Readiness to die for essential rights

Readiness to die for essential rights
Kosova, a glimpse of proper understanding



Fahredin Shehu
February 2007


It was March 2004 that returned attention of International Community after 1998-1999 war in Kosova. The March riots will remain in the memory of local and international community as a revolt against Status Quo that left people hoping better future with the week substratum beneath the feet.
From the perspective of Majority Albanian population who strive for ages to release first from Ottomans and afterwards from Pan-Slavic occupation and further tendencies i.e. Serbian greed for territory that mythologized Kosovo as a Cradle of Serbian Spirituality akin to Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait in the famous Gulf war, was perceived with the eyes of maturity that they are ready to stand still on the feet and join the European stream equal to the Montenegrins, Macedonians, Croats, Slovenes etc as part of Former Yugoslavia not the one artificially handcrafted by Xavier Solana, known as Serbia and Montenegro.

The March riots in the Albanian mind are a rebellion against undetermined Status first of all then against economic devastations inherited from the war and later strongly supported by UN administration with no vision for development and complete lack of moral leadership. Now we have the richest territory in the Balkans and the poorest people in it. Now we have the biggest injustice in Europe from 1913 till now and yet continuing to live with the fear that what Solana did with Serbia and Montenegro elemental-State creature, Ahtisari will do similar with Kosova, through ethnical decentralization whereas it was foreseen to be a Multi ethnic society as a part of European Family in a further integration.

No one can justify the violence of human rights; cultural rights etc. but if you don’t have rights for yourself you have simply nothing to offer to minorities and this riots have consequently damaged poor economy of Kosova by burning Serbian Orthodox Churches which were preserved even during the war by KLA (Kosova Liberation Army) soldiers now after the war we have from the first glance the phenomenon of religious hatred but in fact it was a revolt and revenge because Albanians believe that Serbs are very much keen to Churches, who left behind a hundreds of burned Mosques, burned houses, raped women, missing persons etc. The problem is that people have short memory they only remember 2004 and very easily or deliberately forgot 60-ties of Rankovic regime, 90-ties of Milosevic regime, 1998-1999 war etc. In fact Churches were used for political and nationalistic purposes. It was well known slogan of Slobodan Milosevic that wherever is a Serbian grave and a church that is a Serbian Land and he fought for unification of Serbian Lands??? throughout Yugoslavia beginning from Slovenia to end in Kosova.

There is a village of 400 inhabitants (Velika Hoca-Rahovec Municipality) in South East of Kosova which have 13 churches (houses reverted to churches) but that is not the part of decentralization as the village is only known for vineyards and grape production. You guess why? It was Serbian propaganda particularly Serbian Orthodox Church propaganda to project the Kosova conflict as religious, but they did not succeed, as it’s well known that Albanian have two major confessions; Muslim (Sunni and Sufi) and Christian (Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox) and they are represented according to their capabilities not according to their religious affiliations. For instance the president of Kosovo assembly is Catholic. Interesting phenomenon is that Serbian Theocratic leaders are the only who merges the politics with religion, and use the religion for political purposes, at least this is the opinion of majority in Balkan particularly after Bishop Artemije’s last attempt to give fake picture to American Christian leaders.

10th February 2006 demonstrations of VETVENDOSJA (A youth movement for Self-determination), led by Albin Kurti, showed the readiness of Albanians to die for their rights. There were two killed and many injured by UNMIK and Kosova Police. It is in fact a revolt and dissatisfaction with Marti Ahtisari’s package for Final Kosova Status, dissatisfaction with Albanian Negotiation Team, Corrupted governance of Albanian leaders, Nepotism and Tribe mentality, Unemployment, Poverty etc.

And there is in Albanian sub-conscience that if Jews strived to have their land for about 2000 years and they got the state of Israel, we can do the same and have our Land to govern without violating the rights of others to live safe and sound in a democratic and Multi ethnic Kosova. Albanians have long experience and they believe that… today you host a Serb, tomorrow he becomes your Patron. That’s why the trust-building process will last long, because the democratic voice in Serbia is suppressed and it so feminine, as Natasa Kandic, Liljana Kovacevic- Vuco, Sonja Biserko and one youngster Cedomir Jovanovic who represents tinny minority of liberalism in Serbia and bearing in mind that Balkan Leadership is so masculine we can understand that the feminine voice is undervalued.

It was the last time during Tito rule that Albanians believed in Tito’s slogan The United Brotherhood, which kept artificially different ethnicities in Self-government Socialism. After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, there’s no purpose for Albanians to remain in, as Serbs use to say, SOLANIA (Serbia and Montenegro, as the last benevolent attempt of Xavier Solana to preserve a fossil of former Yugoslavia), particularly after the independence of Montenegro.

People here are distracted with the fact that Serbia is caressed by International Community beside the atrocities and genocidal heritage. Serbia should recuperate war damages to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosova, just as reminder we could underline Vukovar, Srebrenica and Racak then Karadzic and Maldic case and lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. The problem remains in a collective conscience of guilt, very differently from German collective conscience of Nazi past who consciously gave up from it in a very civilized manner.

Now, the heterogeneous population in Kosova is waiting the resolution of the last Balkan snarl, each in their own hopes and expectations and seems ready for eruption in any time if there will be any unsatisfactorily result of Negotiations for Final Status of Kosova.




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