strengthens tourists’ and pilgrims’ social identities and symbolic boundaries between Self and Other. However, in guided religious package tours from Indonesia to Israel and Palestine, experiences with spatial boundaries do affect the Muslim and Christian pilgrims, adding more nuances to socio-cultural boundary-making. This complex making and breaching of boundaries relates to inner-Indonesian religious dynamics. Among both Muslim and Christian Indonesians, references to the Middle East express not only transregional solidarity but also multifarious orientations in inter and intra-religious relations within Indonesia. Among Indonesian Muslims, some orthodox Muslims’ orientations towards the Middle East as the birthplace of Islam are contested but also combined with indigenous Islamic traditions. Similar to these intra-Muslim frictions, members of Indonesia's Christian minority experience fissures in the expressions of local and global Christian identities. This article analyses how symbolic, social, and spatial boundaries are maintained and breached in transregional tourism from Indonesia to the Middle East.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Benedict. 2006 [1983]. Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. New York: Verso Books.Google Scholar
ARIJ (The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem). 2012. An Nabi Musa Locality Profile. Available at: http://vprofile.arij.org/jericho/pdfs/vprofile/An_Nabi_Musa_FINAL.pdf (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Badone, Ellen, and Sharon, Roseman. 2004. “Approaches to the anthropology of pilgrimage and tourism.” In Intersecting Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage and Tourism, edited by Badone, Ellen, and Roseman, Sharon R., 123. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Bar, Doron. 2004. “Re-creating Jewish sanctity in Jerusalem: Mount Zion and David's Tomb, 1948–67.” Journal of Israeli History 23(2): 260278. https://doi.org/10.1080/1353104042000282401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar, Doron. 2018. “Between Muslim and Jewish sanctity: Judaizing Muslim holy places in the State of Israel, 1948–1967.Journal of Historical Geography 59: 6876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2017.11.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauman, Zygmunt. 1996. “From pilgrim to tourist—or a short history of identity.” In Questions of Cultural Identity, edited by Hall, Stuart, and du Gay, Paul, 1836. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Borabeck, Davidi. 2019. “‘The most sacred place in the state’: Mount Zion, the nation-state and the denied temple.” Paper presented at the Center for the Study of Conversion and Interreligious Encounters conference Sacred Spaces, Beer-Sheva, 4 June, unpublished.Google Scholar
Bowen, John R. 2008. “Intellectual pilgrimages and local norms in fashioning Indonesian Islam.Revue d'Etudes sur le Monde Musulman et la Méditerranée 123: 3754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, Glenn. 1991. “Christian ideology and the image of a holy land: The place of Jerusalem pilgrimage in the various Christianities.” In Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage, edited by Eade, John and Sallnow, Michael J., 98121. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock.Google Scholar
Bowman, Glenn. 2012. “Nationalizing and denationalizing the sacred: Shrines and shifting identities in the Israeli-occupied territories.” In Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics, edited by Breger, Marshall J., Reiter, Yitzhak, and Hammer, Leonard, 195227. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Breger, Marshall J., Reiter, Yitzhak, and Hammer, Leonard M., eds. 2013. Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-Existence. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Buehler, Michael. 2016. The Politics of Shari'a Law: Islamist Activists and the State in Democratizing Indonesia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2010. “Westernization vs Arabization,” Jakarta Post, 15 February. Available at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/15/westernization-vs-arabization.html (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2018. “Plural Islam and contestation of religious authority in Indonesia.” In Islam in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Modernity, edited by Saat, Norshahril, 140163. Singapore: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute.Google Scholar
Chambert-Loir, Henri. 2002. “Saints and ancestors: The cult of Muslim saints in Java.” In The Potent Dead: Ancestors, Saints, and Heroes in Contemporary Indonesia, edited by Chambert-Loir, Henri and Reid, Anthony, 132140. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.Google Scholar
Chao, En-Chieh. 2018. “Counting souls: Numbers and mega-worship in the global Christian network of Indonesia.” In Pentecostal Megachurches in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Class, Consumption and the Nation, edited by Chong, Terence, 4770. Singapore: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute.Google Scholar
Chaplin, Chris. 2014. “Imaging the land of the two holy mosques: The social and doctrinal importance of Saudi Arabia in Indonesian Salafi discourse.” ASEAS - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Südostasienwissenschaften 7(2): 217235.Google Scholar
Cheria, Holiday. 2020. Ziarah Masijd Al Aqsa - Napak Tilas Di Bumi Para Nabi. Available at: http://www.cheria-travel.com/2017/11/tour-ziarah-masjidil-aqso.html (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Chong, Terence, ed. 2018. Pentecostal Megachurches in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Class, Consumption and the Nation. Singapore: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Erik. 1972. “Toward a sociology of international tourism.” Social Research 39(1): 164182.Google Scholar
Eickelman, Dale F., and Piscatori, James P., eds. 1990. Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Fealy, Greg. 2016. “The politics of religious intolerance in Indonesia: Mainstream-ism trumps extremism.” In Religion, Law and Intolerance in Indonesia, edited by Lindsey, Tim and Pausacker, Helen, 115131. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, Jackie. 2016. A Jewish Guide in the Holy Land: How Christian Pilgrims Made Me Israeli. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Formichi, Chiara. 2012. Islam and the Making of the Nation: Kartosuwiryo and Political Islam in 20th Century Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, James. 1991. “Ziarah visits to the tombs of the Wali, the founders of Islam on Java.” In Islam in the Indonesian Social Context, edited by Ricklefs, M. C., 1938. Clayton: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Friedland, Roger, and Richard, Hecht. 1996. “The Nebi Musa pilgrimage and the origins of Palestinian nationalism.” In Pilgrims and Travelers to the Holy Land: Proceedings of the Annual Symposium of the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, edited by Le Beau, Bryan F., 89118. Omaha, NB: Creighton University Press.Google Scholar
Gottowik, Volker. 2016. “In search of holy water: Hindu pilgrimage to Gunung Rinjani on Lombok, Indonesia, as a multi-religious site.” In Religion, Place and Modernity, edited by Dickhardt, Michael and Lauser, Andrea, 205243. Leiden and Boston: BRILL.Google Scholar
Gupta, Akhil, and James, Ferguson. 1992. “Beyond ‘culture’: Space, identity, and the politics of difference.” Cultural Anthropology 7(1): 623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamber, Brandon. 2006. “Flying flags of fear: The role of fear in the process of political transition.” Journal of Human Rights 5(1): 127142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hefner, Robert W. 2017. “Christians, conflict, and citizenship in Muslim-majority Indonesia.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 15(1): 91101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoon, Chang-Yau. 2018. “Pentecostal megachurches in Jakarta: Class, local, and global dynamics.” In Pentecostal Megachurches in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Class, Consumption and the Nation, edited by Chong, Terence, 2146. Singapore: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute.Google Scholar
Indexmundi. 2020. “Indonesia - International tourism: International tourism, number of arrivals.” Available at: https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indonesia/international-tourism (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology/Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika. 2018. “IndonesiaBaiK: Indonesia, Kiblat Wisata Halal Dunia.” Available at: http://indonesiabaik.id/infografis/indonesia-kiblat-wisata-halal-dunia (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Institute for Policy Analysis/IPAC. 2018. After Ahok: The Islamist Agenda in Indonesia. IPAC Report No. 44. Jakarta: Institute for Policy Analysis. Available at: http://file.understandingconflict.org/file/2018/04/Report_44_ok.pdf (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
International Institute of Qur'anic Studies. 2015. The Divine Grace of Islam Nusantara. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEi5ED_-Xw&feature=youtu.be and http://www.iiqs.org/ (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. 2018 Tourist Arrivals 2014, 2015, 2016. Available at: http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton68/st23_05.pdf (accessed 30 October 2018).Google Scholar
Künkler, Mirjam, and Stepans, Alfred, eds. 2015. Democracy and Islam in Indonesia. Religion, Culture and Public Life. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Knoema. 2020. Indonesien - Outbound-Tourismus Reisen. Available at: https://knoema.com/atlas/Indonesia/topics/Tourism/Outbound-Tourism-Indicators/Outbound-tourism-travel (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Lamont, Michèle, and Molnár, Virág. 2002. “The study of boundaries in the social sciences.Annual Review of Sociology 28: 167195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lücking, Mirjam. 2016. “Beyond Islam Nusantara and ‘Arabization’: Capitalizing ‘Arabness’ in Madura, East Java.ASIEN. The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 137(April): 524.Google Scholar
Lücking, Mirjam. 2019. “Travelling with the idea of taking sides: Indonesian pilgrimages to Jerusalem.Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 175(2–3): 196224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lücking, Mirjam. 2020a. Indonesians and Their Arab World: Guided Mobility among Labor Migrants and Mecca Pilgrims. Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Publications. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Lücking, Mirjam. 2020b. “Israeli Dead Sea cosmetics and charity for Palestinian children: Indonesian women's shopping activities on pilgrimages to Jerusalem.” In Reconfiguring Muslim Pilgrimage through the Lens of Women's New Mobilities, edited by Buitelaar, Marjo, Stephan-Emmrich, Manja, and Thimm, Viola. 91110. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lücking, Mirjam. forthcoming. “‘Food unites us . . . not anymore!?’ Indonesian pilgrims eating kosher and halal in Jerusalem.” Food, Culture and Society.Google Scholar
Luz, Nimrod. 2014. “Reflection of the consecration process and location of Maqam Nabi Musa.” Lecture in honor of Prof. Amikam Elad, Jerusalem, 27 November. רואים רחוק רואים שקוף: הרהורים על מקאם נבי מוסא מפסגת הר נבו הרצאה במסגרת יום עיון לציון צאתו לגמלאות של פרופסור עמיקם אלעד Available at: https://www.ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=141&ArticleID=1989#.XudyHEUzY2w (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Mayasari, Nuki. Recharging Faith: The Practice of Multiple Umrah Trips among the Middle Class in Yogyakarta. MA diss., Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta, 2014.Google Scholar
Meri, Josef W. 1999. “Aspects of baraka (blessings) and ritual devotion among medieval Muslims and Jews.” Medieval Encounters 5(1): 4669. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006799X00259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhaimin, A. G. 2006. The Islamic Traditions of Cirebon: Ibadat and Adat among Javanese Muslims. Canberra: ANU Press.Google Scholar
Quinn, George. 2004. “Local pilgrimage in Java and Madura. Why is it booming?IIAS Newsletter 35: 16.Google Scholar
Quinn, George. 2019. Bandit Saints of Java. Burrough on the Hill, Leicestershire: Monsoon Books.Google Scholar
Reiter, Yitzhak. 2013. “Contest or cohabitation in shared holy places? The cave of the patriarchs and Samuel's Tomb.” In Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-Existence, edited by Breger, Marshall J., Reiter, Yitzhak, and Hammer, Leonard M., 158177. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rolston, Bill. 2009. “The brothers on the walls.” Journal of Black Studies 39(3): 446470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salazar, Noel B. 2010. Envisioning Eden: Mobilizing Imaginaries in Tourism and Beyond. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Schimmel, Annemarie. 1995. Mystische Dimensionen des Islam: Die Geschichte Des Sufismus. 3rd ed. München: Diederichs.Google Scholar
Sebastian, Leonard C., and Alexander R., Arifianto. 2020. “TRaNS special section on ‘growing religious intolerance in Indonesia’.” TRaNS 8(1): 15. https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2020.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidel, John. 2008. “The Islamist threat in Southeast Asia: Much ado about nothing?” Asian Affairs 39(3): 339351. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068370802341032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slama, Martin. 2008. “Islam Pribumi. Der Islam Der Einheimischen, Seine „Arabisierung“ Und Arabische Diasporagemeinschaften in Indonesien.” ASEAS – Österreichische Zeitschrift für Südostasienwissenschaften 1(1): 417.Google Scholar
Soeryowidagdo, R. S. 1989. Pesarean Gunung Kawi, Tata Cara Ziarah Dan Riwayat Panembahan Djoego Eyang Raden Mas Iman Soedjono Di Gunung Kawi Malang. Malang: Yayasan Bakti Luhur.Google Scholar
Stadler, Nurit. 2018. “Iconic places in motion: Rachel's Tomb as territorial borderland.” In In Statu Quo: Structures of Negotiation, edited by Finkelman, Ifat, Pinto Fdeda, Deborah, Sagiv, Oren, and Coen-Uzzielli, Tania, 255–65. Berlin: Hatje Cantz.Google Scholar
Trading, Economics. 2020. Indonesia - International Tourism, Number of Departures. Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/indonesia/international-tourism-number-of-departures-wb-data.html (Accessed 25 January 2021)Google Scholar
Turner, Victor W., and Edith, Turner. 1973. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
van Bruinessen, Martin, ed. 2013a. Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the “Conservative Turn.” Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Bruinessen, Martin. 2013b. “Introduction: Contemporary developments in Indonesian Islam and the ‘conservative turn’ of the early twenty-first century.” In Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the “Conservative Turn”, edited by van Bruinessen, Martin, 120. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Doorn-Harder, Nelly, and de Jong, Kees. 2001. “The pilgrimage to Tembayat: Tradition and revival in Indonesian Islam.The Muslim World 91(3–4): 325354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2001.tb03720.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wildan, Muhammad. 2013. “Mapping radical Islam: A study of the proliferation of radical Islam in Solo, Central Java.” In Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the “Conservative Turn”, edited by van Bruinessen, Martin, 190223. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Yen, Tzu-Chien. 2017. “Reflections on a reunion in Jakarta.” New Mandala, 5 December. Available at: https://www.newmandala.org/reflections-reunion/ (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Zahara, Tiba. 2015. “New Indonesian film seeks to keep radicalism at bay.” Benar News, 7 December. Available at: http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/NU-video-12072015164925.html (Accessed 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Zilberman, Ifrah. 2012. “The renewal of the pilgrimage to Nabi Musa.” In Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics, edited by Breger, Marshall J., Reiter, Yitzhak, and Hammer, Leonard.103-115 Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar