What it's like being a Serb
Once, we were tolerant at home and welcomed abroad. Now we're seen as ambassadors of evil.
It's embarrassing being a Serb these days. When I venture out of my ever-shrinking homeland, it gets harder and harder to hold my head high. Early this year a Serb friend and I went to Mali to see the famous Dogon cliff dwellings. But when other foreigners visiting there found out who we were, we became the tourist attraction. "What are you doing here?" they'd ask. What they really meant was, "Shouldn't you be driving Muslims from their homes and shelling defenseless villages?" I was in Tangiers when my Bosnian Serb cousins overran Srebrenica and slaughtered its menfolk. Feelings against Serbs ran so high that I had to pretend to be a Bulgarian. Unfortunately, the famous Bulgarian national football team was quite well known in Morocco, and I couldn't even name the starting players. I had to pose as a Croat instead. The worst thing was, I couldn't help but agree with my Arab critics. I certainly have never condoned what our would-be president-for-life, Slobodan Milosevic, has done in his ruthless pursuit of personal power. But collective guilt is hard to escape.
When we were Yugoslavs, my countrymen traveled more than anyone in Eastern Europe--welcome on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Now that we're Serbs, half the countries in the world won't even consider our visa applications. Lately, I've been turned away from the embassies of Malaysia, Syria, Iran, Guatemala and Norway--don't even bother to fill out the forms, the clerks said. Many of my friends have found it impossible to go anywhere in Western Europe in the past year. It's not just that other countries are afraid we'll become economic or social refugees from our bankrupt homeland, which many of our brightest young people have done. It's that we're seen as the ambassadors of the new world order's dark side: intolerance, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Every time I make a foreign friend, I have to prove that I'm not a monster. Heroes of WorldWar II, today's Serbs are Europe's pariahs.
Even pariahs have some friends, of course. I could quite easily visit Libya or Iraq--sanctions busters stick together. I found Serbs admired in Sittwe, Burma, where the Buddhists oppress their Muslim minorities with near-Balkan gusto. In India, a party hack from the Hindu-nationalist BJP party pronounced himself tickled to meet a Serb.
His own country could take lessons from us on how to keep Muslims in their place, he said. In Greece, many of our Orthodox brothers have made Milosevic a sort ofhonorary patriarch, and the indicted war criminal Gen. Ratko Mladic alatter-day saint. But Greece is a NATO ally, so I guess it also has to be a little critical: the last time I went there every Greek I met kept complaining that we're not hard enough on the Muslims. With friends like these, I might as well stay home.
Unfortunately, home gets worse with each new outrage committed by our police and soldiers. I marvel at how many of my oldest friends have turned into raving nationalists. They're convinced that the rest of the world is wrong, and the Serbs are right. Not only that, but we're the victims, as if it were the Bosnians or the Albanians doing all these massacres. As Yugoslavs, we had an oppressive communist regime, but we were reasonably tolerant of one another. As Serbs, Milosevic's media have drilled into us how to hate our neighbors. Croats are "rabbits" when we're chasing them, or "pigs" when they're chasing us. Muslims are "dogs" or "baby-killers." Albanians are just "filthy rats."
Milosevic's creation--unlike Saddam's Iraq or Stalin's Soviet Union--is no republic of fear. Things like a free press, opposition parties and privatization are all still features of my homeland's twisted reality. The biggest problem in Serbia is not lack of freedom of speech--but a lack of listeners. Serbia once gave the world Nikola Tesla, the physicist who discovered alternating current. Our latest contributions to civilization are authentic Serbian neologisms such as "ethnic cleansing" and "urbicide," which is what we Serbs did to Sarajevo and Vukovar. I don't know if a NATO bombing is likely to end the war in Kosovo. What it might do, unfortunately, is end all the pretenses of the Milosevic regime, and hasten its transition into out-and-out dictatorship.
During what is already a Milosevic decade, we had more than one chance to vote for a future without him. We were able to make a choice, and all the facts needed to make the right one were readily available. Milosevic made no secret how high the price of his crusade against the new world order would be. "We'll have to eat stones," one of his top lieutenants explained. The nation replied, "Bon appetit!" Even the truth about the darkest pages of our his- tory, the war in Bosnia, was out there for everybody to see as it was being written in the Bosnian hills, but no one looked. While Europe's "heart of darkness" was in Bosnia, my hometown was its heart of ignorance.
Serbia (and most of the outside world) runs deep. I know of long-term friendships and family relationships destroyed by arguments about things the rest of the world takes for granted, such as who were the victims in the Bosnian war. Once, when I was out on a promising date at a Chinese restaurant, a war report on the radio sent the conversation veering in an ugly direction: "Half the Albanians in Kosovo should be killed," said my 27-year-old companion, who seemed like a decent person otherwise. "The other half should be banished to Albania." Our dinner ended abruptly with a brief and nasty shouting match. No wonder we say that "your politics are your destiny" in the Balkans.
Sadly, Milosevic has convinced most of us that if you don't share his nationalist politics, you must be a traitor. And that's what I find myself called now when I walk into some cafes in Belgrade--that and worse. "Oh, you're still alive?" acquaintances say, as if disappointed. It makes me want to head for the border. At least abroad, I can understand why I am a pariah.
Cirjakovic is a freelance journalist who helps cover the Balkans for NEWSWEEK.
Newsweek, October 19, 1998
International Humanitarian Worker, in Kosovo since
10 December.
In and out in Bosnia between 1993 and 1998
What happened in Racak - Stimlje, we all saw it, with our own eyes, and yet, we continue with our usual life - the life of a person free to decide for himself and without fearing that at any time somebody could slaughter him. We are not politicians, and we do not pretend to have solutions to propose that would stop the disgusting atrocities committed in Kosovo, or in Bosnia.
Why is it that I can leave Kosovo at any moment if I feel endangered, while the citizens of Kosovo can only hope that tomorrow they will have another day to share with their families? How can we just let this happen in front of our eyes?
Ongoing negotiations, statements "strongly" condemning the massacre(s), and demands, do not bring the solution any closer. We all know the problem, but we just turn our heads and mind our own business. Requests for air strikes are raising their voices again, but we all rightly fear that these could cause too many innocent victims. Of course, nobody wants to die especially those innocent victims of the many massacres, prosecutions, and beatings, carried out in the region in the past 10 years.
As a European, I celebrated at the inception of the EURO, as many others did, hoping that it will further strengthen the idea of a free Europe. But where is "free" Europe", if this can happen before our eyes in Europe's courtyard? And yet, those running away from all this are considered a "problem" by the receiving country.
Some analyst say the military option is the only way, where others continue to believe in public statements and negotiations. I do not have the answer either, but still believe that this CAN NOT continue. Every individual in the free world MUST feel threatened by this uncontrolled growth of nazi-nationalism ideas in the world. If the concept of Democracy we talk about also entails freedom of speech and movement, then all of us who are in Kosovo at this time should decide to stop looking the other way. Similarly, all International Organizations should at least vigorously protest and show a compact front against these continuing and steady acts of murder. How can we expect to be credible as "humanitarian" if we do not make a stand when innocent civilians are targeted. And this is not taking sides, is just protecting the rights of the those targeted, without any prejudice or preference towards a particular group, especially because we all are human beings. We can't continue to play this game of pretending to be willing to protect people and encouraging them to stay unless we're going to send NATO ground troops. It's time we decide either to send NATO or to accept as many Kosovar refugees who want to leave and build them houses and make them citizens in the countries they choose. Furthermore, the NGOs should band together and make their opinions known, and finally find the "N" in their name again.
All of those who feel their life is at risk should have the right to protection. If the Serbian authorities can not protect its own citizens, then any Person who wishes to leave the country, should be entitled to do so, without being considered a "refugee". No, they are just persons like you and me, members of a civil society
All of those who feel oppressed should decide to leave the country all together and at the same time, as a protest to the state of terror instituted by the Serb nationalism and only return when the operation of a democratic system will be possible.
If we can not stop the butcher from executing its victims, we should at least take away the prey from its hands.
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Passera' anche Questa Pioggia Sottile, Come Passa
Il Dolore. Ma Se Ti Svegli, E Hai Ancora Paura, Ridammi La Mano, Perche'
Domani Sara' Un Giorno Lungo e Senza Parole…
And Also This Thin Rain Will Pass Like Passes The Pain. But If You Wake
Up, And You Are Still Scared, I Will Hold Your Hand, For Tomorrow Will
Be Another Long Day And Without Words…
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Also included below is the end of King's famouse
"I have a dream speech,"
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
(FONET) Fr. Sava, a monk from Decani Monastery, said that not only the members of the Government should participate in the Serbian delegation at the Kosovo peace conference in France but also the representatives of the Kosovo Serb population and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
"Although we alone are not competent to reach the final decision on Kosovo and Metohija but on the peace talks there must not be only those who visit Kosovo once a year," said Fr. Sava, known for his presentation of the Kosovo situation on the Internet which brought him a nickname "cybermonk".
In his interview to the Austrian News Agency APA he indicated that " in the time when the war is raging just a few hundreds of meters from the monastery, the monks cannot be indifferent and devote themselves to prayer only. It is neccessary to work actively for the peace."
Fr. Sava said that the Serbian Orthodox Church is supporting every peaceful and democratic solution of the Kosovo crisis and reminded that from the very beginning of the conflict the Orthodox Church condemned extremism and violence on both sides "never using the hate speech which is usually used by the sides in the conflict."
He also said that the root of the conflict in Kosovo lied in "using of force from the side of Albanian separatists" but also added that "equally responsible, if not more, was the Belgrade Government which wanted to force Kosovo Albanian population to remain living in Serbia without any democratic changes in the country."
"The Serbian Orthodox Church has distanced from Serb extremists and that is why we are not so popular", Fr. Sava explained. "Some people say that we are not patriots and that we are pro-Albanian. But we are only aware that our right to remain living in Kosovo and preserve our monasteries cannot be achieved by violence and massacres but only with our faith and will to live together with all people of good will", said Fr. Sava.
According to his opinion, many people in the West do not make clear difference between the Serbian people and the Serbian regime. "Not all Serbs are supporters of Milosevic and many people have not voted for him", reminded Fr. Sava.
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