Centuries of Christian Culture Vanish in Kosovo City

timesdaily.com ^ | Wednesday, March 24, 2004 | DANICA KIRKA

[Destro]

Centuries of Culture Vanish in Kosovo City

By DANICA KIRKA

Associated Press Writer

Serb Orthodox bishop Atanasije Jevtic,left, next to an unidentified prelate, enters the 14th-century Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral in the southern Kosovo town of Prizren, Monday, March 22, 2004. Orthodox Christian Serbs and symbols of their culture and history were targetted throughout Kosovo in violence last week. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Bishop Atanasije Jevtic dusted ashes away from the base of the fresco in the 14th-century cathedral gutted during recent mob violence in Kosovo.

He then softly placed two fingers on the image of Virgin Mary in the soot-covered fresco. But his visit to the cathedral to assess the damage would last but four minutes: a U.N. police officer acting as his bodyguard, a semiautomatic shotgun at the ready, hustled him away, shouting, "It's not safe! It's not safe!"

Orthodox Christian Serbs and symbols of their culture and history were targeted throughout Kosovo in violence last week, exposing the underlying tensions with the mostly Muslim ethnic Albanian majority that led to a war that ended in 1999.

Days after the rioting began, the extent of the material damage is only now becoming clear. In all, 366 homes were destroyed and 41 churches burned.

In this southern Kosovo city, centuries of culture vanished in seconds when mobs blamed Serbs for the deaths of two ethnic Albanian children and rampaged through the city.

Eight churches here were set on fire and at least a dozen homes. The devastation scarred the heart of this Ottoman-era community, with a hillside overlooking the Bistrica River now scarred by abandoned and blackened hulks of buildings set alight by the melee.

The mobs specifically targeted churches, the very symbols of Orthodox Christian Serbs, who want the U.N.-run province to remain part of Serbia-Montenegro. Kosovo's mostly Muslim ethnic Albanians want independence.

For the last five years, NATO has stepped between the two. The alliance moved into Kosovo after a 78-day air war aimed at stopping former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian seeking independence. The conflict killed an estimated 10,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians.

In the early years of the mission, the alliance set up elaborate protection for the churches of Kosovo, the province which is considered hallowed ground and the birthplace of Serbian identity. Kosovo was the site of an epic battle between Serbs and Turks in 1389.

Among the province's many treasures was the Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral, which is located just down the street from the U.N. administration's offices. Mobs transformed the brick structure into a gutted hulk.

Of particular note was a fresco of Jesus Christ, said Father Sava, a spokesman for the Orthodox Church in Kosovo, who wept upon learning that flames, smoke and soot left only a vague image on the wall.

"The church meant so very much," he said. "In France there is Notre Dame ... but for us that was the Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral."

Father Sava said that Serbs who remained in Prizren after the war have left for good now, and the only people visiting the wrecked structures this week were ethnic Albanians curious about what damage had been done.

Among them was Bashkim Dauti, 37, a construction worker, who wandered into the cathedral of St. George and gaped at the toppled tower in the center of the rubble.

"I don't like what I'm seeing," he said, noting that the riots would damage the hopes of ethnic Albanians to win independence.

"It's my feeling that we went back in time," he said. "(Independence) will take as much time as we will need to repair the churches and the houses that were burned."

Others suggested the destruction as revenge for the war. At the Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral, Ruzhdi Krasniqi, 23, smoked a cigarette as he assessed the damaged and said he felt "OK" about its destruction.

"I don't want the Serbs to return here," he said. "They've got no place here."

Atanasije didn't stop to offer his views, intent on getting in and out of the church with his life intact. But as he saw the damaged fresco of the Virgin Mary, he paused even though his security detail frantically screamed for him to go.

"This is the mother of God," he said, describing the fresco.

Then he crossed himself and ran for the door.

[Destro]

At the Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral, Ruzhdi Krasniqi, 23, smoked a cigarette as he assessed the damaged and said he felt "OK" about its destruction.

So does NATO...

[GeronL]

is that the right handle?

[DeuceTraveler]

Just out of curiosity, is NATO still being run by the US in Kosovo or have we pulled most of our troops out and handed this to Europeans?

[Robert Drobot]

This will be the Clinton legacy. To think that scumbag rapist received the Holy Eucharist from a Roman Catholic pretender during his visit to Africa.

[Destro]

Biggest American base in Europe outside of Germany - Camp Bondsteel. Damn right we run it.

[dennisw]

Take out the Islami "holy sites". Take out the top two in Arabia.

[Clemenza]

"Kosovars are our Friends" Ping!

[samtheman]

Clinton Legacy.

[Don W]

Atanasije didn't stop to offer his views, intent on getting in and out of the church with his life intact. But as he saw the damaged fresco of the Virgin Mary, he paused even though his security detail frantically screamed for him to go.

"This is the mother of God," he said, describing the fresco.

Then he crossed himself and ran for the door.

This makes me want to barf, then pick up every weapon/firearm/cudgel within 500 miles of my home and go kick some Moose-Limb posterior.

The enemy is at the gate.

[Bigg Red]

Disgusting animals have no respect!

[Makedonski]

To all the Serbs I want remind them of the 5th anniversary of the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia.

That was 24 March 1999.

Although under the bad leadership of Milosevic the people stood up to the agression not for the man but for their country.

Then it was the Clinton Administraton.

Also in another anniversary it is 3 years since the start of the war in Macedonia.

The terrorist state created by NATO spread its violence into Macedonia in March 2001.

Then it was the Bush Administration.

However the aims of the aggressors were not reached.

Although small and poor as dirt the Balkan countries stand strong and proud.

March 2004 it is the start of an attempt to finnish up what was started.

[BayouCoyote]

Nothing to see hear except barbaric thugs masquerading as humans. Move along.

[redgolum]

The US took the wrong side, again.

[OldCorps]

It really sickens me that our nation and our military forces are a party to the destruction of churchs and the murder of Serbs in Kosovo.

I had hoped that with the end of the evil Clinton administration, the removal of the Orthodox hating Madeline Albright as secretary of state and the removal of the ambitious, maniacal general Wesley Clark as NATO commander, our national policy of siding with Moslem Albanian drug dealers and thugs against peaceful Orthodox Christians in Kosovo would be ended. Sadly that has not taken place.

I'm going to write letters pointing out the terrible nature of US policy in Serbia and Kosovo to 1)my congressman 2)my senators 3)Secretary of State 4)US ambassador to NATO 5)US ambassador to Serbia 6)NATO commander 7)Senior US commander in Serbia/Kosovo 8)President Bush 9)VP Cheney. In these letters I will urge these various leaders to change the current US policy. I've never really participated in any campaign like this; indeed, I've never written to my congressman at all, but US policy is so clearly wrong here that my conscience compels me to do what I can to correct this evil.

I'm not a Serb, I don't even know any Serbs. But I do think the time has come to stand up and be counted, lest by my silence I acquiesce to rape, murder, and the destruction of Orthodox monasteries and churches.

Can anyone help me acquire the following information needed for my letter campaign:

1) how many Serbs in Kosovo were killed by US bombing?
2) how many clergy and monastics have been killed by the KLA and other Albanian groups?
3) how many churches and monasteries have been destroyed in Kosovo as a result of our giving the green light to the KLA?4) what is the estimated value in property damage to those structures in item 3.
5) how many Serbs had to leave Kosovo because of US policy?
6) how long has Kosovo been an indigenous province of Serbia?
7) how old are the structures in 3? Are any other culturally valuable places destroyed?
8) anything else that needs to be addressed?

[MarMema]

Yes, Thanks.

[fortunecookie]

This will be the Clinton legacy. To think that scumbag rapist received the Holy Eucharist from a Roman Catholic pretender during his visit to Africa.

It's disgusting and shameful what X42i has wrought. His 'peace' legacy was all about appeasement of Muslim terrorists. And now we pay the price. Hundreds of years of beautiful, Catholic and Christian tradition wiped out in a decade and the people scattered and murdered. While much of the world watches and not only doesn't want to help, but chastises those few who try.

[MarMema]

I will ping you to my other more recent posts....I was not sure you were still on FR.

Additionally I don't have the info you are seeking but I have some resources that probably will have it.

First try emailing the people at Serbianna and asking them for your answers. I emailed them the other day with a question and heard back from them the same day.

Or try ERP KIM or Decani yahoo group.