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Essay / Multinational construction of East Timor and the Timorese...
For pioneering writers, the participation of the Timorese in politics only began in 1974, when they created the three political parties. Their accounts of the period up to 1978 are generally reiterations of Jill Jolliffe's point of view, and the focus of discussion is usually FRETILIN and its armed wing – the main Portuguese-speaking vehicle of the resistance. In more recent works (by Taylor, Dun and Robinson), the narrative ends with international intervention in 1999 or the restoration of independence in 2002. And their agendas are "violation of human rights", “freedom”, “nationalism”. “genocide” and “self-determination”. This type of study culminated in the final report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. The context was such that Akihisa Matsuno pointed out that an ethnic history of the East Timorese was never written because all writers were preoccupied with the subject. “The East Timor Question” as an international conflict and wrote its history as an extension of Australian or Indonesian history. He rightly pointed out that East Timor's independence in 2002 was possible not only because of international support, but that the continued resistance of the East Timorese people was all the more essential. Although his study covered roughly the same period and similar political issues, he attempted to shift the focus of the argument to the Timorese who participated in the resistance. It managed to provide a more comprehensive account of the relationships between the Indonesian military, the pro-Indonesian Timorese militia, FRETILIN guerrillas, the Church, youth organizations, and Timorese students who studied in Indonesia. This was made possible by its use of sources written by East Timorese militants, guerrillas and...... middle of newspaper ...... led by "Indonesian" exiles from West Timor. In 1975, approximately 1,000 East Timorese settled in West Timor in an attempt to escape persecution by FRETILIN. UN reports indicate that in 1999 and 2006 – periods of conflict – thousands of East Timorese fled to the west side. interviewed by Kanichi Gotou, recorded in 「証言集-日本軍占領下のインドネシア(Testimonies: Indonesia under the occupation of the Japanese army)」, インドネシア日本占領期史料フォーラム 1991. Excerpt from an interview with Maria Patty-Noach, Kupang, June 30, 2000. Quoted in Steven Farram, “The PKI in West Timor and Nusa Tenggara Timur 1965 and Beyond” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Vol. 166, No. 4 (2010), pages 381 to 403. The author added: “This is by no means a solitary opinion and has been heard by the author on several occasions in West Timor..”