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Today's News Quiz
New York Times ^ | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Posted on 11/20/2001 6:42:42 AM PST by milestogo

Today's News Quiz

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

NEW DELHI -- So, class, time for a news quiz: Name the second-largest Muslim community in the world. Iran? Wrong. Pakistan? Wrong. Saudi Arabia? Wrong. Time's up — you lose.

Answer: India. That's right: India, with nearly 150 million Muslims, is believed to have more Muslim citizens than Pakistan or Bangladesh, and is second only to Indonesia. Which brings up another question that I've been asking here in New Delhi: Why is it you don't hear about Indian Muslims — who are a minority in this vast Hindu-dominated land — blaming America for all their problems or wanting to fly suicide planes into the Indian Parliament?

Answer: Multi-ethnic, pluralistic, free-market democracy. To be sure, Indian Muslims have their frustrations, and have squared off over the years in violent clashes with Hindus, as has every other minority in India. But they live in a noisy, messy democracy, where opportunities and a political voice are open to them, and that makes a huge difference.

"I'll give you a quiz question: Which is the only large Muslim community to enjoy sustained democracy for the last 50 years? The Muslims of India," remarked M. J. Akbar, the Muslim editor of Asian Age, a national Indian English-language daily funded by non-Muslim Indians. "I am not going to exaggerate Muslim good fortune in India. There are tensions, economic discrimination and provocations, like the destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya. But the fact is, the Indian Constitution is secular and provides a real opportunity for the economic advancement of any community that can offer talent. That's why a growing Muslim middle class here is moving up and, generally, doesn't manifest the strands of deep anger you find in many non-democratic Muslim states."

In other words, for all the talk about Islam and Islamic rage, the real issue is: Islam in what context? Where Islam is imbedded in authoritarian societies it tends to become the vehicle of angry protest, because religion and the mosque are the only places people can organize against autocratic leaders. And when those leaders are seen as being propped up by America, America also becomes the target of Muslim rage.

But where Islam is imbedded in a pluralistic, democratic society, it thrives like any other religion. Two of India's presidents have been Muslims; a Muslim woman sits on India's supreme court. The architect of India's missile program, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a Muslim. Indian Muslims, including women, have been governors of many Indian states, and the wealthiest man in India, the info-tech whiz Azim Premji, is a Muslim. The other day the Indian Muslim film star and parliamentarian Shabana Azmi lashed out at the imam of New Delhi's biggest mosque. She criticized him for putting Islam in a bad light and suggested he go join the Taliban in Kandahar. In a democracy, liberal Muslims, particularly women, are not afraid to take on rigid mullahs.

Followed Bangladesh lately? It has almost as many Muslims as Pakistan. Over the last 10 years, though, without the world noticing, Bangladesh has had three democratic transfers of power, in two of which — are you ready? — Muslim women were elected prime ministers. Result: All the economic and social indicators in Bangladesh have been pointing upward lately, and Bangladeshis are not preoccupied hating America. Meanwhile in Pakistan, trapped in the circle of bin Ladenism — military dictatorship, poverty and anti-modernist Islamic schools, all reinforcing each other — the social indicators are all pointing down and hostility to America is rife.

Hello? Hello? There's a message here: It's democracy, stupid! Those who argue that we needn't press for democracy in Arab-Muslim states, and can rely on repressive regimes, have it all wrong. If we cut off every other avenue for non-revolutionary social change, pressure for change will burst out anyway — as Muslim rage and anti-Americanism.

If America wants to break the bin Laden circles across the Arab-Muslim world, then, "it needs to find role models that are succeeding as pluralistic, democratic, modernizing societies, like India — which is constantly being challenged by religious extremists of all hues — and support them," argues Raja Mohan, strategic affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper.

So true. For Muslim societies to achieve their full potential today, democracy may not be sufficient, but it sure is necessary. And we, and they, fool ourselves to think otherwise.


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To: Torie
I never heard your number of 21 mosques destroyed in Bosnia. Many times I have heard of the 50 Serb Orthodox Churches dynamited in Kosovo.
21 posted on 11/20/2001 6:24:09 PM PST by dennisw
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To: Lent
I call them as I see them Lent. I don't like bigotry or destructive ethnocentrism anywhere. And in many instances, I am perfectly willing to advocate the use of American power to stamp out its more threatening and ugly manifestations - in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Bosnia, in Croatia, in Kosovo, in Serbia, in Gaza and on the West Bank. I think we should assasinate Mugabe by the way. Cheers.
22 posted on 11/20/2001 6:24:48 PM PST by Torie
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To: Torie
SM, Bat Ye'Or. The Myth of a Tolerant Pluralistic Islamic Society.


 

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Myths and Politics
Origin or the Myth of a Tolerant Pluralistic Islamic Society

THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC STUDIES ASSOCIATION

SYMPOSIUM ON THE BALKAN WAR
(Ramada Congress Hotel - Chicago, Illinois)

YUGOSLAVIA: PAST AND PRESENT

Dinner Address delivered on 31 August 1995

BAT YE'OR*

Myths and Politics: Origin or the Myth of a Tolerant Pluralistic Islamic Society

Ladies and gentlemen:

My subject this evening is: Myths and Politics: Origin of the Myth of a Tolerant Pluralistic Islamic Society. I stress the world "Tolerant", which was omitted from the program.

Ten years ago, when I came to America for the launching of my book: THE DHIMMI, JEWS AND CHRISTIANS UNDER ISLAM, I was struck by the inscription on the Archives Building in Washington: "Past is Prologue". I had thought -- at least at the beginning of my research -- that my subject related to a remote past, but I realized that contemporary events were rapidly modernizing this past. Muslim countries where Islamic law -- the SHARI'A -- had been replaced by modern juridic (imposed by the European colonizing powers,) were abandoning the secularizing trend, replacing it with Islamization in numerous sectors of life. This impression of the return of the past became even more acute when I was working on my next book, published in 1991, the English edition which will appear in a few months under the title: THE DECLINE OF EASTERN CHRISTIANITY UNDER ISLAM - 7th TO 20th CENTURY: FROM JIHAD TO DHIMMITUDE (Associated University Presses).

In this study, I tried to analyze the numerous processes that had transformed rich, powerful Christian civilizations into Islamic lands and their long-term effects, which had reduced native Christian majorities into scattered small religious minorities, now slowly disappearing. This complex Islamization process of Christian lands and civilizations on both shores of the Mediterannean - and in Irak and Armenia - I have called: the process of "dhimmitude" and the civilization of those peoples who underwent such transformation, I have named the civilization of "dhimmitude". The indigenous native peoples were Jews and Christians: Orthodox, Catholics, or from other Eastern Christian Churches. They are all referred to by Muslim jurists as the "Peoples of the Book" - the Book being the Bible - and are subjected to the same condition according to Islamic law. They are called dhimmis: protected peoples, because Islamic law protects their life and goods on condition that they submit to Islamic rule. I will not go into details here for this is a very long and complex subject, but in order to understand the Serbian situation one should know that the Serbs were treated during half a millennium just like the other Christian and Jewish DHIMMIS. They participated in this civilization of dhimmitude. It is important to understand that the civilization of dhimmitude grows from two religious institutions: JIHAD and SHARI'A, which establish a particular ideological system that makes it mandatory - during the jihad operation -- to use terror, mass killings, deportation and slavery. And the Serbs -- because I am speaking of them tonight -- did not escape from this fate, which was the same for all the populations around the Mediterannean basin, vanquished by JIHAD. For centuries, the Serbs fought to liberate their land from the laws of JIHAD and of SHARI'A, which had legalized their condition of oppression.

So while I was analyzing and writing about the processes of dhimmitude and the civilization of dhimmitude, while listening to the radio, watching television, reading the newspapers, I had the uncomfortable feeling that the clock was being turned back.

Modern politicians, sophisticated writers -- using phones, planes, computers and all the modern techniques -- seemed to be returning several centuries back, with WIGS or STIFF COLLARS, using exactly the same CORRUPTING ARGUMENTS, the same tortuous short-term politics that had previously contributed to the gradual Islamization of numerous non-Muslim peoples. I had to shake myself in an effort to distinguish the past from the present.

So, is the past always prologue? Are we doomed to remain always prisoners of the same errors? Certainly, if we do not know the past. And this past -- the long and agonizing process of Christian annihilation by the laws of JIHAD and dhimmitude -- is a taboo history, not only in Islamic lands, but above all in the West. It has been buried beneath a myth, fabricated by Western politicians and religious leaders, in order to promote their own national strategic and economic interests.

Curiously, this myth started in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 19th century. It alleges that Turkish rule over Christians in its European provinces was just and lawful. That the Ottoman regime, being Islamic, was naturally "tolerant" and well disposed toward its Christian subjects; that its justice was fair, and that safety for life and goods was guaranteed to Christians by Islamic laws. Ottoman rule was brandished as the most suitable regime to rule Christians of the Balkans.

This theory was advanced by European politicians in order to safeguard the balance of power in Europe, and in order to block the Russian advance towards the Mediterannean. To justify the maintenance of the Turkish yoke on the Slavs it was portrayed as a model for a multi-ethnical and multi-religious empire. Of course, the reality was totally different! First the Ottoman Empire was created by centuries of JIHAD against Christian populations; consequently the rules of JIHAD, elaborated by Arab-Muslim theologians from the 8th to the 10th centuries, applied to the subjected Christian and Jewish populations of the Turkish Islamic dominions. Those regulations are integrated into the Islamic legislation concerning the non-Muslim vanquished peoples and consequently they present a certain homogeneity throughout the Arab and Turkish empires.

The civilization of dhimmitude in which the Serbs participated had many aspects that evolved with changing political situations. In the 1830s, forced by the European powers, the Ottomans adopted a series of reforms aiming at ending the oppression of the Christians.

In the Serbian regions, the most fanatical opponents of Christian emancipation were the Muslims Bosniacs. They fought against the Christian right to possess lands and, in legal matters, to have equal rights as themselves. They pretended that under the old system that gave them full domination over the Christians, Muslims and Christians had lived for centuries in a convivial fraternity. And this argument is still used today by President Izetbegovic and others. He repeatedly affirms that the 500 years of Christian dhimmitude was a period of peace and religious harmony.

Let us now confront the myth with reality. A systematic enquiry into the condition of the Christians was conducted by British consuls in the Ottoman Empire in the 1860s. Britain was then Turkey's strongest ally. It was in its own interest to see that the oppression of the Christians would be eliminated in order to prevent any Russian or Austrian interference. Consul James Zohrab sent from Bosna-Serai (Sarajevo) a lengthy report, dated July 22, 1860, to his ambassador in Constantinople, Sir Henry Bulwer, in which he analyzed the administration of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stated that from 1463 to 1850 the Bosniac Muslims enjoyed all the privileges of feudalism. During a period of nearly 300 years Christians were subjected to much oppression and cruelty. For them no other law but the caprice of their masters existed.

The DEVSHIRME system is well known. Begun by the Sultan Orkhan (1326-1359), it existed for about 300 years. It consisted of a regular levy of Christian children from the Christian population of the Balkans. These youngsters, aged from fourteen to twenty, were Islamized and enslaved for their army. The periodic levies, which took place in contingents of a thousand, subsequently became annual. To discourage runaways, children were transferred to remote provinces and entrusted to Muslim soldiers who treated them harshly as slaves. Another parallel recruitment system operated. It provided for the levy of Christian children aged six to ten (ICHOGHLANI), reserved for the sultans' palace. Entrusted to eunuchs, they underwent a tyrannical training for fourteen years. (A system of enslaving Black Christian and Animist children, similar to the DEVSHIRME existed in Sudan as is shown from documents to be published in my book. A sort of DEVSHIRME system still exists today in Sudan and has been described and denounced by the United Nations Special Report on Sudan and in a recent article last Friday's TIMES OF LONDON.) In 1850, the Bosniac Muslims opposed the authority of the Sultan and the reforms, but were defeated by the Sultan's army aided by the Christians who hoped that their position would thereby improve, "but they hardly benefited." Moreover, despite their assistance to the sultan's army, Christians were disarmed, while the Muslims who fought the sultan could retain weapons. Christians remained oppressed as before, Consul Zobrab writes about the reforms: "I can safely say, they practically remain a dead letter".

Discussing the impunity granted to the Muslims by the sultan, Zohrab wrote:
"This impunity, while it does not extend to permitting the Christians to be treated as they formerly were treated, is so far unbearable and unjust in that it permits the Muslims to despoil them with heavy exactions. Under false accusations imprisonments are of daily occurrence. A Christian has but a small chance of exculpating himself when his opponent is a Muslim."
"Christians are now permitted to possess real property, but the obstacles which they meet with when they attempt to acquire it are so many and vexatious that very few have as yet dared to brave them. Although a Christian can buy land and take possession it is when he has got his land into order [...] that the Christian feels the helplessness of his position and the insincerity of the Government. [Under any pretext] "the Christian is in nineteen cases out of twenty dispossessed, and he may then deem himself fortunate if he gets back the price he gave."

Commenting on this situation, the consul writes:

"Such being, generally speaking, the course pursued by the Government towards the Christians in the capital of the province Sarajevo where the Consular Agents of the different Powers reside and can exercise some degree of control, it may easily be guessed to what extend the Christians, in the remoter districts, suffer who are governed by Mudirs generally fanatical."

He continues:

"Christian evidence in the Medjlises (tribunal) as a rule is refused. Knowing this, the Christians generally come forward prepared with Mussulman witnesses (...), twenty years ago, it is true, they had no laws beyond the caprice of their landlords."

"Cases of oppression are frequently the result of Mussulman fanaticism, but for these the Government must be held responsible, for if offenders were punished, oppression would of necessity became rare."

In the spring of 1861 the sultan announced new reforms in Herzegovina, promising among other things freedom to build churches, the use of church bells and the opportunity for Christians to acquire land.

Commenting on this, Consul William Holmes in Bosna-Serai writes to Ambassador Sir Henry Bulwer that those promises rarely applied. He mentions that the Serbs, the biggest community were refused the right to build a church in Bosna-Serai. Concerning the right to buy land, he writes; "Every possible obstacle is still thrown in the way of the purchase of lands by Christians, and very often after they have succeeded in purchasing and improving land, it is no secret that on one unjust pretext or another, it has been taken from them."

Consul Longworth writes, from Belgrade on 1860 that by its Edicts the "Government may hasten such a reform but I question very much whether more evil than good will not arise from proclaiming a social equality which is, in the present stage of things and relations of society, morally impossible."

The biggest problem, in fact, was the refusal to accept either Christian or Jewish testimony in Islamic tribunals.

Consul Longworth comments on "the lax and vicious principle acted upon in the Mussulman Courts, where, as the only means of securing justice to Christians, Mussulman false witnesses are permitted to give evidence on their behalf."

The situation didn't change, and in 1875 the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha admitted to the British Ambassador in Constantinople, Sir Henry Elliot, the "impossibility of allowing Christian testimony at courts of justice in Bosnia." Thus, the Ambassador noted: "The professed equality of Christians and Mussulmans is, however, so illusory so long as this distinction is maintained."

This juridical situation had serious consequences due to the system of justice, as he explained: "This is a point [the refusal of testimony] of much importance to the Christians, for, as the religious courts neither admit documentary nor written evidence, nor receive Christian evidence, they could hope for little justice from them."

The difficulty of imposing reforms in such a vast empire provoked this disillusioned comment, from Sir Francis, consul-general, judge at the British Consular Court in 1875 Constantinopole: "Indeed, the modern perversion of the Oriental idea of justice is a concession to a suitor through grace and favor, and not the declaration of a right, on principles of law, and in pursuance of equity."

From Consul Blunt writing from Pristina on 14 July 1860 to Ambassador Bulwer, we learn about the situation in the province of Macedonia: "[...] For a long time the province of Uscup [Skopje, Macedonia] has been a prey to brigandage: [...] Christian churches and monasteries, towns and inhabitants, are now pillaged, massacred, and burnt by Albanian hordes as used to be done ten years ago."

"The Christians are not allowed to carry arms. This, considering the want of a good police, exposes them the more to attacks from brigands." "Christian evidence in law suits between a Mussulman and a non-Mussulman is not admitted in the Local Courts."

Ten years before he said: "Churches were not allowed to be built; and one can judge of the measure of toleration practiced at that time by having had to creep under doors scarcely four feet high. It was an offense to smoke and ride before a Turk; to cross his path, or not stand up before him, was equally wrong." [...]

Fifteen years later, in another report from Bosna-Serai, dated December 30, 1875, from consul Edward Freeman, we learn that the Bosnian Muslims had sent a petition to the sultan stating that before the reforms, "they lived as brother with the Christian population. In fact, wrote the Consul, "their aim appears to reduce the Christians to their former ancient state of serfdom." So once again we go back to the myth. When reading the literature of the time, we see that the obstruction to Serbian, Greek and other Christian liberation movement was rooted in two main arguments:

1) Christian DHIMMIS are congenitally unfitted for independence and self-government. They should therefore remain under the Islamic rule.
2) The Ottoman rule is a perfect model for a multi-religious and multi-ethnical society.

Indeed these are theological Islamic arguments that justify the JIHAD since all non-Muslim people should not retain political independence because their laws are evil and must be eventually replaced by the Islamic rule. We find the same reasoning in the Palestinian 1988 Covenant of the Hamas. Those arguments are very common in the theological and legal literature and are exposed by modern Islamists.

Collusion

The myth didn't die with the collapse of the Turkish Empire after World War I. Rather it took another form: that of the National Arab Movement, which promoted an Arab society where Christians and Muslims would live in perfect harmony. Once again, this was the fabrication of European politicians, writers and clergyman. And in the same way as the myth of the Ottoman political paradise was created to block the independence of the Balkan nations, so the Arab multi-religious fraternity was an argument to destroy the national liberation of non-Arab peoples of the Middle East (Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Maronites and Zionists.)

And although from the beginning of this century until the 1930s, a stream of Christian refugees were fleeing massacres and genocide on the roads of Turkey, Irak and Syria, the myth continued to flourish, sustained mostly by Arab writers and clergyman. After the Israelis had succeeded in liberating their land from the laws of JIHAD and DHIMMITUDE, the myth reappeared in the form of a multi-cultural and multi-religious fraternal Palestine which had to replace the State of Israel (Cf. Arafat's 1975 UN speech). Its pernicious effects led to the destruction of the Christians in Lebanon. One might have thought that the myth would end there.

But suddenly the recent crisis in Yugoslavia offered a new chance for its reincarnation in a multi-religious Muslim Bosnian state. What a chance! A Muslim state again in the heartland of Europe. And we know the rest, the sufferings, the miseries, the trials of the war that this myth once again brought in its wake.

To conclude, I would like to say a few last words. The civilization of dhimmitude does not develop all at once. It is a long process that involves many elements and a specific conditioning. It happens when peoples replace history by myths, when they fight to uphold these destructive myths, more then their own values because they are confused by having transformed lies into truth. They hold to those myths as if they were the only guarantee of their survival, when, in fact, they are the path to destruction. Terrorized by the evidence and teaching of history, those peoples preferred to destroy it rather than to face it. They replace history with childish tales, thus living in amnesia.

=== The end of the speech

* About the author:

Madam BAT YE'OR, author and scholar, born in Egypt. A British citizen living in Switzerland, she is a specialist on the DHIMMIS and "DHIMMITUDE" (a new word which she coined), and the subject of her pioneer research for the past twenty-five years. Author, since 1971, of numerous articles on non-Muslims under Islamic rule, she broke new ground with her book:

THE DHIMMI: JEWS & CHRISTIANS UNDER ISLAM, preface by Jacques Ellul (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press & Associated University Presses, Cranbury, N.J./London/Toronto, 1985), Enlarged English edition.

Her second major work...

LES CHRETIENTES D'ORIENT ENTRE JIHAD ET DHIMMITUDE: VIIe-XXe siecle, preface de Jacques Ellul (Paris, La Cerf, 1991) (English edition published by AUP in early 1996, English title: THE DECLINE OF EASTERN CHRISTIANITY UNDER ISLAM; 7TH TO 20TH CENTURY. FROM JIHAD TO DHIMMITUDE) - Associated University Press, 440 Forsgate Drive, Canbury, New Jersey 08512, tel: (609) 655-4770, 520 pages, cloth and paper cover option... ...established the author's reputation as an innovative thinker in a virgin field of research. The significance of her latest book in French JUIFS ET CHRETIENS SOUS L'ISLAM: LES DHIMMIS FACE AU DEFI INTEGRISTE (Paris, Berg international, 1994) is revealed by its subtitle: The Dhimmis faced with the challenge of Fundamentalism. Here, she covers the period of Turkish rule in the Balkans and analyses contemporary events. An English edition is scheduled for 1997.

======== End - about the author =========

Excerpt from author's interview for daily Politika....

Politika: What is your experience in relation to Dhimmitude having in mind the fact that your are a Jew born in Egypt?

Madam Bat Ye'Or: "I was witness of expulsion of the Jewish community from Egypt (85,000 persons). It was done in the ambient of hatred, terrorism, pillage and robbery. It started in 1945 and had its peak in 1948 and 1956. Anyhow, this is common experience of Jews in the entire Arab world. There used to be some 1,000,000 Jews there. Today only 10,000 remained. I wrote about it in one of my books. Contacts with Arab Christians helped me a lot in my strive to widen the understanding of the problem..."

========= End of the excerpt

NOTE:

To learn more on how the myth of the Muslim tolerance occurred, please open any encyclopedia and look for "EASTERN QUESTION".

To simplify it: The super power of the 19th century, Great Britain, waged a "space game" with the other potential super power: Russia. Where interests of the two crossed was - Balkans (then under Turkish occupation).

It would be most natural that Russia should have the influence in the the area. Most of the subdued Balkan nations (Serbs, Greeks, Rumanians, Bulgarians) are Eastern Orthodox - like Russians. That did not fit British interests. That is how Britain allied itself with Turkey and invented the myth of the Muslim tolerance.

When Turks cut throats, raped women and steal children of Balkan Christians - it was OK for the Brits - it was an expression of tolerance... As long as Russians do not get influence in the Balkans.

The history repeats itself. Super powers play again with the destiny of the Balkan peoples. They play with fire. http://www.srpska-mreza.com/library/facts/Ye_Or.html


23 posted on 11/20/2001 6:24:57 PM PST by Lent
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To: dennisw
The 21 is accurate. You can trust me or not, but I think you know I'm pretty trustworthy about these sort of things.
24 posted on 11/20/2001 6:26:03 PM PST by Torie
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To: Torie
The Poll Collection

http://www.balkanpeace.org/destruct/clist.html


DESTROYED AND DESECRATED CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX SHRINES IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA


1. The Monastery of the Holy Trinity was built in the 14th century on the Rusinica hill above Musutiste, 2 km to the south. The building, which dated back to the year 1465, housed a valuable collection of manuscripts from 14 th to 18 th centuries. There were also a hand-written apostle from the 14 th century and a collecton of icons from the 19th century-1868-1985. The monastery was plundered, burnt and then levelled with the ground by explosives.

2. The church of the Holy Virgin Odigitriya, in Musutiste, was built as a foundation by Dragoslav, the then chief court governor of the estate, and his family, in 1315, about 10 km to the south-east of Suva Reka. The founder's inscription above the entrance was one of the oldest and most beautiful Serbian epigraphic texts of its kind. It was a building with a semi-dome, an inscribed cross in the ground plan and had a semi-round apse. The wall was built of alternating rows of bricks and stone cubes. The frescoes of the Musutiste School, painted between 1316 and 1320 and famed for their plasticity and the saints' typology were known as the best examples of Serbian art. That earned them a place in the company of other mature artistic works of the Paleologists era from the first quarter of the 14th century. The altar area contained a unique portrait of a South-Slav educator, St Clement of Ohrid. In the north-western corner of the naos there were figures of holy women, the warriors St Theodore Tyre and St Theodore Stratilates, angels, and St Paneteleimon. Two throne icons of Christ and The Holy Virgin dated back to the year 1603. Accompanying items were plundered, burnt and consequently mined.

3. The medieval monastery of St Mark of Korisa used to stand on a rocky outpost above the Korisa river, 3 km southeast of the village of Korisa. The church was built in 1467 with a single-nave, a rectangular foundation and a preserved fragment of the original, ancient fresco. On the western side, above the rock, a belfry with two bells was added in 1861 thus becoming a foundation of Sima Andrejevic Igumanov. In April 1941, the Kabasani Shqiptars forcibly tore out the bells and repeatedly desecrated and vandalized the founder's grave. The monastery housed a major book collection. It was robbed and burnt prior to having been completely destroyed by explosives.

4. The monastery of St Archangel Gabriel, also known under the names of Binac and Buzovik, was built in the 14th century. It was located some 4-5 km south of Vitina, at the spring of the river Susica. The church had a rectangular foundation, a semi-round apse and a semi-cylindrical vault. There were two layers of frescoes, one on top of each other. The newer layer, from the 16th century, showed archbishops at liturgy. In 1867 Albanians slaughtered the priest. After that the monastery stood abandoned only to be renewed at the beginning of the 20th century. A number of the 14th century liturgical vessels were kept in the church. The Monastery was first looted and set on fire. On September 13 the monastery church was completely destroyed by explosive.

5. Devic monastery -Drenica (south of Srbica)- the church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin was built around the year 1434 by the Despot Djuradj Brankovic to commemorate his daughter Devica's recovery from an illness and was named after her. (The name Devica is congruent with the word devica, which means virgin). It was built on the original site where St Joannicius's, the first founder, small church once stood. The monastery was restored on several occasions and consisted of a number of churches dedicated to the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, St Joannicius and St George. The monastery used to have four churchs that, together with the konaks (residential quarters), were looted, desecrated, mined and destroyed by the Shqiptars terrorists in 1941 when the Italians occupied Kosmet. The monastery used to house a rich collection of manuscripts and printed books. There was also a scriptorium within the monastery complex. The entire ancient, as well as the 19th and 20th century, Devic books, including the iconostasis with icons, were lost in a fire. At the same time the recluse of St Joannicius of Devic, on the hill north of the monastery, was wrecked as was the spring in a ravine below the monastery. The frescoes dated from the 15th century. Beside the portrait of St Joannicius of Devic, clad in a senior monk's robes and bearing a preserved inscription which indicates that he was "the first founder of the place" preserved were also an image of St Akakios and the compositions of The Wedding in Kana, Galilee and The healing of the Infirm. There was also another layer of frescoes from the 15th century, as well as one from the 19th century. The monastery owned the lands in Lausa, Ludovic, Lepina in Kosovo, Bica in Metohija, a vineyard in Velika Hoca, a number of houses and shops in Vucitrn, watermills, residential quarters, a bakery, a dairy……60 hectares of arable land and 250 hectares of forest in total. In the morning twilight on 15th June 1991, neighbours until recently, the self-proclaimed UCK, barged into this shrine. The horror that the nuns and their spiritual guide, Fr Seraphim, were put through lasted two days. The monastery was vandalized, desecrated and looted.

6. The Monastery of St Uros, with the Church of the Ascension of The Holy Virgin, was built by the Empress Helen at the end of the 14th century, uphill and west of Gornje Nerodimlje, in the small village of Sarenik. In 1647-49 Patriarch Paisios bequeathed the manuscript of the hagiography of the Emperor Uros to the monastery. The monastery was mined and destroyed.

7. The Monastery and the Church of St Archangels, in Gornje Nerodimlje, were built in the 14th century and renewed in the year 1700. The monastery was burnt and looted. 7.1. A giant black pine tree, planted in 1336 by Tsar Dusan himself, was cut down and burnt. 7.2. The cemetery was desecrated and the tombstones were knocked over and vandalized.

8. The new church of St Nicholas of the Summer, in Gornje Nerodimlje, was built on the ancient foundations in 1983. It was a single-nave building with an altar apse and a smallish dome. In front of it, facing west, there stood a one-hundred-years-old oak tree where the congregation used to gather even in the times when the church was in ruins. The church was vandalized, burnt and mined.

9. The Church of St Stephen In Donje Nerodimlje, in the river Nerodimka valley, 5 km west of Urosevac from the 14th century, renewed in 1996. It was vandalized, burnt and finally mined in summer 1999, after the war and NATO deployment.

10. The monastery church of The Holy Virgin (also known as the Holy Innocent) was built in Dolac near Klina. The church was a single-nave building, rectangular at the foundations, with a semi-cylindrical vault and a semi-round apse. Two layers of frescoes were preserved. The more recent one dated from 1620 while the older, found underneath, was from the 14th century. These were roughly restored, especially those found in the lower zone of the southern wall. Fragments of an old fresco were known for their very fine drawings and colour nuance. Similar features could be found in the later date fresco, dating from the 17th century. This church was believed to be older than Decani and to have been built four years before the Battle of Kosovo (1389). A precious Evangelical Book with Four Gospels from 14th-15th century and an Oktoih for I-IV voices from the 15th century were once housed in Dolac. The church, with the holy throne being pulled down and the whole place set on fire, was consequently mined and destroyed by explosives.

11. The church of St Nicholas, in the village of Slovinje near Lipljan, was built in the 16th century, pulled down in the 19th century and renewed in 1996. On 17th July 1999 it was levelled to the ground by explosives.

12. The new church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built in 1938, on the eastern outskirts of the town of Suva Reka. It had a dome and a belfry. The church was first plundered, vandalized and then razed to the ground on 19th July 1999, at 1 a.m.

13. The church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Petric, on the Pec-Pristina road, was built as a foundation of the Karic Brothers in 1992. The church was looted, dynamited and razed to the ground with explosives.

14. The church of the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, in Bijelo Polje near Pec, was built in the 16th century and restored in 1868 under the auspices of the Empress of Russia, Maria Alexandrovna. A collection of ancient icon, books and liturgical vessels was kept in the monastery among which particularly stood out a 15th-16th century Italo-Cretan icon of The Holy Virgin with Christ.

15. The cathedral church of Holy King Uros, in the city of Urosevac, was built between 1929 and 1933, to the designs of the architect from Skopje, Josif Mihailovic. The icon collection, belonging to the medieval period of Serbian icon painting, also included the 1896 Holy Trinity icon painted by the zoographer Josif Radevic from Lazaropolje. The church had votive discos from 1909, a censer and several bells donated by the women of Kragujevac in 1912. The church was vandalized and the interior was burnt.

16. The church of St Elijah in Vucitrn, was built in the year 1834 on the eastern outskirt of the city, at the site where some previously buried holy relics had been discovered. The wall paintings were made in 1871, by the zoographer Blaza Damnjanovic from Debar. The church was looted, vandalized and partially burnt.

17. The church of St John the Baptist, in Samodreza near Vucitrn, entered the legends as "the white church of Samodreza" in which saint King Lazar gave Holy Communion to the Serbian knights on the eve of the Battle of Kosovo (1389). The new church, made from blocks of white marble and to the designs of A. Deroko and P.Popovic, professors of Belgrade University, was erected on the foundations of an old church, in 1932. The famous poet and painter Zivorad Nastasijevic painted the frescoes in the new church in the same year. The Shqiptars desecrated the church and damaged the frescos in 1981. The church was first vandalized, then burnt and finally destroyed.

18. The Church of St Paraskeva, in Drsnik near Pec, was at one time devoted to St Nicholas. It was a single-nave building, of rectangular foundation, with a semi-cylindrical vault. There was a semi-round apse facing east. The church had a gable roof covered in stone slates. The wall consisted of irregular layers of stone and plaster. The old frescoes were considerably damaged. The church was restored during the seventh decade of the 16th century. Preserved was an icon from that period, remarkable for its fine drawing and strong colours. The technique was good and in spite of constant rain and snow, as well as other mishaps that they had been exposed to, the frescoes retained their quality rather well. Two marble crosses were elaborately dressed and placed on the eastern and western roof vertices respectively. The church was vandalized and the inside was burnt.

19. The Church of The Holy Virgin, in the village of Naklo near Pec, was built in 1985, later demolished and burnt.

20. The Church of the Holy Trinity, in the village of Velika Reka near Vucitrn, was built as a foundation of Dimitrije Ljiljak in 1997 to the designs of the architect Ljiljana Ljiljak. The church was vandalized, burnt and almost completely destroyed.

21. The Church of St Apostles in Petrovac, near Kosovska Kamenica, was vandalized and burnt.

22. The Church of The Holy Virgin, in the village of Podgorce near Vitina, was new. It was consecrated in 1996, but vandalized and burnt afterwards.

23. The Church of the Conception of St John the Baptist with three bells, was finished in 1998 as a Rajovic's family foundation in Pecka Banja. The architect Ljubisa Folic made the designs. The church was demolished and the interiors burnt.

24. The Church of The Holy Virgin in Djurakovac, from 1997, was vandalized.

25. The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Djakovica was completed in 1999 on the foundations of a five-dome memorial church. The old church was built to serve as a mausoleum and the place of final rest for all those killed, murdered and frozen to death in the wars of 1912-1918. It was completed in 1940 but in 1949, on St Sava's Day it was destroyed by the infidel. On the very spot, fifty years on, the same destiny befell a new church, which was first desecrated, then set ablaze, mined and finally completely destroyed on 24/25 July 1999. The Djakovica church was one of the most beautiful newly built churchs where a continuum with Knez Lazar's medieval architectural style had been successfully established. The architect Ljubisa Folic designed the project.

26. The Church of St Nicholas - Nikoljaca stands in a hilly meadow, in the old Serbian village of Osojane in the river Kujavce valley, 8 km southeast of Istok. The name of the village is mentioned in King Milutin's charter to Banjska Monastery in 1314. The Devic katastich ("letter" to the monastery) from 1761-79 lists all Serb donators. Desecrated.

27. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Bistrazin was built between the two world wars on the foundations of a much older church from partially chiselled stone and had a belfry facing west. In April 1941 the Shiqptars burnt and vandalized it. In 1991 the church was restored but now is totally destroyed.

28. The Church of St Demetrios in Siga, near Pec, was restored in 1937 on the foundations of an old church, which had an added narthex and was believed to have been older than Decani. An ancient upright candleholder, made of wrought iron, was found in it. In WW2 Kosovo Albanian Nazis vandalized the church and now in July 1999 the Albanian extremists completely destroyed it.

29. The Church of St Elijah in the village of Zegra, near Gnjilane, was built in 1931. It was demolished and later completely burnt (the roof caved in). Two other church buildings were also set ablaze. Crosses and tombstones at the cemetery were wrecked.

30. The Church of St Cosma and Damian in the village of Novake, near Prizren, was restored in 1991. Now stands vandalized and burnt. Mining attempts were carried out. Graves around the church were desecrated.

31. The Church of the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, in Veliko Krusevo near Pec, (ancient, restored), was broken into and partially burnt.

32. The 14th century Zociste Monastery, 5 km southeast of Orahovac, dated back to the days of the Nemanjic self-governing state. The Church of the Holy Physicians Cosma and Damian (also known by the name "Coinless" because they charged no fee for curing the ill) had a semi-round vault and a wide narthex. The preserved frescoes, especially one of a prophet's bust, belonged to the 12th -14th century monumental style of painting. Contained a valuable collection of icons, books (The Zociste menaion from the 15th century), and liturgical vessels. The double door of the iconostasis was known for their exceptional beauty. The monastery was looted, demolished and mined; the konaks burnt.

33. Church of St John in Grmovo, 4 km west of Vitina. First set ablaze and then completely demolished by explosives, on 25 July 1999.

34. The Church of St Nicholas, in the village of Kijevo in Prekoruplje, 15 km south-east of Klina. The single-nave building, with a semi-round vault and semi-circle apse, was built in 14th century. The added spacious narthex was painted in 1602. Among the valuables were three 17th century censer, nine icons from the second half of the 16th century among which was the icon of the Holy Apostle Thomas with a very rare representation of his standing figure - a scene from his hagiography. The church used to house an extremely valuable collection of hand written books. The belfry was added in the 19th century. Now it is completely razed to the ground. The cemetery crosses and tombstones were wrecked.

35. The Church of St Evangelist Mark, in Klina (Metohija), was erected on the foundations of the old church of the Presentation of The Holy Virgin. Destroyed by explosive.

36. The Church of St Nicholas, in the village of Ljubizda near Prizren, was built in the 16th century and renewed in 1867. The Galicia zoographer Vasilije Krstic of the famous Daskalovic-Djinovski family from Dabar painted the interior. The single-nave building had a semi-round vault and an extended narthex. The icons from the neighbouring church buildings, destroyed earlier, among which was the 14th century double icon of The Annunciation and the Meeting of Joachim and Ann, were brought over to this church. The double door in the iconostasis dated back to the 16th century. The church used to house bells, a processional icon of the Mother of God with an artistically embroidered linen cloth 7-8m long, a wooden chalice, books, throne icons, triptych-icon, octagonal choir space with mother-of-pearl incrustations, a copper baptistery, a filigree cross with an inscription from the 19th century. Looted, vandalized, burned inside and finally mined.

37. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Ljubizda, 4 km north-east of Prizren and in the country of the same name. Restored in 1979, on the 16th century foundations. Today stands looted, burnt on the inside and mined. The cemetery around it was desecrated.

38. The Church of St Parasceva, in the village of Dobrcane, 10 km east of Gnjilane and on the road to Kamenica, was built after World War I. Now stands burnt, with the caved in roof.

39. The Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Pristina (new), is a single-dome building with the ground plan in the form of an inscribed cross and a trefoil. Its typological definition, an edifice of central type, was already known in the earliest period of the Middle Ages, especially during the Byzantine epoch. Being dressed from a cube, and having very precise measurements, it achieved monumental, humane and purposeful shape both outside and inside. The author of the project was Spasoje Krunic. Albanian extremists at first made attempts to burn it but later, at 1 a.m. on 1 August 1999, four explosive devices were planted out of which two remained unexploded.

40. The Church of St Elijah was built in 1994 in the village of Smac, in a field near Prizren, 10 km north of the city. It was built as a foundation for Zivko Djordjevic by the conservationist Milosav Lukic. The church was burnt, vandalized and mined inside. Not all planted explosive devices went off.

41. The Church of St Basil the Great was built in 1863, in the village of Srbica near Prizren, on a slope facing south among eight ancient oak-trees and on the ruins of a much older church. This was a single-nave building that housed a collection of icons and books from the 18th and 19th centuries. Burnt and then destroyed.

42. The Church of St Parasceva, in the village of Zaskok near Urosevac, was mined and completely destroyed.

43. The Church of St Nicholas was once in the village of Gatnja (Urosevac), east of today's Gornja Mahala. The new church, which was built on the old foundations in 1985, was looted, vandalized and destroyed by dynamite.

44. The Church of the Holy Virgin stood in the valley bellow the village of Donje Nerodimlje, on a little hill known as Glavica. It was erected in 1925 on the remaining foundations of an older church known by the same name. Albanians forcibly entered it, desecrating the relics. The church was vandalized and then destroyed.

45. The Church of St Elijah, in the village of Nekodim 2 km southeast of Urosevac, built on the old foundations, was refurbished and expanded in 1975. Vandalized and set on fire.

46. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was erected in Talinovac 2km north of Urosevac. Vandalized and the interiors completely burnt. The cemetery around it was demolished.

47. The Church of the Holy Trinity was built in the village of Babljak, 8 km north of Urosevac. The villagers who added a beautiful belfry in 1966 restored the old church. Vandalized and the inside was set ablaze.

48. The Church of the Birth of The Holy Virgin, in the village of Softovic, 6 km northeast of Urosevac, was erected between the two world wars. Desecrated and burnt down.

49. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Kacanik, built in 1929, successfully presented a harmonious continuum of proportions and facade styles noticeable in Kalenic and Gracanica. The church, built on a square foundation, had a ground plan in the shape of a single cross, spacious trefoil apses and a dome. Three layers of bricks and dressed stones were used for the facade that was decorated with archivolts that had coronas made of notched bricks. Windows had engraved rosettes. The crosses on the dome and above the portal respectively, made of dressed stone, bear the characteristics of the Moravska School. Visible are also richly decorated rosette and archivolts above the entrance. Patriarch Varnava, while still a Serb metropolitan, presented the church with a bell. Milan Korunic, Serbian architect from the first half of the 20th century, designed the project.

50. The Church of the Holy Virgin once stood in the easternmost part of the village Korisa near Prizren. The church was a single-dome building covered with large stone tiles. The apse contained a painting that stylistically belonged to the 16th -17th century. The remains of the frescoes were rather well preserved, except for the fresco of The Holy Mother with Christ that was riddled with bullets fired by the Shqiptar infidel. The church also housed the 19th century icons and liturgical vessels. Both the church and the old church base were levelled with the ground. The cemetery, too, was destroyed.

51. The Church of St Jeremiah in Grebnik was built in 1920 on the base of the ancient church in the place known as Kucine. The Devic katastich from 1765-76 acknowledges Serbs as donators. Around the church were several-hundred-years-old oak-trees and an ancient cemetery. The church was razed to the ground and the terrain was bulldozed over.

52. The Church of St Prince Lazar was erected in 1969 in the village of Kos, on the left bank of the river Kujavca, 12 km south-east of Istok. St Stephan's Charter, granted by King Milutin in 1314, mentions the name of the village. The Devic katastich from 1761 to 1780 refers to the Kosani Serbs as benefactors. Stone crosses and tombstones from the old cemetery were wrecked, the church door smashed and the interior vandalized.

53. The Holy Trinity Church in Zitinje, near Vitina, was built in1980, on the foundations of an old Church of The Holy Virgin. The villagers had a bell and a new iconostasis made. During the restoration an old and damaged inscription was discovered within the ruins of the old church and was built into the new edifice. The 16th century katastichos of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Musutiste (1) has the names of all benefactors from this village.

54. The Church of St Parasceva was an old, restored sanctuary in the vicinity of the Serb village of Klokot. The place, 6 km north of Vitina, is known for its springs of mineral water and a spa of the same name. Its name is mentioned in the Knez Lazar Charter to the Ravanica Monastery from the year 1381. The church interior was burnt and on 27 July 1999 it was mined.

55. The Church of St Lazarus near the river Belicnica in the village of Belica in Kujavca, 13 km southeast of Istok, was built in the 14th century and underwent several restorations throughout the 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th centuries (1966-68). Lazarica was a single-nave and vaulted church with the remains of the narthex in its front. Around the church are the old and the new cemeteries. The church was robbed and burnt.

56. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Pomazatin, on the left bank of the river Drenica and 12 km west of Pristina, was erected in 1937. Pulled down in 1941 but renewed in 1964. During 1982-1985 the doors and windows were wrecked. The roof and the interiors were burnt. Parts of it destroyed by mines.

57. The 14th century Church of St George, in Rudnik near Srbica, was restored in the 16th century during the reign of Patriarch Makarije Sokolovic. Frescoes date from the same period. East of the church is a few-hundred-years-old mulberry-tree, planted from a seedling which St Sava had brought from Zion. The church was destroyed by explosives.

58. The Holy Trinity Church in Donji Ratis near Decani was old and underwent restoration in 1935. Shqiptars destroyed it in 1941 but it was renewed in 1992. Seven attacks were launched on it between 1996 and 1998. It was burnt and completely destroyed with explosive devices.

59. The Church of the Holy Apostle Luke was erected in 1912, in Vitomirica 5 km northeast of Pec. It was built from Banjska marble, in the shape of a trefoil, with one dome. The Montenegro army liberated these parts from the Turks on Lucindan (the day of St Luke), in 1912. There is a nicely looked after village cemetery near the church. Today the church stands vandalized and set on fire inside.

60. The Church of St Elijah in Podujevo was built on the Merdjez hill in 1930. During World War II Kosovo Albanian Nazis destroyed the dome and desecrated the church. Renewed on several occasions. Restoration works were completed in 1971. Vandalized and burnt inside.

61. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, "King's Church" stands on the Kraljevica hill, in the village of Gornja Pakastica some 20 km away from Podujevo. The foundation, which dated from the 14th century, was King Milutin's endowment. The new church, built in 1925 on the old foundations, now stands vandalized and partially burnt.

62. The Cemetery chapel (paracclesion) was built on the foundations of an old church at the present-day Serb cemetery in Kosovska Mitrovica, at the exit from the city. Crosses and tombstones were vandalized and the chapel damaged inside.

63. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built in 1929, in Istok, in the river valley. The iconostasis was built with the kind help of Patriarch Varnava. During World War II (1943-1944) the church, as well as the parochial building, served as a prison in which Albanian Nazis kept Serbs from Istok, Dragoljevci, Kovrani and many other villages interned and had them sent on to working camps in Albania and on Italian islands. Today the church is burnt and desecrated.

64. The Church of St Nicholas in Prizren is the same church that Tsar Dusan bequeathed to the Monastery of St Archangel in 1348. It was the endowment of a Prizren nobleman Rajko Kirizlic whose son's name, Bogdan, is mentioned in 1361 and 1368. The church was in service until 1795 when Mahmud-pasha Busatlija looted it. Restored in 1857. The church treasured the oldest Prizren icon of The Holy Virgin Odigitriya from the mid-14th century as well as the 16th century icon of St Elijah in the Cave. It was mined with twenty explosive devices, out of which five went off. Considerable damage was made to this shrine.

65. The Church of the Holy Saviour in Dvorani was erected near Musutiste, at the foot of Mount Rusnica, some 7 km southeast of Suva Reka. The katastichon of the Holy Trinity Monastery acknowledged the Dvorani Serbs as the benefactors. A 1603 icon bore a donators' inscription. Mined and destroyed.

66. The Church of St Elijah stands in the village of Lokvice at the eastern foot of Mount Cvilen, 8 km east of Prizren. It was built on the foundations of an older church, in 1866. It houses an 18th century icon collection. Mentioned by King Dragutin (1276-1282), King Milutin, 1308 and Tsar Dusan, 1348. Mined after the deployment of German KFOR troops.

67. The Church of Holy Knez Lazar stands at the Serb cemetery in Piskote, near Djakovica. The single-dome church was built between 1991-1994 to the designs of the architect Ljubisa Folic. It is partially demolished. The parochial home was burnt.

68. The Church of St Petka stood once in Binac, 4 km south of Vitina. The new church was built on the old foundations at the cemetery, in 1973. The terrorist KLA destroyed it with explosives.

69. The Church of St Parasceva stands in Gojbulja, at the foot of Mount Kopaonik, 3 km northeast of Vucitrn. The new church was built at the village cemetery, on the remains of an ancient, 1-2 m high wall, in August 1986. The preserved arch, which vaulted the western narthex, was added, too. The church had a rectangular ground plan, a semi-round apse and a smallish narthex. The old walls had traces of fresco plaster on them. There are also the remains of an old Serb cemetery from the first half of the 18th century. Desecrated.

70. The Church of St Nicholas stands in Stimlje, 29 km southwest of Pristina, at the foot of mount Crnoljeva and at the intersection of the Prizren, Urosevac and Lipljan roads. In the eastern part of Stimlje, on the foundations of an old Serb cemetery church a new one was built in 1926. East of the church there are three tombstones, each over 250 years old. In the 19th century there was an active Serb school in the churchyard. The church was desecrated.

71. The church of St Archangel, on a hill above Stimlje, was built between 1920-1922 on the foundations of an older church. It was dedicated to Serbia's World War I warriors. The church was built by "Knjeginja Ljubica" (Princess Ljubica) association to the designs of Serbia's first female architect, Jelisaveta Nacic. The artist Uros Predic painted the frescoes of St Sava and Stevan Nemanja. Next to the church was a hospice for orphaned girls. The church was thoroughly renovated in 1977. Today stands desecrated.

72. The Church of the Holy Saviour stands in Meciceva Mahala in the Prizren County, at the foot of Mount Ikona, 11 km southeast of Suva Reka. Looted and burnt.

73. The Church of St Parasceva lies west of the village of Musutiste. Robbed and burnt.

74. The Church of St Archangel, in Musutiste. Set on fire and partially destroyed by local Albanians, in summer 1999, after KFOR deployment.

75. Kosovo Battle Memorial, built on the site of the famous Kosovo battle in 1389 when the Christian Serb Prince Lazar fought the Ottoman Moslem Army of Sultane Murad. This monument was many times in its history been desecrated by Albanians. The extremists seriously damaged by explosive the interior of the tower and destroyed the Serb inscriptions and crosses on the facade.

76. The Church of St. Nicolas in Gornji Zakut village near Podujevo. The church was destroyed by explosive on November 8, 1999 when the British KFOR decided to remove the constant guard which was posted in front of the church in summer.

77. The church of St. Eliah in Cernica village near Gnjilane. The church was destroyed by the Kosovo Albanian extremists on January 14th, 2000, on the day when Orthodox Serbs celebrate the Julian Calendar New Year. US KFOR troops were just 50 meters from the church in time of explosion. The perpertrators have not yet been arrested as well as not in a single other case of destruction.

78. The church of St. Nicholas in Banjska village near Vucitrn. The church was seriously damaged by Albanian extremists on January 30, 2000, just after the Arabian Emirates KFOR withdrew their guard in front of the church. The altar area is alsmost completely destroyed by a strong blast.

79. The church of St. Parasceva in Grncar village near Vitina The church was destroyed by Albanian extremists on Good Friday, April 28, in the morning, before the service.

*** The list is still not complete. Many smaller churches and chapels are not easy accessible and there is a fear that they might have been destroeyed or desecrated too.
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This web site, intended for research purposes, contains copyright material included "for fair use only"

25 posted on 11/20/2001 6:29:07 PM PST by dennisw
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To: Torie
You may be mistaken but you are not a liar. No problem!
26 posted on 11/20/2001 6:30:22 PM PST by dennisw
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To: dennisw; Torie
This argument that the issue is ethnic is nonsense as far as the KLA, and Albanian Islamics are concerned. Their recent tradition after all was to cozy up to Nazi Germany and the Grand Mufti:

"What explained this passionate hatred for non-Albanians?A big factor was militant Islam. The Fundamentalist "Second League of Prizren" was created in September 1943 by Xhafer Deva, a Kosovo Albanian, to work with the German authorities. The League proclaimed a jihad (holy war) against Slavs. They were backed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, El Haj Emin Huseini, who was pro-Nazi and had called for getting rid of all Jews in what was at that time British-occupied Palestine. Albanian religious intolerance was shown by their targeting Serbian Orthodox churches and monastries for destruction" (from: "The Roots of Kosovo Fascism", George Thompson, www.tenc.net)

27 posted on 11/20/2001 6:39:21 PM PST by Lent
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To: Lent; rebdov
Re reply #7, I believe it has been coined as "Rebdov's theorem" :)
28 posted on 11/20/2001 6:47:48 PM PST by Aaron_A
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To: Lent
Torie will just say they used to be this way but now they are "secular". All I know are the facts on the ground of a new Muslim territory in Europe. Named Kosovo. Even though Kosovo is still supposed to be a province of Serbia by law and peace agreement.
29 posted on 11/20/2001 6:48:30 PM PST by dennisw
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To: dennisw
Interesting that Saudi Arabia offered to pay for new mosques to be built in Kosovo, some over the former areas occupied by Serbian shrines, monastries and churches. No, it's not about Islam.
30 posted on 11/20/2001 6:51:55 PM PST by Lent
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To: Lent
How come we don't hear anything about the persecution of Catholics in Albania? The guns by the way the KLA got from the looted armories in Albania were funnelled through areas in the northern mountains of Albania that are controlled largely by Catholic clans. They all seemed to get along just fine. Maybe just maybe not everything fits into your template. Just a thought.
31 posted on 11/20/2001 7:06:52 PM PST by Torie
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To: Torie
How come we don't hear anything about the persecution of Catholics in Albania?

LOL! Oh Torie, have you read your history/:

RELIGION

                          For four centuries the Catholic Albanians have defended their faith with bravery,
                          greatly aided by the Franciscan missionaries, especially since the middle of the
                          seventeenth century, when the cruel persecutions of their Mussulman lords
                          began to bring about the apostasy of many villages, particularly among the
                          schismatic Greeks. The College of Propoganda at Rome was especially
                          prominent in the religious and moral support of the Albanian Catholics. During the
                          seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly, it educated young clerics for
                          service on the Albanian missions, contributed then as now to their support and to
                          that of the churches, in which good work it is aided by the Austrian Government,
                          which gives yearly to those missions about five thousand dollars, in its quality of
                          Protector of the Christian community under Turkish rule. The Church legislation
                          of the Albanians was reformed by Clement XI, who caused a general
                          ecclesiastical visitation to be held (1763) by the Archbishop of Antivari, at the
                          close of which a national synod was held. Its decrees were printed by
                          Propaganda (1705), and renewed in 1803 (Coll. Lucensis Conc. Recent., I, 283
                          sq.). In 1872, Pius IX caused a second national synod to be held at Scutari, for
                          the renovation of the popular and ecclesiastical life. Apropos of the Austrian
                          interest in Albania, it may be stated that it is the Austrian ambassador who
                          obtains from the Sultan the Berat, or civil document of institution for the Catholic
                          bishops of Albania (Neber, in K. L., XI, 18, 19).

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01253b.htm

Only about 120,000 Catholics left in Albania and approx. 1,400,000 Muslis.

32 posted on 11/20/2001 7:16:12 PM PST by Lent
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To: Lent
My guess is many Albanian Catholic immigrated to the US and other places over the decades. Due to feeling under pressure in Albania from the Muslims. There is a decent size Albanian population in the US. Maybe a half million?
33 posted on 11/21/2001 7:18:05 AM PST by dennisw
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To: dennisw
Good guess.
34 posted on 11/21/2001 9:17:18 AM PST by Lent
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To: milestogo
thanks. india does have its tensions. however, india is a secular democracy advocating tolerance. there is also more christianity there than i expected from talking to people who have been there.

can anyone help out with hinduism? is this a philosophy or a theology?

thanks

35 posted on 11/21/2001 9:27:11 AM PST by mlocher
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To: Lent
Hi there. SORRY to bother you, but you seem exceptionally knowledgable. In the time since September 11, I've frequently read articles from the Indian press, and at those newssites, it seems to be *common knowledge* that the USA "disdains" India, (or... something,) and is less than favorable or cooperative in regards to her. The tone is NOT outright anti-American; it's more of an underlying assumption along the lines of America NOT being helpful or well disposed to India.

Can you please share with me some of your obvious expertise, and explain WHERE on the net I can find out some RELIABLE about current relations between America and India and most importantly, the background to our foreign policy there.. I realize that economic sanctions were imposed on both Pakistan and India after they developed the bomb... but I want to learn the other stuff, why India OBVIOUSLY does not consider America to be friendly to its interests.

Also, anyone know if there are any decent books about same? Thanks!

36 posted on 11/24/2001 7:07:21 AM PST by meridia
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To: meridia
Far from any expert. However a simple google search is the best remedy:India and U.S. Relations

Here is a good summary:

Indo-US Relations: Past, Present and Future

                                               Speech delivered by Prof Thomas Thornton, John Hopkins University
                                                 at the India International Centre, New Delhi on 19 November 2001
 

In his lucid and compressed presentation, Prof Thornton made the following
                            points:

                                 Immediately after India’s independence there was an expectation of developing
                                 good relations between the two countries. But the relations had to face certain
                                 hard realities of world politics. Both pursued different interests, which were often
                                 conflicting. Because of its unilateralist tendencies the US consistently thwarted
                                 India from realizing its interests. The meagerness of relations was also due to
                                 India’s different worldview and US’s disinterestedness on India.
                                 The US had enormous influence at a point in time on the economic and
                                 agricultural policies of India, especially when the latter was struggling to finance its
                                 Third Five-Year plan. But later things changed.
                                 The Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 were shocks for Washington. During
                                 these wars the US was more worried about China and Soviet Union than
                                 happenings in the South Asian region. The US academic community become
                                 alienated during this period due to visa restrictions placed on their visiting India.
                                 During the Emergency the US liberal community lost interest in India. But India
                                 survived that scar and continues as a vibrant democracy. I am confident and
                                 happy that India will remain as a democratic country forever.
                                 The US was irritated with India in the Afghan crisis and India with the US over
                                 the latter’s support to Pakistan.
                                 India’s nuclear tests seriously affected the bilateral relationship because of the
                                 US's general non-proliferation concerns.
                                 The US does not buy Indian views on Kashmir. It condemns cross-border
                                 violence, but at the same time, is concerned over the excesses by Indian security
                                 forces. Any solution to the issue should be based on the “wishes of the people of
                                 J&K”.
                                 Both countries should not base their relations on negativism, like US opposition to
                                 the Kyoto Protocol, setting up of International War Crimes Tribunal and so on.
                                 They should not allow themselves to be sucked into narrow cultural conflicts. The
                                 ongoing war against terrorism should not be seen as a “clash of civilizations” but
                                 against the tragedy that struck the US; its efforts in this regard should not be
                                 considered as directed against a particular community.
                                 Unlike in the past there is a growing awareness in the US about India and we
                                 should build on this. It is not appropriate to place all the eggs of bilateral relations
                                 in security basket; these relations should be broad-based.
                                 In this regard, the future of Indo-US relations is bright, specifically in two fields:
                                 Economics and Indian Americans, especially the Indian Americans, who are
                                 doing extremely well. The US is gaining a lot from them.
 


Indo-US Relations: Past, Present and Future

37 posted on 11/24/2001 7:30:50 AM PST by Lent
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To: Lent
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I will try the search phrase you suggested -- thank you for reducing that seemingly infinite universe of WHERE DO I EVEN START?

I think what is most problematic to me, in comprehending the attitudes of the Indian online press... is that, frankly, I know of NO Americans who feel negatively towards India or towards Indian citizens: there is NO suspicion or paranoia among anyone I've ever met my entire life as an America towards anything Indian. Obviously, at the level of international relations, things are extraordinarily different. *grin*

And obviously I'll have to do a 'quick study' of WHY India believes that the U.S. is thwarting her, particularly as U.S. citizens seem not merely NON-active in this, but rather oblivious of same.

I found Friedman's article you posted here in my newspaper late last night, and his points are SO valid. I enjoy both his and Bob Simon's reportage. However, in so far as Friedman's thesis, the fact is that there is NO way that democracy will suddenly flourish worldwide, much less become prominent as a force and overturn these authoritarian Islamist nations overnight. NO way! Meantime, I am puzzled, AND... not at all pleased that our government does not seem to encourage CLOSE relations between the USA and India.

I predict that this will change over the next decade --- and if my prediction is wrong, or way off line, I'd like to know why.

38 posted on 11/24/2001 8:03:01 AM PST by meridia
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To: meridia
not at all pleased that our government does not seem to encourage CLOSE relations between the USA and India.

This is puzzling but is based on the pro-Pakistan position developed under Clinton. Considering the fact that India and China don't get along it would be well in U.S.' strategic interests to maintain a strong relationship with the Indian democracy as a counterbalance to the Chinese in this area.

The Kashmir issue is troubling. The U.S. took (before 9/11 and Putin's support) an antagonistic position towards Russia's activities in Afghanistan against the mujahadeen there. After 9/11 notice the silence. In the same way, the U.S should stop supporting Islamic turmoil in Kashmir and tell Pakistan to stop doing so as well. The U.S. should support India's position completely on this issue. Wherever Islam gets the demographics they try to create separate Islamic states (the long history of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, South Philippines, etc.)

39 posted on 11/24/2001 8:16:11 AM PST by Lent
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