Posted on 01/08/2004 10:05:34 PM PST by miltonim
The Orthodox Christmas season this month has been marred in Kosovo by a series of violent incidents, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. A church was broken into and several items and some money were stolen, and a bus was attacked by local Albanians at the Decani monastery after the Christmas service. The attack on the church follows an earlier attack in November 2003. Officials of the United Nations administration (UNMIK) have condemned the attacks, the latest in a series since 1999 for which no arrests have ever been made. Speaking to Forum 18 about the attack on the bus, Fr Sava Janjic of the Decani monastery described it as a "demonstration of utmost religious intolerance" on Christmas "a holiday of peace and forgiveness". "What a paradox, that the attack was made at a moment when the head of UNMIK, only a hundred metres away, was speaking with the local Decani assembly president and appealed to him to show tolerance and understanding towards Decani monastery."
During the night of 3/4 January, unknown perpetrators broke into the Church of St Peter and Paul in Gornja Brnjica (Bernica e Eperme in Albanian), near the provincial capital Priština. Several items and some money were stolen, while sacral vessels and vestments were thrown around. On 7 January, Orthodox Christmas, a bus with Russian humanitarian workers and journalists travelling from Decani monastery after the Christmas service was stoned by local Albanians. Officials of the United Nations interim administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) condemned these incidents.
"When we approached the church we noticed that someone tried to break in through the entrance metal door, but only damaged the lock," Fr Miroslav Popadic, parish priest in Priština, told Forum 18. "Someone cut the metal bars on a window, broke in, stole the money and some church items, and made a huge mess. Every single item that was movable was thrown away. It was a sad scene."
The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren "most vehemently" condemned this latest desecration. "It appears that this case of attack on the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church is as unlikely to be resolved as any of the others."
The Church of Sts Peter and Paul in Gornja Brnjica was built in 1975 on the ruins of the medieval Church of St Nicholas, destroyed during the Ottoman occupation. The church is separated from the Serbian-populated village by a small wood, and is closer to an Albanian village. There are still 47 Serbian houses in Gornja Brnjica with 187 people. This church was attacked in late November (see F18News 1 December 2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=200 ).
The 7 January stoning of a bus carrying 30 Russian humanitarian aid workers and journalists took place in the town of Decani in western Kosovo. The delegation of the Russian St Andrew Fund and the Russian-Serbian Friendship Society, which had arrived in Kosovo on 4 January, had just visited Decani monastery for the Orthodox Christmas service and were returning to Priština. Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that "more than 300 Kosovar Albanians" threw stones at the bus. No injuries were reported. UNMIK police said three people threw stones, breaking one of the windows of the bus.
The Christmas liturgy at Decani monastery was also attended by the head of UNMIK, Harri Holkeri, who was accompanied by KFOR peacekeeping troops and UN police units. Earlier, Holkeri had sent a Christmas message to the Orthodox believers living in Kosovo, praising them for their "courage and perseverance", adding that UNMIK is "aware that the conditions under which many Kosovars live are still unacceptable". Later, Holkeri expressed "deep disappointment" over the stoning of the Russian pilgrims, a 7 January UNMIK press release reported.
Fr Sava Janjic, deputy abbot of the monastery, described the attack on the Russian pilgrims as a "demonstration of utmost religious intolerance". "On one of the most significant Christian holidays, a holiday of peace and forgiveness - Christmas - Albanians in Decani attacked the guests of Decani monastery, who only half an hour before thanked Mr Holkeri for his assistance in organising their escort through Kosovo and Metohija," he told Forum 18 from Decani monastery on 8 January. "What a paradox, that the attack was made at a moment when the head of UNMIK, only a hundred metres away, was speaking with the local Decani assembly president and appealed to him to show tolerance and understanding towards Decani monastery."
During the Christmas holiday, Kosovo was visited by Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle, who served liturgies in several churches and monasteries, including the monastery in Pe? (Peja).
For more background information, see Forum 18's latest religious freedom survey at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=137
A printer-friendly map of Kosovo (map title Serbia and Montenegro) is available at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=europe&Rootmap=yugosl The map follows international legal usage in indicating the boundaries of territories. Kosovo is in international law part of Serbia & Montenegro, although administered by the UN.
You might want to read this link: http://www.muslimsonline.com/albanian/kosova.html
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Norway | 50.00 |
1 |
50.00 |
14 |
3.57 |
|
|
Thanks for donating to Free Republic!
Move your locale up the leaderboard!
There is another angle. Milions of seconds of prime airtime in U.S. were and still are used to denigrate Serbs as a people and accuse them at every turn How much that cost? Serbs entered the popular culture as a shorthand for rapist, killer, genocidal maniac. In reality, Serbs were raped, killed and ethnicaly cleansed with impunity, with the tacit support of Clinton administration. Serbs were cleansed from their ancestral lands in Croatia, good part of Bosnia, and almost completely from Kosovo.
With the new administration, policy was not reverted, nor rectified.Serbs went the way of the Hmong and others who were sold down the river.
I understand that some Americans believed in Clinton's Kosovo lies. Like they believed in all other Clinton lies. I also believe that some thought that by helping the cause of Albanian terrorirists they are in fact helping democracy, freedom, and just cause. I do not blame them for being allegedly duped then. I blame them for supporting the crimes of Albanians today.
What shows their true face is their silence about the crimes committed in Kosovo during last four years. That means they knew too well what it was a hoax from the very beginning.
Otherwise, they would not be silent
Their silence is the direct support for the crimes.
If only 1% of the airtime spent to denigrate Serbs as a people was used to document the facts about the crimes in Kosovo committed by Albanian extrwemists, the crimes would stop.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.