The Diaspora at the Crossroads:

The polarization of the Hadhrami community in the Dutch East Indies into transnationalist and nationalist factions is a manifestation of the identity struggle triggered by colonial legal policies and Indonesian nationalism.This study examines how Al-Rabithah and the Indonesian Arab Party (PAI) articulated competing interpretations of citizenship, moving between the preservation of communal distinctiveness and the pursuit of national integration.Using historical qualitative methods and theoretical insights from Political Identity Theory, Diaspora Theory, and Imagined Communities, this study explores the ideological underpinnings of the two factions, the contestation of the meaning of "homeland," and the role of A.R. Baswedan.The findings suggest a vulnerable position as Vreemde Oosterlingen gives birth to two responses.Al-Rabithah, driven by religious ethics, prioritized a transnational identity grounded in genealogy and the protection of religious autonomy, while PAI, led by the muwallad generation, advocated integration into Indonesia as a strategy for equality and long-term security.This polarization is rooted in the fundamental conflict between the loyalties of "blood" and "land," resulting in two distinct identity pathways that clarify the historical foundations of Indonesia's plural national community.