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Acton Commentarybringing moral reflection to bear upon current events May 24, 2006 Who Will Protect Kosovo's Christians?
This week, Montenegro voted to end its union with Serbia, the last remaining alliance of the former Yugoslav federation. News accounts of the vote frequently add matter-of-factly that Kosovo, the Serb province placed under the administration of the United Nations in 1999, is next in line to gain its independence and probably by the end of the year. But anyone who cares about religious freedom, the rights of minorities, and the rule of law should be highly skeptical of an independent Kosovo. Since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serb military forces fighting an Albanian separatist movement, the Orthodox Christian minority in Kosovo has been under intense pressure from Albanian Muslim extremists. In a Feb. 18 letter to President George Bush, the Serbian Orthodox bishop Artemije of Kosovo and Metohija - the ranking church official in the region - said that granting the province independence would hand terrorists “a significant victory” in Europe. “Detaching Kosovo from democratic Serbia would mean a virtual sentence of extinction for my people in the province - the larger part of my diocese - who continue to face unremitting violence from jihad terrorist and criminal elements that dominate the Albanian Muslim leadership,” the bishop said. Dozens of churches, monasteries and shrines have been destroyed or damaged since 1999 in Kosovo, the cradle of Orthodox Christianity in Serbia. The Serbian Orthodox Church lists nearly 150 attacks on holy places, which often involve desecration of altars, vandalism of icons and the ripping of crosses from Church rooftops. A March 2004 rampage by Albanian mobs targeted Serbs and 19 people, including eight Kosovo Serbs, were killed and more than 900 injured, according Agence France Press. The UN mission in Kosovo, AFP said , reported that 800 houses and 29 Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries - some of them dating to the 14th century — were torched during the fighting. NATO had to rush 2,000 extra troops to the province to stop the destruction. All this happened despite the presence of UN peacekeeping forces. According to news reports posted by the American Council for Kosovo , Albanian separatists are opposing the expansion of military protection of Christian holy sites by UN forces. A main concern of Christians is the fate of the Visoki Decani Monastery - Kosovo's only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Direct talks, under the auspices of the UN, are now underway. Serbia is resisting pressure from Western powers to amputate Kosovo, where the UN says Albanians outnumber Serbs and others 9-1. One of the thornier issues is the possible return of non-Albanians who have fled the province since 1999. Some estimates put their number as high as 250,000. Western diplomats and Albanian independence groups are promising that a new independent Kosovo would allow the Serb minority to live in peace and enable the province - one of the poorest regions in Europe - to rebuild its economy. The Alliance for a New Kosovo , a pro-independence group with former U.S. State Department and elected officials on its advisory board, has been lobbying for a split from Serbia. William Ryerson, a former U.S. ambassador to Albania who is one of the group's advisers, wrote recently that Serbia had “lost any moral claim” to rule Kosovo following “its campaign of ethnic cleansing” in the 1990s. He predicted that an independent Kosovo, linked economically to the rest of Europe, would “much more likely be a source of stability in the Balkans than one denied that status.” If that is to happen, the province will first have to clean up its act. For years, the region has been a center of activity for criminal gangs. “Kosovo has become a black hole of corruption and organized crime, including trafficking in drugs, weapons and slaves,” Bishop Artemije told President Bush. “All too often, these things happen under the noses of NATO soldiers, who fear to confront these criminals directly.” Journalist Srdja Trifkovic, writing on Serbianna.com , said an independent Kosovo would lead to a “criminal state not seen since the defunct Taliban regime in Afghanistan” and right on Europe's southern border. Although the international community understandably desires “closure” on Kosovo some seven years after the UN assumed control, an outcome that separates the province from Serbia would “make a mockery” of some the United States' most important security concerns, he said. “It would be hard to find another example of a place where governments professing the war on international terrorism as their first priority are helping a Muslim terrorist movement with a strong jihadist element to detach what is universally recognized as a part of another sovereign state and consigning the remaining Christian element to extinction,” Trifkovic said. Given the record of Christian persecution in Kosovo while under the supervision and protection of the UN, what could be expected from an independent province administered by Albanian Muslim politicians and security forces? As Bishop Artemije told President Bush in his letter, the only decrease in violence against Serbian Christians has come about because there are fewer of them in the province, and fewer churches, monasteries and cemeteries now to be demolished. He pleaded with Bush to work toward a Kosovo solution that “provides for the human dignity and respect for all people, whether Albanian or Serb or Roma or Turk, whether Muslim or Christian.” An independent Kosovo, he added, “is neither inevitable nor desirable.” Christians who are troubled by the persecution of their Church should pay heed to the bishop's warning. Without adequate legal protection and security, the Christian minority and the centuries-old legacy of the faith in Kosovo may soon become a mere memory. |
 John Couretas is director of communications for the Acton Institute. Recent articles by this author:“Solzhenitsyn and His Critics” “A Patriarch in Dire Straits” “Who Will Protect Kosovo's Christians?” “Trespassers on the Holy Mountain--The EU's rights watchdogs launch an assault on Mt. Athos” “FCC Deregulation and the Church Page” More commentaries by 
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Comments
Aspandiyar: aspandiyar@rediffmail.com- Shahab anwar baig. Salam. Peace and happiness upon you. Before you start praising islam and its people, have the trouble to know the truth. On how islam spread by mere brute force or by imposing the unjustified jaziyeh tax. Arabs killed iranians who did not accept islam and now the original iranian religion of zoroatrainism is followed by mere 30,000 people. Muslim turks destroyed the byzantine christians and made churches into mosques. Temples in India were looted by Muslim kings for number of times. Jews were treated terribly in Saudi to the extant jews became extinct from there. In south thailand muslims target the peace loving Buddhists and in pakistan, hindu woman are time and again kidnapped, and forcibly converted to islam.
Islam is a religion which doubts its own followers. Penalty for leaving Islam for a better religion is death. So may Muslims in Iran follow Islam bec they are scared of their lives. It does not love humanity, but loves only its followers. It says God likes the beautiful, but wants the women to be in black ugly burqa. It has no forgiveness, but only punishment. It brain washes people to suicide bombings. Poor people fear God more than love him after turning to islam. It corrupts history by saying Christ was not crucified by saying such things after 600 years of crucification, although it was witnessed by people next to christ...who can be more correct my friend...u think...people who bore witnesses or people who wrote about christ after 600 years. Surely logic says people who were witnesses are right.
My friend. I know it is difficult to accept the truth. Because right from the time you were small, you were taught that Islam is the last and the best religion. You were brain washed from a very young age into this belief. Now have the courage to search for the truth by yourself...to search God. God is so big, that even Quran cannot talk about him in entirity. You have to realise him...and when u do..you will know how much wrong the muslims are in their belief of God.
Take care my friend. God be with you.
shahab anwar baig: hsdlko@rediffmail.com- what does muslim land means where there is no nudism no vulgarity no free flowing porn sites no child abuses muslims stands for justice n peace n tauheed n alas mosltly christains are not doing anything humane in this world .as far as kosovo is concerened if above said things are not popular there then off course kosovo is MUSLIM LAND
vivek ekka: vivek.heartbreaker@gmail.com- i'm from india. ihave closely analysed the history of yugoslovia.....ijust want to pose one question to hon'able mr george w . bush that if one day washington population become 90%of mexicans i hope u will grant them freedom for 'divine justice' and for 'cause of humanity' ....am i right mr george w bush and their supporters
James C J: cjjames_007@yahoo.co.in- i am from India . I have read through history of Serbia and Kosova. Kosova is an integral part of Serbia. We have react on the issue of Muslim Extremism. they are terrorists by their birth. In Kerala (India) we (Syrian Christians)have to face the brutality of Tippu Sultan ( He got the same Turkey Blood). he forcefully converted large number of Hindus and christians to Islam.
CanadianConservative: gkufcfight@lycos.com- Soooo tell me Mr. Bush if California became 90%% illegal mexican alien would you demand it be declared 'independent' from the US of A.
yeah I didnt think so.
your no conservative bush.
Serbians were allies in WWII albanians were AXIS powers backing up Hitler. I guess this is how Bush wants to pay them back.
John Peterson:- Kosovo has always been Serbian land and center of Serbian heritage as well as Eastern Christianity. Serbia itself has inherited Byzanium after Ottoman Turks (Muslims) took it over and destroyed it. Every single Christian should take action to protect this place from becoming an Islamic state ruled by radical Islamic imams, drug traffickers, and white-slave traders. It is true that Albanian Muslim criminals and fanatics have destroyed 150 CHRISTIAN churches and monasteries which date back to 1200's. Please note that Albanian Muslims were present on this territory since 1950, and that they have became Muslims when Ottoman empire came to Serbia in 1389. Ever since 1970's Albaniam Muslim terrorist have been killing Yugoslavian (serbian) policemen and soldiers in order to establish an Islamic state there. Ever since 1970's Albanians in Kosovo did nothing but making efforts to destroy the country which gave them refuge from poverty in their country Albania. How ungrateful from them.
Kuran says that Muslims can't be friends to Christian and Jews and this truth is reflected by action of Muslims worldwide. Bible teaches tolerance.
It is up to you to decide who you are going to support.
God Bless!
Djeri Lo: djerilo@yahoo.com- I am seeking information about evangelist christians in Kosovo. djerilo@yahoo.com
tony: tonygiovani@yahoo.com- Hi just please stop the propaganda kosovo people are nices people you ever meet i'm Italian and i lived in kosovo whare muslimes are extrymlly nice to ather religos becous they don't prectis ther own first off all we need to know thet kosovo people com from roman cotholic witch they bcam a muslim by Turky rule in 1741 so stop you secretly are serbian and making this coment Serbia was and is enti USA and allways will be so stop this boll shit and USA know thet serbia is tiet with russia secretly igantes America.
Love Tony Giovani
Dr William Gissy: wgissy@kennesaw.edu- It aseems that a majority of the responses seek to defend Albanian assaults on Serbs...the Serbian attemts at ethic cleansing in Bosnia were a horor to be sure but how does that justify Albanian cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo?....wheter it is religious or ethnic is immaterial...the concern is an independent Kosovo, ruled by the Albaian majority will persecute the Serbian minority. None who attack Couretas have refutted that part of the concern.
Mel Wolfe:- Thank you for your bravery and for this insightful piece on the suffering Christians in Kosovo, Mr. Couretas.
Those calling themselves Christian in the West would do well to recall Christ's words:
"As you do unto the least of these, you do unto me", because the remaining Christians in Kosovo are truly his "least" -- weak old people, priest and nuns living on virtual Christian "reservations", subject to daily threats and harassment everyday from Muslim Albanians.
Everyone who opens their mouth about this horrible injustice gets insulted and harassed by these same Albanians -- or gets called a "paid Serb propagandist". They can't fathom someone who sees their "treasure in Heaven", not on earth.
Our great "shame as Americans" was the day we let president Clinton turn Kosovo into a haven for terrorist and drug dealers!
My message to those Albanians is this: we are not like the suffering Christians of Kosovo; we are not priests, nuns or old people living in constant fear of you. We are Americans with a voice, a vote and legal right to do as we see fit to protect our own -- and a true moral obligation to do so!
www.savekosovo.org
Bensik: lubnic@hotmail.com- All the attacks by the albanians on places of worship (which i strongly disagree with) are not motivated by faith but by nationalism. There are still many albanians who have strong feelings towards the serbs and will attack anything that represents their presence in kosovo.
Once again, its not a religious issue, if you ever been to kosovo you will know that religion is a very small part in society, almost irrelevant.
Altin: altel74@yahoo.ca- The Serbs should understand somthing, Kosova is independent and sooner you realize this the better. We can argue all day and feed propeganda to all the readers, it will not change the fact that Kosovars have moved on thiking for their future. Kosova may be poor, not democratic enough with problems that all the countries in transitions have but at lest they have the will to better themselves. As for gangsterizem and mafia, Serbia has those problems too. Albanians are not terrorists they have never been. They are deeply secular. We have never had a religios war. If you read about our history you will learn that. It would play right in your hands if they were but this does not mean you have to make everything up.
As for Kosovars being refugees from Albania I would say that you guys are reaching another low point. Albania was so tight under communisem that even a goat would not be able to pass the border.
Sebia could not hold Kosova when they had it how will it hold it now after what has happend during this 15 years of killing.
You all need to wake up and think about the future of your country not only you but we all should think about building good relationships and better economy instead of propeganda that helps no one.
Zababurin:- After 15 years of Albanian lobbying and presenting lies,making them self to be the victim finaly somebody stands up and speeks the truth .
Thanks from a Christian Serb
John Couretas: jcouretas@acton.org- I have corrected the story to reflect that, of the 19 people killed in the March 2004 riots, 8 were Kosovo Serbs, according to AFP. And I've added new information on the event from the news service. I regret the error.
Bane:- It is nice to hear the other side of the story to.
Thanks
Valon:- hey John Couretas, are you getting paied by the serbs or what, you should be asshamed of yourself to call yourself american, just think about it, did the america like when the got attacked, think man think, how do u think we felt when we got attacked by the serbs just cuz we wanted freedom and nothign eles, and serbs couldnt accept that. if we are talking about freedom of speach and relgion, culture, than we know that serbs never granted that to KOSOVA in the first place. BE ASSHAMED JUST BE ASSHAMED TO BE AN AMERICAN, OR SHOULD I SAY THAT YOUR BACKROUND IS SERBIAN
Ilirian Kosova: ilirian@hotmail.com- My question is why the author is doing this? Why this author is writing such biased articles? Is there a personal interest? Is he paid by the serbian lobby? It has to be something like this.
A person with a sound mind wouldn't write stuff like this.
SteveD: steved7@earthlink.net- ** Kosovo is historically an integral part of Serbia -- indeed, it was the last stronghold of medieval Serbia before it fell to the Ottoman kaliphate. The Albanian secessionist movement in Kosovo dates back to the aftermath of the death of Marxist dictator Tito and the beginning of the end for the latest in a line of Yugoslav states created by outside powers for their own ends. The Serb political machine, instead of focusing on its own republic's affairs, sought to gain a more dominant position in the Yugoslav federation by both the formation of the Milosevic-Martina-Seslej Serb-nationalist political coalition and by subterfuge. Their schemes backfired, ultimately driving the Slovenes and Croats to secede rather than have their republics' languages corrupted, their national guards disarmed, and their comparatively free and productive economies looted to benefit the Serb political machine and its friends in the federal government. While waging futile wars first with Croatia and then with the NATO-backed Bosniak separatist regime in Sarajevo, the Serbs failed to respond promptly to the increasingly brazen separatism in their own backyard. The Serb political machine also earned the unyielding, absolute loathing and hatred of most of NATO's political and military leaders.
** The vast majority of adult ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in the late 1980s were not born there; they had emigrated out of the dysfunctional Enver Hoxha-controlled, bankrupt Albania into then-Yugoslav Serbian Kosovo seeking work in the mines, fields, and factories during the 1960s-70s. The Albanians began an organized, deliberate, and at least initially non-violent plan for secession from Serbia and Yugoslavia. The ethnic Albanians defied the Serbian and Yugoslav governments, established their own non-Slavic media, schools, and security organs, and refused to obey or pay taxes to the republic or federal governments. The approximately half a million Serbs in Kosovo, already a minority due to voluntary migration into the more economically developed parts of Yugoslavia, now faced a deliberate campaign of harassment, vandalism, threats, and assaults by ethnic Albanian gangsters. The Serbs of Kosovo were being ethnically cleansed out of their own land by squatters from Albania. It was this desperate situation of secessionist insurrection and violent ethnic cleansing of the remaining Serb population out of Kosovo that drove Belgrade to act, attempting to drive out the ethnic Albanian immigrants and their Yugoslav-born descendants.
** Sadly, NATO has stubbornly backed the Albanians against the Serbs because in the minds of NATO's politicians and bureaucrats, the Serbs and the Serb-dominated Yugoslav federation have been the source of all of the Balkans' problems since Tito died. NATO has therefore been working relentlessly to bring about the total breakup of Yugoslavia. NATO's leaders cannot discern the very real differences between the very different situations that have erupted in Yugoslavia since the mid-80s:
-- The events that led up to the secession of Slovenia and Croatia from an effectively Serb-dominated Yugoslavia they had never wanted to be a part of;
-- The events surrounding the creation of a Bosniak-minority-dominated independent Bosnia-Herzegovina at the expense of the non-Bosniak majority that wanted to re-affiliate with Yugoslav Serbia or Croatia;
-- The events surrounding the creation of a deeply divided Macedonia (whose large ethnic Albanian minority, mostly centered in the western half of the country, is also seeking to secede); and,
-- The events surrounding the COUNTER-ethnic cleansing by Yugoslav Serbs against rebellious Albanian separatists in Serbian Kosovo.
** The Serb ultranationalist coalition and its political machine were certainly at fault for the first situation. There was no reason for NATO to endorse the secession of multi-ethnic Bosnia from Yugoslavia under a regime dominated by one of its ethnic minorities and bitterly rejected by most of the rest. There was also no reason for NATO to endorse the creation of an impoverished, ethnically divided Macedonia. Last but not least, there was no reason for NATO to endorse the actions of increasingly violent Albanian separatists in Kosovo, much less backing them against the internationally recognized sovereign government of the territory.
** The creation of an independent ethnic Albanian Kosovo, supports the idea that THREE wrongs make a right (the original Albanian separatist rebellion, the Serb counteraction, and the NATO invasion on behalf of the Albanian separatists). There is an old term for what is going on now in southeast Europe -- BALKANIZATION. It means breaking up long-standing states into dysfunctional statelets. The population of Kosovo -- including all people who were citizen-residents of Kosovo after 1988 even if they are now living in central Serbia or in another country but have not given up Yugoslav or Serb citizenship -- should be given only two options: remaining part of Serbia, becoming a state of the Republic of Albania (which has a substantial Christian minority and sound laws protecting religious freedom). There is no need for yet another perpetually impoverished, non-self-sufficient Balkan microstate.
hassana: hkwam@mail.com- Hey you .I am very sure you are a muslim extremist from the way you have attacked this article.You are not a christrian you are a muslim extremist posing as a christian.
Frank Rex: Rex362@yahoo.com- Such a one sided article, including rubbish galore.
I wonder who pays you to write such biased crap.
who fooled/payed you so as to write it was a religous war.
Shame on you..
Arben Ceku: rocafella18@hotmail.com- The 19 serbs died is propaganda.. they where 11 Albanians, 7 serbs and 1 Roma who died... next time check your facts befor spreading propaganda, have a nice day
Alban Dushku: ylber@mail.com- It is difficult to read this commentary and retain any form of respect for the writer.
Such a skewed and biased view of the situation in Kosovo and the ramifications of the conflict there can not be taken seriously.
I was born and raised in Kosovo and I do not remember seeing any form of "Christian Persecution" there, especially since I happen to be Christian. I would think I would have noticed such a thing, but for as long as I can remember I have never been persecuted for being a Christian!
I do, however, remember being persecuted for being Albanian. I remember my family's house being burned down. I remember walking past rows of killed women and children. I remember hearing young women and girls talking about being raped. I remember living in a refugee camp.
Another thing I distinctly remember is the blessings that the Serbian Orthodox "Priests" were giving to the Serb Paramilitaries performing these ghastly acts.
I would ask the writer of this opinion piece to use facts not fiction when talking about events that occurred in the not so distant past. See in today's day and age with the technology that we have access to he should be able to gather these facts pretty easily.
During the unrest of March 2004 19 people did get killed, however only 8 of them were Serbs while the rest were actually Albanians. Just a side note!
Another fact is that the most accurate estimate to date concerning the number of Serbs and Non Albanians that left the province in 1999 was closer to 65,000 not the 225,000 number that the author throws out so loosely.
Quoting journalists the likes of Srdja Trifkovic further diminishes any legitimacy this article might hold. She writes for serbianna.com, an openly anti Albanian.
And last but not least nowhere in Kosovo can we find "a Muslim terrorist movement with a strong jihadist element"!
In fact Albanians in Kosovo and Albania proper happen to be the greatest supporters of the War on Terror. Albania even has troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan and was one of only four countries to actually take part in Combat Operations at the start of the Iraq War!
By contrast on September 11th the streets of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, were filled with cheering crowds of Serbs dancing and drinking alcohol, celebrating the attack that America suffered that day.
The streets of Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, were filled with Albanian mourners holding candle light vigils for the innocent fallen victims. Hardly an act of a "Muslim Jihadist people"!
Characterizing Albanians as Muslim extremists is wrong and misleading. Albanians profess to three faiths, Islam, Catholicism and Easter Orthodox Christianity. Historically the most religiously tolerant nation in the world the Albanians are famous for their saving of the Jews during WWII where they saved 100%% of the Jews of Albania and even saved Jews of neighboring countries. Albania was the only country in Europe to have more Jews after WWII than before.
So before publishing this kind of slime and slander about my people read some history and realize the political implications that lead to the destruction of these Orthodox Churches. The Serbian Orthodox Church has been at the forefront of the 89 year Genocide that the Albanians of Kosovo have had to endure.
Kosovo will be independent. No article such as this can stop it. Neither can letters filled with garbage sent to the President.
This is because Justice is served, always. The brave people of Kosovo have waited for 94 years to gain their independence from the blood thirsty oppressive Serbs. Now their time has come.
Sincerely,
Who Will Protect Kosovo's Christians?