Multi-National Construction of East Timor and Timorese Landscapes

For the pioneering writers, the East Timorese participation in politics starts only in 1974, when they created the three political parties. Their accounts of the period until 1978 are generally reiterations of Jill Jolliffe’s view, and the center of discussion is usually FRETILIN and its armed wing – the Portuguese speaking leading vehicle of the resistance. In more recent works (of Taylor, Dun, and Robinson), the narrative ends with the international intervention in 1999 or the Restoration of Independence in 2002. And their agendas are “human-rights violation,” “freedom,” “nationalism,” “genocide,” and “self-determination.” This type of scholarship was culminated in the final report of the Commission of Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation.

Such has been the context that Akihisa Matsuno pointed out that an ethnic history of the East Timorese has never been written as all the writers were concerned about “East Timor Issue” as an international conflict, and wrote its history as an extension of Australian or Indonesian history. He rightly pointed out that the independence of East Timor in 2002 was possible not only because of international support, but the more essential was the persistent resistance of the East Timorese people. Though his study was concerned roughly the same period and similar political issues, he tried to shift the center of argument to the Timorese who participated in the resistance. He succeeded in providing a more comprehensive account of interrelations among the Indonesian military, pro-Indonesian Timorese militia, FRETILIN guerrillas, the Church, youth organizations, and Timorese students who studied in Indonesia. This was enabled by his use of sources written by East Timorese activists, guerrillas, and...

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...s led by “Indonesian” exiles from West Timor. In 1975, about 1000 East Timorese moved to West Timor trying to fled from FRETILIN’s persecution. UN’s reports indicate that in 1999 and 2006 – times of conflicts – thousands of East Timorese fled to West side.

an interview with Masamichi Kijima「陸軍主計中尉としてみた東ティモール(East Timor: Observed by an Accountant Lieutenant of the Army)」, 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 Japanese Army’s Occupation)」, インドネシア日本占領期史料フォーラム 1991.

From Interview with Maria Patty-Noach, Kupang, 30 June 2000. Cited 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), pp. 381-403. The author added “This is by no means a solitary opinion and has been heard by the author many times in West Timor.”