By Diana Susanti, with editorial by Angga Bassoni Al Barkah
Assalaamu ‘Alaikum, Almighty blessed the peacemakers
We use “redemption” as if it means going back. But true redemption isn’t innocence—it’s truth after complicity. It’s choosing to stand in the wound you helped create, and instead of turning away, becoming part of the healing.
I was born a settler. My family’s prosperity was built on brutal occupation. Yet somewhere along the way, I awoke from the illusion, began to listen, and accepted that I am part of the problem.
Will We Face the Truth?
To my fellow Javanese: Will you confront what our people have done in West Papua?
To all Indonesians: Will you admit this is not unity—it’s occupation?
To Muslims everywhere: Will you reject state‑sanctioned violence disguised as obedience to Ulil Amri (Qur’an 4:59)?
To all who still believes in Justice: Will you keep ignoring the voices and plea from folks that less sexy for algorithmic gods?
Some call me partisan. That’s missing the point. This isn’t about flags or political factions—it’s about truth, heard through a post‑positivist lens. Strip away the ego‑constructed hijab of nationalism and dogma. Our Mother Earth—Ibu Pertiwi—is not silent. She watches, judges, mourns. But she also hopes: that her children will finally hear her whispers, learn from our shared past, and begin to heal her wounds.
Why Speak Now?
Yes—the world is tearing itself apart. Gaza’s children starve under occupation. Journalists disappear in drone silence. And still, I often offers a script: “What about Papua?”
But this is not distraction—it’s connection. Canaan, Kashmir, Hawai‘i, Kanaky, Tibet, Aotearoa, Puerto Rico, Papua, and any of illegal occupation and oppresed lands that I don’t know yet. Each is an illegal occupation. Each story belongs to the same tapestry of global colonial wounds. My duty—born from my proximity to this wound—is to name it.
Yes, I stand with Gazans. And yes, I turn my voice to Papua—not to dilute their suffering, but to understand how the same roots—democracy as dajjal, xenophobia draped as unity, obedience masquerading as faith—produce the same toxic fruit.
What Redemption Demands
Redemption means responsibility. Not denial. Not silence.
It demands that we
- admit our shared complicity;
- reject the idea that liberation is limited to one geography;
- dismantle the narratives—of nationalism, blind obedience, economic “development”‑‑that silence the soil;
- return to our fitrah, our stewardship of this Earth, our collective responsibility to Al‑Haqq, the Truth.
True liberation begins here—with the humble admission that we are part of the problem. Only then can we begin to imagine an actual future—for Papua, Gaza, and all stolen homelands.
I do not pretend to have all the answers. But I’m done pretending this is not my wound. I’m done looking away. And I invite you to join me—away from denial, toward healing. Ibu Pertiwi is grieving. We can’t lie to her any longer. Will you speak her name?
Wa Assalaamu ‘Alaykum
