Sen. Obama’s School in Indonesia Not a Madrassa
BREAKING NEWS: MEDIA DOES ITS JOB.
In the wake of FOX News’ specious reporting on Sen. Obama’s educational history, CNN dispatched Senior International Correspondent John Vause to the Basuki School in Jakarta, which Sen. Obama attended from 1969 to 1971. His report “shows the allegations that Obama attended a madrassa to be false”:
“I came here to Barack Obama’s elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa … like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Vause said on the “Situation Room” Monday. “I’ve been to those madrassas in Pakistan … this school is nothing like that.”Vause reported he saw boys and girls dressed in neat school uniforms playing outside the school, while teachers were dressed in Western-style clothes.
Vause interviewed the school’s headmaster, who told him that “This is a public school. We don’t focus on religion…In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don’t give preferential treatment.”
He also spoke with a former classmate of Sen. Obama’s, Bandug Winadijanto, who noted that the school has not changed much since they attended. “It’s not (an) Islamic school. It’s general,” Winadijanto told Vause. “There is a lot of Christians, Buddhists, also Confucian. … So that’s a mixed school.” This fact actually serves to strengthen the sense of Sen. Obama’s global perspec?ive, which we underscored here yesterday.
Here’s a screen capture of the headline on the CNN.com politics page:
Thanks go to CNN for seeking out the truth on this one.
UPDATE: Commenter Nat points us to the video. Take special note of Wolf Blitzer’s jab at FOX News at the 3:35 mark, saying that CNN did “what any serious news organization is supposed to do in this kind of a situation.” Have a look:
August 6th, 2007 at 6:27 pm EST
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article , but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
January 26th, 2008 at 6:12 am EST
bonjour je suis un eleve j’ai mon bac en arabe je voulai vous demander d’aide pour obtenir d’une brousse d’etude.merci
KOANDA DAOUDA
BURKINA FASO
January 26th, 2008 at 8:23 pm EST
I know that Senator Obana says that he attended “a Muslim school and a Catholic school” in Indonesia. Has he specifically identified both of these school by name and location? If so, please identify the schools. If he has nothing to hide from us, then he should be willing to provide specifics.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:27 pm EST
I’ve have lived in Indonesia and the government there was openly hostile towards Christians. I am unaware that Christian school are permitted in Indonesia. I certainly never saw one. Where was the Catholic school?
January 26th, 2008 at 8:38 pm EST
Thanks to both Robert and Jack for your comments. In fact, Obama has provided the names of both schools he attended. The Catholic School was called Fransiskus Assisis and the second school he attended, which was not a Muslim school but a state-run elementary school, is called State Elementary School (SDN) Menteng 01.
Jack, it’s easy to cast aspersions and say that “if he has nothing to hide from us, then he should be willing to provide specifics.” But the fact is he has provided the specifics, and suggesting he is hiding something without checking to see if that’s true is lazy and irresponsible. A simple Google search would have given you the names of the schools.
Here’s a quote from an article about the state-run school’s origins:
“The prestigious was founded in 1934 by the Dutch colonial administration and was exclusively for the children of the Dutch and Indonesian nobility.
Vice principal Achmad Solikhin said the Indonesian government took charge of the school in 1962. It was then run by the Raden Saleh Foundation under principal Samingatun Binti Hardjodarson, who was also known as Ibu S. Karim.
Obama was in the third grade at SDN Menteng 01 — then named SDN Besuki — in 1968 when Ibu Karim was principal.
Now, the school, which has 478 students, is one of the country’s model schools and part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ coalition of model schools.”
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=62743
Thanks as always for reading the site.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm EST
[Quote] Robert Williams said:
I’ve have lived in Indonesia and the government there was openly hostile towards Christians. I am unaware that Christian school are permitted in Indonesia. I certainly never saw one. Where was the Catholic school?
Now seriously? Which part of Indonesia were you at and when was it? I’m a Moslem Indonesian and I can say this for sure: modern Indonesia is one that respects diversity, and that includes the rights to have any religion, as stipulated in our constitution. In my surroundings here in nearby Jakarta, you could find many prestigious Christian/Catholics schools, universities, and even hospitals. In this predominantly Moslem population of Indonesia, we even have a public holiday at the Chinese New Year. No offense gere, but check the facts before even bragging about such a thing…please…
Anyway, I believe Obama would be a great President, given the chance… and I think he’s the world’s favorite US presidential candidate… ^_^
February 9th, 2008 at 8:54 pm EST
I have been visiting this site a lot lately, so i thought it is a good idea to show my appreciation with a comment.
Thanks,
Jim Mirkalami
PS: I am a single dad.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:50 pm EST
I grew up in Indonesia. Although most of my neighbour were Muslim, I attended Catolic school since kindergarden. Santa Maria in Jakarta and Santa Theresia in Menteng. I played with all my Muslim neighbours and friends. Indonesia is a Muslim country, however all kind of religions exist and blend in nicely. I celebrated Id with all my friends and they celebrate and respect Christmas too. It is probably difficult to pictures and understand, but we had more time than here in US, where we routinely visit our neighbours and family esp. on special holidays.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:36 am EST
[Quote] Robert Williams said:
I’ve have lived in Indonesia and the government there was openly hostile towards Christians. I am unaware that Christian school are permitted in Indonesia. I certainly never saw one. Where was the Catholic school?
I lived and grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. Christian and Catholic Schools are every where. I went to a private Christian School. Many Muslim families send their children to private Catholic & Christian Schools, because of their excellent reputation.
I doubt that you (Robert Williams) have lived in Indonesia.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:45 pm EST
[Quote] Robert Williams said:
I’ve have lived in Indonesia and the government there was openly hostile towards Christians. I am unaware that Christian school are permitted in Indonesia. I certainly never saw one. Where was the Catholic school?
I’m a Britisth who have been living in Indonesia for more than 2 decades. There are MANY Christian and Catholic Schools and Universities throughout Indonesia. My son, who is in Catholic School, told me that he had many nice Muslim friends at school. In fact, many Muslims send their children to Catholic School due to the school’s excellent reputation.
I myself have lived in a number of foreign countries including spending 10 years of living in the U.S. Compared to many Western society, the religious tolerance in Indonesia is outstanding in spite of the government’s poor legal system, economic disparity and corruption problems.
Well, Mr. Williams, my conclusion is either you just made up your story (as perhaps you’ve actually never lived in Indonesia) or you are dully ignorant being.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 am EST
Good Article, I love it, I hope your article can help me to be more professional
August 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm EST
I have lived in Indonesia all my life. I went to school with obama at both of the schools he attended and he was the smartest student in all of Indonesia. I am trying to get Jakarta renamed to Obama, and that there should be a day named after him ‘Barack Obama Day’.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:42 pm EST
of course, this robert williams is just inventing his story. he’s never been to indonesia. he’s comment is simply to discredit barak obama.
agree also about JHC’s comment about jack jones. he is lazy and irresponsible.