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KOSOVO - selective silence or something else?
pravda ^ | 03-25-04 | Igor Motsnyi

Posted on 03/25/2004 1:07:15 PM PST by MarMema

Kosovo: selective silence or something else?

One may call it selective silence. I call it fascism.

Once upon a time everything was quite simple and self-explanatory. The public knew who bad guys were. Once upon a time human rights activists knew very well what they should protest against. Just five years ago there was a hot topic for all western media: humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. We were reading, watching and listening to horrific never-ending stories of gang rapes and mass murders perpetrated by Serbs. By that time the international community was already prepared to this sort of information. Anti-Serb campaign started soon after the beginning of the war in Croatia. It was far too easy: Serbs are bad, all others are good (or not as bad as Serbs, depending upon circumstances). Just keep it simple and the whole world knows what is going on.

Kosovo is not a big deal anymore. Having looked through Yahoo! headlines a couple of days ago I discovered that stories from Kosovo were far behind the Iraqi war on terrorism, US presidential elections and the issue of gay and lesbian marriages. CNN just briefly mentioned Kosovo uproars in its world news report. Well, I guess I should not have been surprised. Sure, gays and lesbians have the right to get marriage and the right to be heard, US presidential candidates have the right to explain their views to the US and international public.

Serbs do not have right to live and practice their religion on their own land.

Who cares about Serbs after all? Serbs are evil. It is a postulate.

Since the end of the World War Two there were no particularly serious military conflicts in Europe. This peaceful state of affairs ended up after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Soon after unhappy events had happened the whole world had a chance to see the new evil. In the whole chain of occasions the people quickly forgot the simple principle: there are no good and bad nations, there are good and bad individuals.

The wars in Croatia, Bosnia, an armed conflict in Kosovo and NATO bombings provided hundreds if not thousands of jobs for various kinds of writers, reporters and political analysts who played a major role in forming international opinion in respect of the former Yugoslav republics. One of the most prolific and successful Balkan writers was Tim Judah. His books "The Serbs. History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia" and "Kosovo: War and Revenge" instantly became authoritative sources of information on recent Balkan wars. Trying to explain the nature of Serbs and Serbia"s "sad present in the light of its past" the author comes up with an example of a famous Serbian (Montenegrin) poem "The Mountain Wreath" or "Gorski Vijenac" (Serbian) by Petar Njegos, a Montenegrin prince. The poem tells about the historic happenings of the end of the 17th century known as "the exterminations of the Turkish converts." The main outcome of the author"s reasoning was: only mentally crazy nation may glorify such deeds and consider the mass killings of one religious group an act of heroism. Tim Judah however overlooked the fact that the history of every nation is in a certain way based on wars against others, particularly on wars against those considered oppressors. The whole Jean d"Arc legend is based upon the war against the British. I would not go so far as to call the French an insane nation though. Tim Judah was just one of the many proponents of Anti-Serb hysteria and by all means not the worst one. He was just one of the myriad of contributors to "insane nation" myth.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Sheffer called burning down Serbian churches and expelling Serbs from their homes where the lived for centuries "a very bad thing". His further message to Serbs was to be self-restrained and avoid any violence.

Jaap de Hoop Sheffer could have used stronger terms to describe the current situation in Kosovo but why should he?

Who cares about Serbs? Serbs are mentally sick. Just read Tim Judah"s books.

Walking along a Danube embankment in the city of Novi Sad with a Hungarian friend of mine we were talking about some insignificant stuff that pals normally discuss at 11 p.m. "Serbia seems nice and the people are so extraordinary friendly"- she said to me, suddenly. "I did not expect this. I watched some footages from Serbia before, our TV always showed Albanian women who were raped by Serbs, they looked terrified," she added a few seconds later.

For the period between the 17th and the 19th March more than 20 Orthodox churches and monasteries were set on fire. Some of them were built in the 14th century and protected by UNESCO. More than 3 000 (three thousand) Serbs had to leave their homes.

Harri Holkeri, Kosovo"s UN administrator, said attacks "came so suddenly the security forces were not in the right place at the right time". United Nations condemned violence in Kosovo. What else could they do? Condemnation is already too much.

Who cares about Serbs? Serbs are rapists. Just watch TV to understand this.

During last ten years the whole world has been learning by heart only one phrase: "Serbs are bad". It turns out they finally succeeded. No one seems to be disgusted by the fact that for the past several days thousands of Serbs were expelled from their homeland and many Orthodox churches were destroyed. An average American is more concerned about same-sex marriage than about burning Orthodox churches. An average British is more interested in Kylie Minogue-Oliver Martinez relationship than in thousands of Serbian refugees.

Nobody talks about ethnic cleansing or genocide this time, ethnic cleansing simply does not apply to Serbs; they are the ones who ethnically clean others but not the ones who get ethnically cleaned. Nowadays there are just ethnic clashes between "the majority Muslim Albanians and the Orthodox Christian Serbs" as Reuters say.

I just wonder how one should call well-planned and systematic attacks against ethnic and religious minority as well as persistent destruction of religious objects?

It is pretty simple though.

This is just fascism, mere fascism, no more, no less. If you say the others are inferior just because they belong to a particular nation it is fascism. No doubt about that. If no one is going to do anything about current Kosovo crisis it means they deny Serbs the very basic human rights: the right to human dignity and the right to life just because they are Serbs.

I do understand that very few actually expected this. People in the United States and the EU get used to receiving information about barbaric acts committed by Serbs and do not want to learn about crimes committed against Serbs. As I have said it was all too simple before and it is a bit more complicated now. Perhaps the rest of the world does not believe Serbs can suffer as much as other nations. It may also be they think Serbs deserve current sufferings and that the situation in Kosovo is getting better in any case. I remember very well a talk with a young intellectual from Czech republic right after the NATO military campaign against Yugoslavia. He was arguing that NATO military intervention was inevitable. He admitted some "collateral damage" had been caused to the country but said that it had been necessary to prevent further harm and stop humanitarian catastrophe.

Or they do not have an opportunity to learn more about the genocide that is going on in Kosovo now.

Looks like just very few of us are appalled at the images of Serbs leaving their homes and blazing Serbian churches. The rest of the world does not want to see these images or does not want to believe them. They are ignoring the truth.

One may call it selective silence. I call it fascism.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: balkans; ethniccleansing; kosovo; orthodox; serbia
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To: Travis McGee; knighthawk; Airborne Longhorn; yonif
PING
21 posted on 03/25/2004 4:04:59 PM PST by Lion in Winter (I ain't no pussy cat... don't mess with me... ya hear! GRRRRRRrrr)
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To: MarMema
I hope they do something quickly.
22 posted on 03/25/2004 4:05:50 PM PST by Lion in Winter (I ain't no pussy cat... don't mess with me... ya hear! GRRRRRRrrr)
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To: vpintheak
Kerry and his fellow socialist robots can stick it.

And that is the *other* thing that can keep me awake at night. Worrying that Kerry will win over Bush. God help us.

23 posted on 03/25/2004 4:47:38 PM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: MarMema
Same old story. "Serbs bad, Albanians good."
24 posted on 03/25/2004 6:25:35 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
I wonder when the majority of the west will learn. Hopefully not when they are at the gate.
25 posted on 03/25/2004 7:33:35 PM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: MadelineZapeezda
ping
26 posted on 03/25/2004 7:42:17 PM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: joan
ping to some al jazeera pics
27 posted on 03/25/2004 8:06:08 PM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: Travis McGee
Same old story. "Serbs bad, Albanians good."

The American bomber crews and other airmen rescued from the Nazis by the Yugoslavian Serbs during WWII still remember, as do most of their families. Whatever the dictates of America's sellout politicians, it's not likely those old soldiers and the families they survived to father will forget.

28 posted on 03/26/2004 12:27:01 AM PST by archy (Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT! Done dirt cheap! Neckties, contracts, high voltage...Done dirt cheap!)
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To: MarMema
Pesma

Kradu mi pamcenje
Skracuju mi proslost
Otimaju vekove
Dzamijaju crkve
Araju azbuku
Cekicaju grobove
Izdiru temelj
Razmecu kolijevku.
Uzimaju mi ono
Sto nikome nisam uzeo
Moje lavre i prestonice
ne znam sta je moje
Ni gde mi je granica
Narod mi je u najmu i rasejanju
Pale mi tapije
I zatiru postojanstvo.
Zrtveno polje sa krvavom travom
Ne smem da kazem da je moje
Ne daju mi da udjem u kucu
Kazu da sam je prodao
Zemlju koju sam od neba kupio
Neko im je obecao.
Ko im je obecao
taj ih je slagao
Sto im ne obeca
Ono sto je njegovo?
Zato jurisaju na mene udruzeni
Kivni sto sam ih poznao.

Matija Beckovic


Poem

Matija BECKOVIC *

They are stealing my memory
Curtailing my past
Snatching the centuries
Turning churches into mosques
Gutting the script
Pummeling the graves
Ripping out the foundation
Overturning the cradle

They take from me that
which I have taken from no one
My treasuries and capitals
I know not what is mine
Nor where my borders lie
My people are yoked and bestrewn
They are burning my deeds
And eradicating my existence

The field of martyrs with its blood-soaked grass
I dare not say is mine
They stop me from entering my home
Saying I sold it
The land I purchased from heaven
Was promised by someone to them
Whoever made that promise
Lied to them
Why does he not promise them
That which is his?
That is why they assail me in unison
Furious that I recognized them.

* Matija Beckovic (1939)
Serbian poet and academican

Matija Beckovic:

Ils volent tout
Ils volent ma mémoire
Effaçant mon passé
Volant les siècles
Transformant les églises en mosquées
Arrachant l'alphabet
Pilonnant les tombes
Déchirant les fondations
Retournant le landau.
Ils me prennent
Ce que je n'ai pris à personne
Mes trésors et capitales
Je ne sais pas ce qui est mien
Ni où sont mes frontières
Mon peuple est asservi et dispersé
Ils brûlent mes titres de propriété
Et exterminent mon existence.
Le champ des martyrs avec son herbe ensanglantée
Je n'ose même pas dire que c'est le mien
Ils ne me laissent pas entrer dans ma maison
Ils disent que je l'ai vendue
La terre que j'avais achetée au ciel
Quelqu'un la leur a promise.
Celui qui la leur a promise
Leur a menti
Pourquoi ne leur a-t-il pas promis
Quelque chose qui lui appartenait ?
Voilà pourquoi ils m'attaquent ensemble
Furieux que je les aie reconnus.
Matija (Mathieu) Beckovic
(poète et académicien serbe né en 1939)
29 posted on 03/26/2004 2:00:04 AM PST by AncientAirs
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To: vpintheak
I detest Kerry but what does he have to do with this tragic madness?
30 posted on 03/26/2004 2:13:02 AM PST by iconoclast
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To: MarMema
It seems we have a long way to go ... Islam is a religion of peace, don't you know.
31 posted on 03/26/2004 2:18:00 AM PST by iconoclast
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To: MarMema
Mark Steyn recently summarized this sort of European complacency, in the face of an evil that needs confronting. He did it in two words:

"Neville Again"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1103286/posts
32 posted on 03/26/2004 2:58:45 AM PST by FreedomPoster (This space intentionally blank)
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To: iconoclast
I just used him as a current, on everyone's mind, example. He is part of a group of people that believe in international coalitions that don't work versus American sovereignty.
33 posted on 03/26/2004 7:14:50 PM PST by vpintheak (Our Liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain!)
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To: MarMema
Post 11 -- which church is this?
34 posted on 03/26/2004 7:44:31 PM PST by gershwin
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To: gershwin
I don't know. Sorry.
35 posted on 03/26/2004 7:46:31 PM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: gershwin
I found it. It came on my most recent emails from ERPKIM.

It is Holy Trinity.

This is what is stated on the email about it.
"Cathedral church of the Holy Trinity (two bell-towers which survived the 1999 mining were razed to the ground. Kosovo Albanians removed all material from the site in the following days, UNMIK/KFOR Report March 18 - Rioters remove debris of destroyed Orthodox Church with trucks & trailers Approx 5,000 K-Albanians participate.)"

From ERP KiM Newsletter 27-03-04.

I cannot find a link on it but I can forward the email to you if you freepmail me a regular email address.

36 posted on 03/27/2004 2:00:10 AM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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To: gershwin
And now I found the link...

here

37 posted on 03/27/2004 2:02:53 AM PST by MarMema (Next Year in Constantinople!)
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