ABSTRACT
Since the sixteenth century, Islam and Christianity have converged in north Halmahera. While North Maluku has long been strongly Islamic, in this one corner of the region the two great faiths coincided and their members mixed in relatively even numbers. The palm-tree-lined coastal road from Galela to Tobelo passes through neighbouring Muslim and Christian villages as well as those where members of both faiths have lived side by side for over a century. In Tobelo and Galela, peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, enshrined in the local cultural tradition of Hibua Lamo, had always been a source of pride. When violence wracked much of the region in late 1999, Tobelos were sure provocateurs would try and undermine this harmony. They knew that ‘if they make Tobelos fight, the rest of North Maluku will follow.’1
