Introduction: East Timor, Indonesia, and the World Community
Part I: East Timor: Resistance, Repression and the Road to
Independence
Chapter 1: The 500 Year Timorese Funu
Chapter 2: A Long Journey of Resistance: The Origins and Struggle
of CNRT
Chapter 3: The Student Movement and the Independence Struggle in
East Timor: An Interview
Chapter 4: The Catholic Church and the Independence of East
Timor
Part II: Referendum and Independence
Chapter 5: With UNAMET in East Timor—An Historian's Personal
View
Chapter 6: The Militia, the Military, and the People of
Bobonaro
Chapter 7: Taking the Risk, Paying the Price: East Timorese Vote in
Ermera
Chapter 8: Grassroots in the Field—Observing the East Timor
Consultation
Part III: East Timor, The United States, and the World
Community
Chapter 9: East Timor, the United States, and International
Responsibility: "Green Light" for War Crimes
Chapter 10: The East Timor Ordeal: International Law and Its
Limits
Chapter 11: United States Support for the Indonesian Military:
Congressional Testimony
Chapter 12: East Timor and Asian Security
Part IV: East Timor and Indonesia
Chapter 13: East Timor and the Crisis of the Indonesian
Intelligence State
Chapter 14: Big States and Little Independence Movements
Part V: The Future of East Timor
Chapter 15: The Transition of a Small War-Torn Economy into a New
Nation: Economic Reconstruction of East Timor
Chapter 16: East Timor Faces the Future
Richard Tanter is professor of social sciences at Kyoto-Seika University. Mark Selden is professor of sociology at Binghamton University. Stephen R. Shalom is professor of political science at William Paterson University.
Bitter Flowers, Sweet Flowers is a fine book. Usefully divided into
five sections ('East Timor: Resistance, Repression, and the Road to
Independence;' 'Referendum and Independence;' 'East Timor, the
United States, and the World Community;' 'East Timor and
Indonesia;' and 'The Future of East Timor'), it contains chapters
written by experts with long experience of Indonesia and East
Timor. The carefully chosen black-and-white photographs by leading
international photographers of East Timor such as Ross Bird and
Steve Cox bring the suffering and reality of Indonesian-occupied
East Timor vividly alive, as do the six poems by contemporary East
Timorese writers. The three editors are to be congratulated for the
care they have taken with their editorial task. The quality of the
contributions is high, the index serviceable, and there are useful
maps and glossaries of key Indonesian, Portuguese, and East
Timorese terms and acronyms. This book will be read with profit by
all those with a serious interest in East Timor and its
post-independence future.
*Asian Affairs*
An excellent book.
*Journal of Asian Studies*
The overall effect of Bitter Fowers, Sweet Flowers is worthwhile
and thought-provoking. This volume is to be highly recommended as a
reader on East Timor.
*Southeast Asian Studies*
For anyone who would hope to understand the struggle of the people
of East Timor over the past twenty-five years—or indeed, the past
half century—Bitter Flowers, Sweet Flowers is an indispensable
collection. It offers essential historical background and vivid
eyewitness accounts of the independence ballot and the violence
that preceded and followed. The contributors display a refreshing
combination of fine scholarship and a deep commitment to justice.
It should prove a valuable guide to the difficulties that still lay
ahead.
*José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, former
President of Timor-Leste*
In December 1975, Indonesian troops invaded East Timor and set
about savagery of untold proportions. Over the course of the next
twenty-four years, the people of East Timor endured bloodshed,
torture, starvation, disease, epidemics, and the savagery of an
occupying army which brought death to 200,000 people. Perhaps
one-third of the population perished, while the best in the world
stood idly at the sidelines and the rest sent armaments to the
occupiers. Still the Timorese never gave up their dream of a future
of freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights, a dream which
eventually turned the tide of history itself and renewed our faith
that good ultimately triumphs over evil. Bitter Flowers is an
invaluable resource for the lessons of East Timor, the youngest
nation in the third millennium and a source of hope to all who
value liberty.
*Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, author of Speak to Power*
This is an immensely rewarding volume. It includes ground-breaking
historical essays, moving narratives from September 1999, and
analytical and interpretive pieces which promise to stand the test
of time. Imaginatively edited, it also contains East Timorese
poems, paintings, photos, and maps.This is engaged scholarship at
its clear-headed best—no easy moralism here.
*Herbert Feith, Monash University*
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