I
recently wrote a response
for Jihad Watch, which also appeared on Atlas, to a blog post by war reporter
Michael Totten in Commentary magazine online, titled “This is a Kosovar Muslim” and showing a photo of a Kosovo
Albanian wearing a pro-USA sweatshirt.
The
following morning, Dr. Andrew Bostom ,
author of Legacy of Jihad, forwarded an exchange he had with Totten
about his Commentary post (it starts with Totten’s response to Bostom’s initial
query):
TOTTEN:
You do know that the majority of people here are atheists, right? There is no
religious state or religious majority. “Dhimmi” does not apply to anyone here.
The local troubles are ethnic, not religious. Catholics are very deeply
respected. It is the Serbs and the Orthodox who are not, thanks to Milosevic and
his apartheid and ethnic cleansing regime.
You are
never going to understand this place through a Muslim/infidel
lens.
BOSTOM:
Do you think “secular/atheist” Kosovo will join the OIC [Organization of the
Islamic Conference], which has clamored for its
creation?
TOTTEN:
I don’t know. But I wonder why you are putting “secular” and “atheist” in
quotation marks. Do you actually believe most people are religious Muslims? I
wish we could have this argument in Prishtina. It would be a different argument.
BOSTOM:
Not only don’t you know (why you don’t know, or won’t at least hazard your best
guess is one question), you apparently don’t think the question is relevant,
when what actually happens may be pathognomonic of the problem of creating truly
secular Muslim societies in the first place…Can’t you see that? The OIC serves
one primary purpose: Islamization. Why would a secular society need to join such
an entity?
TOTTEN:
Albania joined in 1992, and Albania is overwhelmingly atheist, even more so than
Kosovo which is also majority atheist. I’m done arguing with you about this,
Andrew, unless you come out here.
BOSTOM:
It probably won’t register with you, but “secular” (NOT!) Turkey — which has
progressively re-Islamized since the Menderes government was elected by
pandering to an Islamic revival in 1950, and now has an openly fundamentalist
govt which represents a majority fundamentalist populace — is a major player in
the OIC, and a (rather vile) Turk heads the OIC.
Again, I
ask you, why would any truly secular nation be part of the
OIC?
Let’s
start with Totten’s most embarrassing and callous but commonly used canard about
the Serbs: “It is the Serbs and the Orthodox who are not [respected], thanks to
Milosevic and his apartheid and ethnic cleansing regime.”
In
addition to U.S. policy analyst Martin Sletzinger’s casually stated comments
that it is “nonsense” to think that Kosovo’s becoming a country has something to
do with Milosevic’s supposed oppression — and in addition to the fact that when
Sletzinger started working in Congress in the 1970’s, the Albanian lobby was
“giving us maps of Iliria, which included Kosovo, half of Macedonia, a good
portion of Montenegro, and of course Albania” — we also have Andy Wilcoxson
laying it out in this
post:
On April
2, 1981, rioting erupted in Kosovo. Nine people were killed and scores injured
as police broke up a mob of 10,000 ethnic Albanian demonstrators who were
rampaging through the streets of Pristina smashing shop windows and destroying
factory machines. The demonstrators, some armed with guns and firing at the
police, pushed children in front of them to make it more difficult for security
forces to disrupt the march.
The
Yugoslav Government said the rioting was the “worst outbreak of separatist
demands” since World War II, and imposed martial law to bring the situation back
under control. Eyewitnesses reported that cars and trucks were overturned and
burning in the center of Pristina while the army guarded public buildings and
ambulances toured the streets to pick up the injured.
The
separatist nature of the rioting was clear to one and all. When the New York
Times reported on it their lead paragraph read: “Yugoslav tanks and troops took
up positions today in a province in the south to put down anti-Government riots
by Albanian separatists … the separatists want to unite with Albania, the small
and selfisolated Communist country on the Adriatic.”
According
accounts published in the Washington Post, the demonstrators were said to be
chanting “Long Live Enver Hoxha” along with slogans demanding Kosovo’s
unification with Albania.
…
Things flared up in Kosovo a month later when
Pristina University was forced to close its doors amid student demonstrations
demanding Kosovo’s unification with Albania.
In 1982
Becir Hoti, an ethnic Albanian official in Kosovo’s ruling Communist Party,
explained the situation quite well. He told the New York Times: “The
nationalists have a two-point platform. First to establish what they call an
ethnically clean Albanian republic and then the merger with Albania to form a
Greater Albania.”
This is
significant because today’s Western narrative claims that the Kosovo-Albanian
population wants to secede from Serbia because they allegedly suffered
mistreatment under the rule of Slobodan Milosevic.
That
thesis is exposed as fallacy because Slobodan Milosevic’s political career
didn’t even begin until 1983, when he took a job as economic advisor to the
mayor of Belgrade…Kosovo-Albanian separatism had already erupted violently in
1981 and 1982 — long before the public even knew who Slobodan Milosevic was.
Totten’s
State Department ventriloquism reminds me of this unbelievable sentence from a
November email from, appropriately
enough, a “Wilhelm”:
The
reason orthodox churches are burnt is only due to their identification with
Milosevic-type politics not because Albanians are Muslim let alone them being
extremists.
What
this airhead is saying is that as the Albanians increasingly expose their
long-awaited designs on the region through, among other things, the ongoing,
viscerally carried out destruction of Orthodox churches eight years after the
Serb-led ouster of Milosevic, we should instead believe that this has something
to do with the 1990s decade, and not with the similar attacks on Serb holy sites
in Kosovo that went on for a century before that, including during WWII when
Greater Albania was undergoing a similar ascension, under the sponsorship of
Adolf Hitler. Like Totten, Welhelm wants to believe that the desecration and
destruction of thousand-year-old churches by Albanians not only has nothing to
do with religion (despite the demonic-like zeal with which Albanians pried off,
by hand, the crosses from the churches during the 2004 pogrom), but it doesn’t
even have to do with the ethnic intolerance which preceded Milosevic and which
tripled after his ouster — that is, after the Albanians were “freed”.
Never,
never has the world seen such a persistent, widespread, irrational and singular
hatred as that reserved for Serbs. Even age-old anti-Semitism doesn’t compare,
given that there are so many thinking, fair-minded people who don’t engage in
it. In contrast, people who otherwise have minds make sure not to use them when
Serbs are involved.
Notice
Totten’s insistence on continuing to use the term “ethnic cleansing” in
reference to Kosovo regardless of how many times and ways that notion has been
debunked — including by every major U.S. paper in late 1999 after Americans lost
interest in Kosovo, and most recently by documentation I provided in my Jihad
Watch response to his piece. But Serbs aren’t worth the trouble of a mouse
click.
On
Totten’s ventriloquism regarding the religious question — “There is no religious
state or religious majority…The local troubles are ethnic, not religious.
Catholics are very deeply respected” — here is Chris Deliso on Kosovo’s direction, based on developments in
long-independent Albania:
Perhaps
the most significant emerging trend in the case of Albania is the rise of
internecine strife based on religious difference. Rallying a decade ago under
the nationalist banner of “one nation, three religions,” the paramilitary KLA
claimed support from Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox Albanians during its war in
Kosovo. Today, while most Albanians still do feel their ethnicity strongly,
religious tensions have nevertheless been growing. In october 2003, police
arrested author Kastriot Myftari, charging him with inciting religious hatred
against Muslims for writing that Albanian Muslims should convert to
Catholicism.
…
In the northern, Catholic majority city of Shkodra, which
borders on Montenegro, mutual provocations between Catholics and Muslims are
suddenly emerging. A cross was put up in the city, and then mysteriously
vandalized in January 2006. And when civic leaders decided to honor national
hero Mother Teresa with a statue, three Muslim groups — the Association of
Islamic Intellectuals, the Albanian Muslim Forum, and the Association of Islmaic
Charities — publicly protested. The [Albanian Muslim Forum], which allegedly
supports interfaith relations, declared that a statue of one of the world’s most
renowned humanitarian figures would be a “provocation” to Muslims, and that the religious situation in
Shkodra was “not so calm.”
Deliso
also explains that “the end of the national question in Kosovo is the beginning
of the religious one, as new challenges to the social and clerical order arise
from radical Islam.”
Regarding
Catholics being “deeply respected” in Kosovo: Aside from Catholics and Muslims
having some deep roots in eliminating Serbs and Jews together during WWII, I
addressed Kosovo’s religious “pluralism” in my blog post titled “Kosovo’s
Religious Pluralism“, which demonstrated, among other things, how an
Albanian Catholic priest felt more in common with, and was better to, Albanian
Muslims than his Croatian Catholic flock. Because the point is Albanianism Uber
Alles. Until it isn’t. As Jim Jatras reminds
us:
Typically
these begin as what are represented as “national liberation movements,” the
desire of a group of people described in national or ethnic terms — Algerians,
Afghanis, Kosovo Albanians, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Iraqis, etc. — to have
their own independent national state. But at some point — either after achieving
that goal…or in the process of the “national liberation” struggle…the movement
shifts to a primarily Islamic jihad orientation, in which the national element
is downplayed and the jihad element is emphasized. This transition coincides
with the marginalization or elimination of the non-Muslim social elements
(Christian Arabs, Albanian Catholics, etc.), some of whom may have been militant
supporters of the first, national phase but who will have no future in the
Islamic new order.
But
apparently the big picture is irrelevant to Totten, who is interested only in
what he observes on the surface and two feet in front of him. Trends? What’s
that? Indeed, what is all this nonsense about the Islamization of the world and
a caliphate forming? You don’t see me wearing a burqa, do you?
Let’s
hear from another Catholic
Albanian priest:
Some
tensions appeared after the war. In its December 1999 report, the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation, OSCE, said that following the withdrawal of
Serbian troops from Kosovo, ethnic Albanian fighters of the Kosovo Liberation
Army, KLA, were harassing Catholic Albanians over their alleged lack of
commitment to the KLA cause.
The OSCE
report said: “Catholic Albanians and evangelical groups have faced continued
intimidation and harassment.” It went on: “A common feature of many attacks was
the underlying intention to force minorities to leave and/or to ensure their
silence through fear. This strategy was effective.”
According
to a US State Department report for 2003, certain Catholic-populated areas
within Kosovo had previously been “under suspicion of collaboration with the
Serb regime,” adding: “Such suspicion was fuelled by the fact that Catholic
Albanian villages suffered relatively little damage during the conflict.”
[Indeed, clearly they weren’t doing enough for the
KLA terrorists/separatists.]
The
Catholic Church in Kosovo condemned ethnically-motivated riots in 2004 when
dozens of Serbian Orthodox Churches and other properties were damaged or
destroyed. “I felt ashamed after what happened in 2004. We were under some
pressure as well,” said a Kosovo Albanian Catholic who has since moved to
neighbouring Montenegro.
Gosh, I
wonder what made him move out of Kosovo. But notice that this Albanian feels
shamed by the actions of his fellow Albanians, and considers them reprehensible.
Too bad Totten can’t be as honest. But then, Serbs deserve to suffer, according
to Totten’s first paragraph at the top of this post. Note also that bullying of
Catholics in Kosovo didn’t start only after the war, but was practiced in the
70s and 80s as well, and many of the Albanians who moved out of Kosovo (often to
Serbia) along with the Serbs who were fleeing in those decades were Catholics.
From one
of my earliest articles on Kosovo, based on an interview with a Jew who was
raised there (Branko, whose brother is Slobodan):
Slobodan’s
best friend, Bardy, was a Catholic Albanian married to a Serbian woman. “He had
just called me a few months ago,” Branko reminisces, “because he was so excited
about his new dog — a Rottweiler, like so many in America have. When the KLA
came in with NATO, he was killed, just for not being a ‘good’ Albanian.”
Another
friend, a Serb named Ilija, died while an “internally displaced person” in
Serbia, from what Branko calls “sorrow and anger.”
The Serb
Ilija, the Albanian Bardy, and the Jew Slobodan were three best friends who got
married on the same day, alternately serving as one another’ s best man.
As for
Totten’s point about most Albanian Muslims not being religious, surely we don’t
have to explain that a Muslim doesn’t have
to be religious to sympathize
with the cause and buy into the universal Muslim sense of aggrievement. He also
states above that there is no religious majority, which is strange, given that
about 95 percent of Kosovo is Muslim. That these Muslims are still recovering
from their communist-imposed atheism is irrelevant. But it shouldn’t be too long
a process, given that Islam is a popular religion among recovering atheists.
Does Totten think that Kosovo lends itself to Islamic indoctrination less than
Russia, where “especially the atheist groups are gradually getting
inclined towards Islam because of extensive propaganda and activities of the
Islamist NGOs.” And here is something related from a 1994 article in the London
Chronicle by former Thatcher adviser Sir Alfred
Sherman:
[I]t
should be noted that in Britain and Western Europe, individuals and groups
faithful to Moscow’s line in world affairs for years, though mainly atheist,
inexplicably back the Muslim fundamentalist government [of
Bosnia].
Incidentally,
does Totten think that the Bosnia war we abetted, which brought Bosniaks
exponentially closer to Islam, doesn’t have echoes in the Kosovo war we
abetted?
Totten’s
shrug at Albania’s membership in the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
meanwhile, is also worth noting. Like I said, all thinking is suspended if the
subject is the Balkans. Here was the OIC upon Kosovo’s
“independence”:
RIYADH
(Reuters) - The Organisation of the Islamic Conference has welcomed Kosovo’s
declaration of independence, saying it would be an asset to the Muslim
world.
“Kosovo
has finally declared its independence after a long and determined struggle by
its people. As we rejoice in this happy result, we declare our solidarity with
and support to our brothers and sisters there,” Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the head
of the OIC, said at the opening of a meeting in Dakar on
Monday.
“The
Islamic (umma) nation wishes them success in the new battle awaiting them, which
is the building of a strong and prosperous state capable of satisfying its
people. There is no doubt that the independence of Kosovo will be an asset to
the Muslim world and further enhance joint Islamic action,” he said in comments
sent to Reuters.
It
doesn’t matter if both we and the Albanians take Totten’s advice and steer clear
of seeing “this place through a Muslim/infidel lens.” The umma certainly sees
Kosovo through a Muslim/infidel lens — as was the premise of Deliso’s book and
the reason for its title The Coming Balkan Caliphate.
“‘Dhimmi’
does not apply to anyone here,” Totten admonishes Bostom. Aside from the fact
that one can be a dhimmi just to the Albanian violence being threatened should
their cause not be promoted to its conclusion (as that Hungarian parliamentarian
demonstratedwhen he explained the awarding of a state to an
intolerant population by saying “we’re afraid of them”), what do you call the
populations (Serbs, Croats, Roma, Jews and
even Gorani
Muslims) who are at the mercy of their Albanian-Muslim “hosts” in the event
that the armed KFOR guards blink?
Beyond
that, there is this fact: Even if dhimmitude weren’t being imposed by the master
population on the untermenschen in its mist, or on the master population’s
Western benefactors, that doesn’t mean people won’t behave as dhimmis
preemptively, of their own accord (we are seeing this everywhere now) in an
attempt to please the wider population of Masters. We started calling Albanians
‘Muslims’ and declaring the Kosovo project to be about the U.S. creating a
Muslim state in Europe even when the Albanians didn’t — with Tom Lantos asking
Muslim countries and jihadists to take this action into consideration, and
outgoing Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns hailing support for Kosovo from the OIC and “happily claiming
that a ‘vastly majority Muslim state’ has been carved out of Serbia, a European
Christian country.”
Which
brings us to a phenomenon that I’ll call Dhimmi Irony. Because despite our
efforts to please our masters, only five out of
57 member states of the OIC (which includes a “Palestine” that would benefit
directly), have recognized Kosovo’s independence:
More and
more countries are getting ready to recognize Kosovo’s independence, but many
are hesitant, including some Arab and Muslim countries despite Washington’s
appeals to display solidarity with Kosovo Muslims.
During a
briefing on Kosovo after its declaration of independence, Under Secretary for
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns welcomed the recognition of this step by the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and hence, by the governments of
its member countries. He said: “And we think it is a very positive step that
this Muslim state, Muslim majority state, has been created
today.”
…
Today, the most urgent issue is whether Kosovo will create a
precedent for other territories. This is why many Muslim and other countries do
not rush to accept Kosovo’s independence. The United States hoped for Islamic
solidarity, but in vain.
Only
three [sic] OIC members - Turkey, Afghanistan and Senegal [plus Albania and
Burkina Faso] - have recognized Kosovo’s independence out of almost 60 members
of the organization. Others have adopted a wait-and-see attitude because of the
potential threat of a domestic split, or destabilization in neighboring
countries.
…
For the time being, no politician in these conflict-prone
zones has loudly expressed readiness to follow Kosovo’s example…Kosovo’s
independence is threatening primarily because a decision on it was made without
a UN Security Council resolution. It is solely based on the support of the
United States and some European countries. In other words, political
circumstances have prevailed over international law.
To
close, here is a blogger lamenting the lack of Muslim solidarity in walking the
Kosovo walk and not just talking the talk:
“When Will Pakistan Recognize Kosovo
Independence?”
With the
new government one hopes Kosovo is recognized sooner rather then later. The
above map shows the countries which have recognized Kosovo in blue. The ones who
are expected to soon are shown in yellow. It is startling how many countries in
the Middle East are still to recognize the country.
By the
way I do not support how Kashmir is shown as a part of India in the map. I got
the map of a website called ‘Kosovo Thanks You.’ The Kosovons of all people
should know about the struggle for freedom of the Kashmiri
people.
For a
laugh, here is a comment under the post, from
“Kosova_girl”:
Pakistan,
Pakistan, Pakistan….cmon people, support your muslims brothers and sisters. I am
sooo dissapointed by the lack of recognition by so many muslims countries. Oh
and then we wonder why are muslims always oppressed.
We are the civilian police and we try to uphold the law, but there
are so many of them and they are well armed. They do what they like 
Apparently, CNN decided that they didn't have enough video of rioting
in their recent story on unrest in Belgrade, Serbia, so they decided to add in
footage of rioting in Budapest to sexy up the story. I have to say, if the
Kosovars intend to make the cut with CNN in the future, they'd better start
rioting to the satisfaction of CNN's video editors. Either that, or CNN can
start showing us all some truthful video with their stories. Whatever the case,
CNN's misstep doesn't just make them look bad, it makes all Americans
look bad.
