Aggression toward Americans or perceived to be Americans in Sumatra

Well i live in Jakarta and i dont see any anger directed toward Americans at all. And even with all the propanda on tik tok against israel i think the Indonesian response has been pretty  muted. And Indonesians like cats so, unless your neighbor is just an asshole, i don’t think they would poison cats to make a politucal statement.

Hi, we live in Jakarta and have been feeling a a shift in the locals' attitude towards Americans since the conflict started. More people than usual are now asking where we are from without making small talk first. When my husband says that he's from the US, we now get a weird response. No longer friendly. So we started saying that we're from Germany,  which is where I am from. Every other taxi driver will ask us about our views in regards to the conflict. We always avoid this question. In our experience, Indonesians' response to the conflict has not been muted at all. We were surprised at how they have turned this into "West vs anyone who is Muslim".

@Fred

I remember travelling through Europe in the 70s and 80s. Americans would wear Canadian flags on their backpacks.

I can see that coming back in vogue.

I get no issues at all about being a white guy and living in Indonesia. People sometimes ask me where I am from as they often do, and when I tell them I am a Brit they start talking about football. Nothing has changed. I don't feel there is any animosity again me. Of course there are the occasional demonstrations here in support of Palestine, but I can walk right past them and always no issues. Of course we don't know what might happen tomorrow, but so far it hasn't affected us at all.

    @Fred
I remember travelling through Europe in the 70s and 80s. Americans would wear Canadian flags on their backpacks.
I can see that coming back in vogue.
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

It happened a lot to me in Malaysia 2005, 6, and 7.

Once they found out I wasn't an American, their attitude changed from confrontational to friendly.

Tony Blair didn't do much for UK tourists and expats, but he did nothing when compared to a bunch of US presidents.

I have been exceptionally busy so I haven't been out much. That means it's hard to know how much of a problem there is at the moment.

I can say there are a lot of Palestinian flags out there, and a lot of people collecting money outside mosques.

I know there is real anger towards Israel.

I can't say if that's spreading to Americans in the Jakarta area at the moment, but history suggests it might well.

From a safety point of view, I would be tempted to avoid showing old glory anywhere, and skip talking about anything American in public.

Yes it is best to keep low profile

Hello everyone,

Please note that the question was about Sumatra and how Americans are perceived in that region.

Please refrain from discussing political matters of other countries here.

@Richard Jones, what happened since you posted this question ? Any other incidents ?

Thank you

Bhavna

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