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Edward S. Herman: The road map, Israeli racism, and unmentionable discourse in the media
But Ignatieff would never say that "racial contempt is an official ideology" in Israel, although the facts in that case would warrant such a statement.
There are three words or phrases that are not permissible in the U.S. mainstream media in application to the Israel-Palestine conflict: racism, ethnic cleansing and international law. This follows from the deep, deep bias of the media favoring Israel and hostile to the Palestinians. The evidence of Israeli racism is overwhelming, and criticism of that racism is commonplace in Israel, but it is suppressed here. Israel is explicitly a "Jewish state," with special rights inherint in Jewishness, including the right to occupy land; it has engaged in a long-term systematic expropriation of Palestinian land and demolitions of Palestinian homes strictly for Jewish-settler benefit; and its occupation has long been characterized by brutal maltreatment of Palestinians, who have been publicly described by Israeli leaders as "lice," "grasshoppers," "two legged animals," and numerous other epithets.
New York Times favorite Michael Ignatieff explained why the Serbs were ready to kill Albanians in Kosovo: "The reason is simple…only in Serbia is racial contempt an official ideology" (NYT, Nov. 21, 1999). This, however, is a blatant lie as Albanians have never been subjected to officially-sanctioned discrimination in Belgrade, and Milosevic and other high Serbian officials have never described Albanians as "lice" or "grasshoppers." But Ignatieff would never say that "racial contempt is an official ideology" in Israel, although the facts in that case would warrant such a statement. Lies regarding the official enemy; lies-by-silence on the racism of the beloved client, is standard mainstream media policy, and we can readily understand why Ignatieff was recently selected as a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine (and why he is head of a human rights center at Harvard University).
The phrase "ethnic cleansing" was used lavishly by the mainstream media to describe Serb policy in Kosovo, although this also was a lie: there was a brutal civil war during which the Albanians were often treated very harshly, and large numbers fled-many forced out-during the 78-day NATO bombing war in 1999. But they were never driven out to make way for Serb settlers, as Palestinians have been removed for Jewish settlement over many years and on a large scale. In fact, Israeli policy in expropriations, demolitions and removal provides a perfect model of ethnic cleansing-but the phrase is never applied to the Israeli case by U.S. reporters, pundits and editorial writers. The direct lie in the one case, lie-by-silence in the other, is absolutely standard media procedure.
Reference to international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention are also not permissible in mainstream media discussions of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Such references would be awkward because as an occupying power Israel is obligated to protect the Palestinians, and under the Fourth Geneva Convention , to which Israel and the United States are signatories, Israel is forbidden the taking over of land and displacing of the local inhabitants. In short, the settlements on the West Bank and Gaza and takeover of a large part of East Jerusalem are gross violations of international law. The solution for the Free Press is lie-by-silence.
One other issue off the media agenda is the decades-long U.S. government support for Israeli ethnic cleansing, in opposition to an almost unanimous global consensus, showing this country to be a pro-Israel protagonist rather than an "honest broker." The United States regularly vetoes any condemnation of Israel in the UN or any attempt to bring monitors into the area to protect the Palestinians from assaults by the powerful Israeli army. It has also armed Israel and given it massive resources to fund its military establishment, which has permitted and protected the settlements and the associated ethnic cleansing. The ideological bias in the U.S. media is so profound that anyone supplying arms to the Palestinians is supporting "terrorism," whereas the U.S. supplying arms to the ethnic-cleansing state that over the years has surely killed a dozen Palestinians for every Israeli killed is normalized as aiding "self defense." (The "crisis" in recent years results from the fact that that ratio has fallen to three to one.)
The root of the conflict is the occupation: its cruelties and oppression and steady expropriations and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in violation of international law. (Even in the 22 percent of Palestine left to the Palestinians after the 1967 war, by the end of the Oslo "peace process" in 2000, some 42 percent of the West Bank land and most of its water has been taken over by the Israelis and settlers; in Gaza, one third of the land was seized for the benefit of 7,000 settlers, leaving the remaining two-thirds for over a million Palestinians.) From these oppressions and expropriations arose a Palestinian resistance, that was largely nonviolent through the first intifada (1987-1991), during which few Israelis but over a thousand Palestinians were killed; but the resistance resorted to suicide bombers in the second intifada.
Virtually all independent and many Israeli analysts recognize that the suicide bombers reflect the "bottomless despair" of the Palestinians--to quote the words of former Shin Beth head Ami Ayalon--finally striking out in response to "a systematic process of demolition of Palestinian private and public property, and mass expropriation of Palestinian land on behalf of the settlers…[involving also] prolonged curfews, road-blocks, humiliations, beatings, military invasions of densely populated areas, detentions of thousands without trial under sub-human conditions, obstruction of access to work, medical care, schools and universities, and a host of other means" (quoting a recent Urgent Appeal signed by 153 Israeli academics, but unmentioned in the New York Times).
In short, Israeli "insecurity" has increased as a direct result of Israel's merciless and illegal ethnic cleansing that, of course, made for far greater Palestinian insecurity. But in the remarkable propaganda system of the United States there is no recognition of Palestinian insecurity-that word is reserved for the painful and serious, but far smaller, victimization of the people of the ethnic-cleansing state.
Most important, since the occupation and ethnic cleansing are normalized and their results largely suppressed, and the violations of international law ignored, the propaganda system is able to make the causal force in the violence the suicide bombers, who seemingly came out of nowhere in an irrational assault on the peace loving Sharon and Israeli people. This miracle of abortive history was concisely expressed by Paul Berman in his Terror and Liberalism, where he says: "Our current predicament was brought upon us by acts of suicide terrorism"-"we" had no "predicament" prior to those actions, which became a major phenomenon only in 2001! Berman traces the bombers to irrationality and Islam, and expresses amazement that anyone could attribute this development to Israeli oppression. This is amazing nonsense and self-deception, but it is entirely understandable that Berman, like Ignatieff, is a New York Times and mainstream media favorite. He expresses well the deep-seated racist and pro-ethnic cleansing ideology that dominates the Free Press.
.In considering the meaning of the road map we should also consider what its nominal author, George Bush, has done in the past two years leading up to its issuance. Has he shown any sign of siding with the weaker party, sympathizing with its terrible conditions, strengthening it militarily or politically, and recognizing the need for the introduction of justice for the victims of occupation and ethnic cleansing? Quite the contrary. He and his administration quickly welcomed Sharon as a "man of peace" and partner in the "war on terror," terror meaning retail terror as in suicide bombings. Sharon's killings, destruction and demolitions of homes and civilian infrastructure, as in the past, are not wholesale terror, but presumably only "retaliation" (i.e., acceptable violence). Bush has only been angry at suicide bombings, not at the more numerous deaths and calamitous conditions brought by Sharon. Correspondingly, the repeated and urgent call by Bush has been for Palestinian restraint and an end to suicide bombings.
Meanwhile, Bush gave Sharon carte blanche in 2001 to invade the West Bank and Gaza cities and engage in virtually unlimited violence against the civilian population of Palestine. He has vetoed any international effort at monitoring or even investigating Sharon's murderous assaults in Jenin and other civilian sites. He has not interfered in the least with the Sharon government's vast destruction of Palestine's civilian infrastructure, its systematic assassinations, its costly and cruel closures, its numerous demolitions of Palestinian homes and markets, or its targeting of journalists and human rights workers. He has sanctioned the beggaring of the Palestinian population and destruction of the facilities necessary for a viable state.
Bush has also not complained about the numerous settlements established on the West Bank over the last two years, or at the construction of a massive wall within Palestine that has deprived many thousands of Palestinians of homes and/or means of livelihood. This wall will constitute a virtual prison surrounding the shrunken territory left for the Palestinians.
In short, Bush has given tacit approval to the Israeli establishment of more "facts on the ground" that have advanced Israeli ethnic cleansing and expanded and intensified deprivation and injustice to the Palestinians. His policies in the two years prior to the announcement of the road map were therefore diametrically opposed to those that would have addressed the issues in the conflict, and, in fact, they greatly reduced the possibility of a just settlement. This is just what we might have expected, given both the composition and base of the Bush team and the nature of the "war on terror." Bush's leading advisers in this area, including Wolfowitz, Abrams, Feith, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bolton are pro-Likud and pro-Sharon hardliners, and the Christian Right support base openly supports Israeli ethnic cleansing. The "war on terror" is a war of the terrorizing strong against anybody who stands in the way, who therefore is named terrorist. The Palestinians, resisting an ethnic-cleansing process long supported by the United States, automatically qualify as targets.
The Road Map: Another "International Community" Copout
These are essential background facts for consideration of the "Road Map." They tell us in advance that a road map offered by this protagonist and close ally of Israel, who has already helped worsen the situation, will surely not be designed to bring justice to resolving the conflict and is therefore unlikely to end the violence. Why then bother with a road map? One reason is that the United States has reserved to itself the right to intervene in this conflict, and most of the world is highly critical of the U.S. support of Israeli repression and failure to bring peace to the area. Bush may have believed that his carte blanche to Sharon to assault Palestine would bring "peace" through wholesale terror and effective "pacification," but despite the massive destruction and pain inflicted, the victims continue to resist.
A second and related reason for the Road Map is that Bush made promises to Blair and others to do something constructive to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. A third consideration is that his political fortunes at home demand some action on this front. He has to be able to say that he tried, even if the effort fails and once more he must support Israel against the "terrorists."
The Road Map was sent by Kofi Annan to the Security Council on May 7, under the title "A performance-based roadmap to a permanent two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Kofi Annan's cover letter claims that the Road Map was prepared by the "Quartet," the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the UN. But the document reflects the exact biases that we would anticipate from U.S. authorship, so that here, as in the performance of Annan, the UN, and the Security Council in the "diplomacy" leading up to the U.S. attack on Iraq, the "international community" has deferred to Uncle Chutzpah in dealing with an issue in which Chutzpah should be disqualified for bias (see my "Uncle Chutzpah, on a Rampage, Has 'Momentum'," ZNet Commentary, June 25, 2003)..
Recall that Israel's settlements, roads for settlers only, and abusive treatments of the Palestinians have been in violation of scores of UN Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention. You might think that a UN-sponsored plan would start with these primary violations, which have not only involved systematic Israeli violence in expropriations, demolitions, removals and abuses of persons but are also the root cause of Palestinian violence against Israelis. Furthermore, a first requirement in assuring respect for the law, as well as obtaining justice, is that the law violators not be allowed the fruits of their illegal actions. And if Palestinian violence will only be surely ended if the land robbers are not allowed to keep Palestinian land stolen since 1967, it should be obvious that getting all the settlers out should be the first and highest priority. But just as the United States has protected Israel's ethnic cleansing in the past, it aligns itself with Israel now in supporting the robber's rights to his loot. This perspective dominates the Road Map.
As reflected in the Road Map, the robber-protection plan works this way: dealing with matters like action on the settlements, borders, and assuring "maximal territorial contiguity" of the new Palestinian state are pushed into the future and will be contingent on satisfactory containment of violence and political reform in Palestine. So the main and almost exclusive burden of adjustment in the near term is not on Israel but on the victimized Palestinians. Having just been crushed and left devastated and impoverished by Sharon's army, with U.S. sanction, the Palestinians must "end violence, terrorism, and incitement through restructured and effective Palestinian security services." The Road Map only requires the Israelis to "withdraw from Palestinian areas occupied from September 28, 2000," and to freeze settlement activity. There is no mention of the wall, whose construction is daily expropriating more Palestinian land, or roads or water. There is no mention of East Jerusalem.
The failure to deal directly and immediately with these hard but crucial issues shows the Road Map to be a fraud. Right now, when Bush is at the peak of his powers, is precisely the time when such matters could be dealt with, if there was an intention to deal with them in a manner that would displease Sharon and company. In reality, Israel will never give up the major settlements and the wall except under serious pressure and threat, and the Bush administration will support its refusal. With the wall permitted, imprisoning many of the Palestinians in their steadily shrinking territory, this territory likely to be broken into non-contiguous segments, its people dependent on Israel for water and border access, and with only token armed forces, Palestine will be a Bantustan or series of Bantustans, at best. This has long been a Sharon objective (Gershom Gorenberg, "Road Map to Grand Apartheid? Ariel Sharon's South African Inspiration," The American Prospect, July 3, 2003), although his plan is not markedly different from Labor's Allon and successor plans. The Road Map statement that all their planned reforms will produce an "independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state" is dishonest.
The Road Map is well designed to allow interruptions in the move from phase to phase so that the later phases are never reached. Recall that the Oslo "peace process" also called for an end to Palestinian violence, which happened, but left final arrangements to a future agreement that never materialized. The U.S.-Israeli arrangements there permitted an accelerated ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories that led to the second intifada. There were always excuses for putting off a final agreement.
That will surely be true of the new Road Map. It does nothing to improve the tragic condition of the Palestinians for the foreseeable future except for a partial calling off of the IDF. The many victims of Israel will not be satisfied to wait indefinitely for justice, and there is good reason to believe that they will be made to suffer further as the wall gets built, roads are extended, and border and other harassments occur. They are still victims of an occupation, that serves the settlers and treats the Palestinians with roadblocks, barbed wire fences, bypasses, a "discrimination that is practiced every day, and every minute of every day...an alienated, burning insult…familiar to the blacks of South Africa, the blacks of the United States, and the Jews of Eastern Europe" (Amira Hass, "No end to the growing settlements insult," Haaretz, July 2, 2003).
The land grab continues every day also: hundreds of acres of Beit Eksa and Beit Sourig village land were even seized by Israeli officials for settlements on July 1, in flagrant violation of the new agreement (Chris McGreal, "Israel Defies Peace Plan With Land Grab on West Bank," Guardian July 2, 2003). There will likely be occasional acts of anti-Israel violence, and Ariel Sharon is a master at the art of provocation to produce reasons for "retaliation" and possible further ethnic cleansing. The Israeli press has featured at least half a dozen cases in the last three years where a prospective cease fire with the Palestinians was aborted by a Sharon-inspired "assassination" attempt. It will be a cakewalk for him to keep the pot boiling so that phases 2 and 3 of the Road Map are never reached.
The outlook remains grim. The Road Map's only clear design is to end Palestinian violence; that is, pacification in favor of the stronger party. It is an invitation to the Palestinians to surrender and leave their future in the kindly hands of Ariel Sharon and George Bush. This is not promising as Palestinian victimization has been too severe, the inducements offered for surrender are too slight and those kindly hands are not very forthcoming. We are in for further retail and wholesale terrorism, with uncertain, but not happy, future outcomes.
New York Times favorite Michael Ignatieff explained why the Serbs were ready to kill Albanians in Kosovo: "The reason is simple…only in Serbia is racial contempt an official ideology" (NYT, Nov. 21, 1999). This, however, is a blatant lie as Albanians have never been subjected to officially-sanctioned discrimination in Belgrade, and Milosevic and other high Serbian officials have never described Albanians as "lice" or "grasshoppers." But Ignatieff would never say that "racial contempt is an official ideology" in Israel, although the facts in that case would warrant such a statement. Lies regarding the official enemy; lies-by-silence on the racism of the beloved client, is standard mainstream media policy, and we can readily understand why Ignatieff was recently selected as a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine (and why he is head of a human rights center at Harvard University).
The phrase "ethnic cleansing" was used lavishly by the mainstream media to describe Serb policy in Kosovo, although this also was a lie: there was a brutal civil war during which the Albanians were often treated very harshly, and large numbers fled-many forced out-during the 78-day NATO bombing war in 1999. But they were never driven out to make way for Serb settlers, as Palestinians have been removed for Jewish settlement over many years and on a large scale. In fact, Israeli policy in expropriations, demolitions and removal provides a perfect model of ethnic cleansing-but the phrase is never applied to the Israeli case by U.S. reporters, pundits and editorial writers. The direct lie in the one case, lie-by-silence in the other, is absolutely standard media procedure.
Reference to international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention are also not permissible in mainstream media discussions of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Such references would be awkward because as an occupying power Israel is obligated to protect the Palestinians, and under the Fourth Geneva Convention , to which Israel and the United States are signatories, Israel is forbidden the taking over of land and displacing of the local inhabitants. In short, the settlements on the West Bank and Gaza and takeover of a large part of East Jerusalem are gross violations of international law. The solution for the Free Press is lie-by-silence.
One other issue off the media agenda is the decades-long U.S. government support for Israeli ethnic cleansing, in opposition to an almost unanimous global consensus, showing this country to be a pro-Israel protagonist rather than an "honest broker." The United States regularly vetoes any condemnation of Israel in the UN or any attempt to bring monitors into the area to protect the Palestinians from assaults by the powerful Israeli army. It has also armed Israel and given it massive resources to fund its military establishment, which has permitted and protected the settlements and the associated ethnic cleansing. The ideological bias in the U.S. media is so profound that anyone supplying arms to the Palestinians is supporting "terrorism," whereas the U.S. supplying arms to the ethnic-cleansing state that over the years has surely killed a dozen Palestinians for every Israeli killed is normalized as aiding "self defense." (The "crisis" in recent years results from the fact that that ratio has fallen to three to one.)
The root of the conflict is the occupation: its cruelties and oppression and steady expropriations and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in violation of international law. (Even in the 22 percent of Palestine left to the Palestinians after the 1967 war, by the end of the Oslo "peace process" in 2000, some 42 percent of the West Bank land and most of its water has been taken over by the Israelis and settlers; in Gaza, one third of the land was seized for the benefit of 7,000 settlers, leaving the remaining two-thirds for over a million Palestinians.) From these oppressions and expropriations arose a Palestinian resistance, that was largely nonviolent through the first intifada (1987-1991), during which few Israelis but over a thousand Palestinians were killed; but the resistance resorted to suicide bombers in the second intifada.
Virtually all independent and many Israeli analysts recognize that the suicide bombers reflect the "bottomless despair" of the Palestinians--to quote the words of former Shin Beth head Ami Ayalon--finally striking out in response to "a systematic process of demolition of Palestinian private and public property, and mass expropriation of Palestinian land on behalf of the settlers…[involving also] prolonged curfews, road-blocks, humiliations, beatings, military invasions of densely populated areas, detentions of thousands without trial under sub-human conditions, obstruction of access to work, medical care, schools and universities, and a host of other means" (quoting a recent Urgent Appeal signed by 153 Israeli academics, but unmentioned in the New York Times).
In short, Israeli "insecurity" has increased as a direct result of Israel's merciless and illegal ethnic cleansing that, of course, made for far greater Palestinian insecurity. But in the remarkable propaganda system of the United States there is no recognition of Palestinian insecurity-that word is reserved for the painful and serious, but far smaller, victimization of the people of the ethnic-cleansing state.
Most important, since the occupation and ethnic cleansing are normalized and their results largely suppressed, and the violations of international law ignored, the propaganda system is able to make the causal force in the violence the suicide bombers, who seemingly came out of nowhere in an irrational assault on the peace loving Sharon and Israeli people. This miracle of abortive history was concisely expressed by Paul Berman in his Terror and Liberalism, where he says: "Our current predicament was brought upon us by acts of suicide terrorism"-"we" had no "predicament" prior to those actions, which became a major phenomenon only in 2001! Berman traces the bombers to irrationality and Islam, and expresses amazement that anyone could attribute this development to Israeli oppression. This is amazing nonsense and self-deception, but it is entirely understandable that Berman, like Ignatieff, is a New York Times and mainstream media favorite. He expresses well the deep-seated racist and pro-ethnic cleansing ideology that dominates the Free Press.
.In considering the meaning of the road map we should also consider what its nominal author, George Bush, has done in the past two years leading up to its issuance. Has he shown any sign of siding with the weaker party, sympathizing with its terrible conditions, strengthening it militarily or politically, and recognizing the need for the introduction of justice for the victims of occupation and ethnic cleansing? Quite the contrary. He and his administration quickly welcomed Sharon as a "man of peace" and partner in the "war on terror," terror meaning retail terror as in suicide bombings. Sharon's killings, destruction and demolitions of homes and civilian infrastructure, as in the past, are not wholesale terror, but presumably only "retaliation" (i.e., acceptable violence). Bush has only been angry at suicide bombings, not at the more numerous deaths and calamitous conditions brought by Sharon. Correspondingly, the repeated and urgent call by Bush has been for Palestinian restraint and an end to suicide bombings.
Meanwhile, Bush gave Sharon carte blanche in 2001 to invade the West Bank and Gaza cities and engage in virtually unlimited violence against the civilian population of Palestine. He has vetoed any international effort at monitoring or even investigating Sharon's murderous assaults in Jenin and other civilian sites. He has not interfered in the least with the Sharon government's vast destruction of Palestine's civilian infrastructure, its systematic assassinations, its costly and cruel closures, its numerous demolitions of Palestinian homes and markets, or its targeting of journalists and human rights workers. He has sanctioned the beggaring of the Palestinian population and destruction of the facilities necessary for a viable state.
Bush has also not complained about the numerous settlements established on the West Bank over the last two years, or at the construction of a massive wall within Palestine that has deprived many thousands of Palestinians of homes and/or means of livelihood. This wall will constitute a virtual prison surrounding the shrunken territory left for the Palestinians.
In short, Bush has given tacit approval to the Israeli establishment of more "facts on the ground" that have advanced Israeli ethnic cleansing and expanded and intensified deprivation and injustice to the Palestinians. His policies in the two years prior to the announcement of the road map were therefore diametrically opposed to those that would have addressed the issues in the conflict, and, in fact, they greatly reduced the possibility of a just settlement. This is just what we might have expected, given both the composition and base of the Bush team and the nature of the "war on terror." Bush's leading advisers in this area, including Wolfowitz, Abrams, Feith, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bolton are pro-Likud and pro-Sharon hardliners, and the Christian Right support base openly supports Israeli ethnic cleansing. The "war on terror" is a war of the terrorizing strong against anybody who stands in the way, who therefore is named terrorist. The Palestinians, resisting an ethnic-cleansing process long supported by the United States, automatically qualify as targets.
The Road Map: Another "International Community" Copout
These are essential background facts for consideration of the "Road Map." They tell us in advance that a road map offered by this protagonist and close ally of Israel, who has already helped worsen the situation, will surely not be designed to bring justice to resolving the conflict and is therefore unlikely to end the violence. Why then bother with a road map? One reason is that the United States has reserved to itself the right to intervene in this conflict, and most of the world is highly critical of the U.S. support of Israeli repression and failure to bring peace to the area. Bush may have believed that his carte blanche to Sharon to assault Palestine would bring "peace" through wholesale terror and effective "pacification," but despite the massive destruction and pain inflicted, the victims continue to resist.
A second and related reason for the Road Map is that Bush made promises to Blair and others to do something constructive to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. A third consideration is that his political fortunes at home demand some action on this front. He has to be able to say that he tried, even if the effort fails and once more he must support Israel against the "terrorists."
The Road Map was sent by Kofi Annan to the Security Council on May 7, under the title "A performance-based roadmap to a permanent two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Kofi Annan's cover letter claims that the Road Map was prepared by the "Quartet," the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the UN. But the document reflects the exact biases that we would anticipate from U.S. authorship, so that here, as in the performance of Annan, the UN, and the Security Council in the "diplomacy" leading up to the U.S. attack on Iraq, the "international community" has deferred to Uncle Chutzpah in dealing with an issue in which Chutzpah should be disqualified for bias (see my "Uncle Chutzpah, on a Rampage, Has 'Momentum'," ZNet Commentary, June 25, 2003)..
Recall that Israel's settlements, roads for settlers only, and abusive treatments of the Palestinians have been in violation of scores of UN Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention. You might think that a UN-sponsored plan would start with these primary violations, which have not only involved systematic Israeli violence in expropriations, demolitions, removals and abuses of persons but are also the root cause of Palestinian violence against Israelis. Furthermore, a first requirement in assuring respect for the law, as well as obtaining justice, is that the law violators not be allowed the fruits of their illegal actions. And if Palestinian violence will only be surely ended if the land robbers are not allowed to keep Palestinian land stolen since 1967, it should be obvious that getting all the settlers out should be the first and highest priority. But just as the United States has protected Israel's ethnic cleansing in the past, it aligns itself with Israel now in supporting the robber's rights to his loot. This perspective dominates the Road Map.
As reflected in the Road Map, the robber-protection plan works this way: dealing with matters like action on the settlements, borders, and assuring "maximal territorial contiguity" of the new Palestinian state are pushed into the future and will be contingent on satisfactory containment of violence and political reform in Palestine. So the main and almost exclusive burden of adjustment in the near term is not on Israel but on the victimized Palestinians. Having just been crushed and left devastated and impoverished by Sharon's army, with U.S. sanction, the Palestinians must "end violence, terrorism, and incitement through restructured and effective Palestinian security services." The Road Map only requires the Israelis to "withdraw from Palestinian areas occupied from September 28, 2000," and to freeze settlement activity. There is no mention of the wall, whose construction is daily expropriating more Palestinian land, or roads or water. There is no mention of East Jerusalem.
The failure to deal directly and immediately with these hard but crucial issues shows the Road Map to be a fraud. Right now, when Bush is at the peak of his powers, is precisely the time when such matters could be dealt with, if there was an intention to deal with them in a manner that would displease Sharon and company. In reality, Israel will never give up the major settlements and the wall except under serious pressure and threat, and the Bush administration will support its refusal. With the wall permitted, imprisoning many of the Palestinians in their steadily shrinking territory, this territory likely to be broken into non-contiguous segments, its people dependent on Israel for water and border access, and with only token armed forces, Palestine will be a Bantustan or series of Bantustans, at best. This has long been a Sharon objective (Gershom Gorenberg, "Road Map to Grand Apartheid? Ariel Sharon's South African Inspiration," The American Prospect, July 3, 2003), although his plan is not markedly different from Labor's Allon and successor plans. The Road Map statement that all their planned reforms will produce an "independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state" is dishonest.
The Road Map is well designed to allow interruptions in the move from phase to phase so that the later phases are never reached. Recall that the Oslo "peace process" also called for an end to Palestinian violence, which happened, but left final arrangements to a future agreement that never materialized. The U.S.-Israeli arrangements there permitted an accelerated ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories that led to the second intifada. There were always excuses for putting off a final agreement.
That will surely be true of the new Road Map. It does nothing to improve the tragic condition of the Palestinians for the foreseeable future except for a partial calling off of the IDF. The many victims of Israel will not be satisfied to wait indefinitely for justice, and there is good reason to believe that they will be made to suffer further as the wall gets built, roads are extended, and border and other harassments occur. They are still victims of an occupation, that serves the settlers and treats the Palestinians with roadblocks, barbed wire fences, bypasses, a "discrimination that is practiced every day, and every minute of every day...an alienated, burning insult…familiar to the blacks of South Africa, the blacks of the United States, and the Jews of Eastern Europe" (Amira Hass, "No end to the growing settlements insult," Haaretz, July 2, 2003).
The land grab continues every day also: hundreds of acres of Beit Eksa and Beit Sourig village land were even seized by Israeli officials for settlements on July 1, in flagrant violation of the new agreement (Chris McGreal, "Israel Defies Peace Plan With Land Grab on West Bank," Guardian July 2, 2003). There will likely be occasional acts of anti-Israel violence, and Ariel Sharon is a master at the art of provocation to produce reasons for "retaliation" and possible further ethnic cleansing. The Israeli press has featured at least half a dozen cases in the last three years where a prospective cease fire with the Palestinians was aborted by a Sharon-inspired "assassination" attempt. It will be a cakewalk for him to keep the pot boiling so that phases 2 and 3 of the Road Map are never reached.
The outlook remains grim. The Road Map's only clear design is to end Palestinian violence; that is, pacification in favor of the stronger party. It is an invitation to the Palestinians to surrender and leave their future in the kindly hands of Ariel Sharon and George Bush. This is not promising as Palestinian victimization has been too severe, the inducements offered for surrender are too slight and those kindly hands are not very forthcoming. We are in for further retail and wholesale terrorism, with uncertain, but not happy, future outcomes.
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This is definitely an excellent, informative article and well-worth reading.
An article by Edward S. Herman! How totally grand!!!
Can't wait to read it later today. The man is SO KNOWLEDGEABLE!!!!
Can't wait to read it later today. The man is SO KNOWLEDGEABLE!!!!
Did any of you out there read this article?
What are you waiting for? Afraid you might learn something?
The next time some dysfunctional here wants to yell and scream at me, just remember that Edward S. Herman shares my views.
The treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the US is beyond mere evil. It's way beyond that. I suggest the damn road map be abolished now. It's just another farce in the midst of many.
As I've stated here before the only ones being asked to do anything here are the Palestinians. They must stop attacking Israel. So why the hell isn't Israel asked to stop attacking .them? Stealing their lands? Stealilng their water? Destroying their livelihood?
Oh, the "terrorists". Like damn hell! Another excuse by Israel to legitimize their murder of the Palestinians, just as it's been doing for the past fifty plus years.
UN resolutions be damned. International law?? Nah, doesn't apply, for God's sakes. As Mr. Herman said even as late as July 1st more settlements were going up. I mean, can you possibiy believe it? How is this terrorist state getting away with it? Opps, purely rhetorical question there.
Boy, I hope I'm around on Judgment Day!!!
What are you waiting for? Afraid you might learn something?
The next time some dysfunctional here wants to yell and scream at me, just remember that Edward S. Herman shares my views.
The treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the US is beyond mere evil. It's way beyond that. I suggest the damn road map be abolished now. It's just another farce in the midst of many.
As I've stated here before the only ones being asked to do anything here are the Palestinians. They must stop attacking Israel. So why the hell isn't Israel asked to stop attacking .them? Stealing their lands? Stealilng their water? Destroying their livelihood?
Oh, the "terrorists". Like damn hell! Another excuse by Israel to legitimize their murder of the Palestinians, just as it's been doing for the past fifty plus years.
UN resolutions be damned. International law?? Nah, doesn't apply, for God's sakes. As Mr. Herman said even as late as July 1st more settlements were going up. I mean, can you possibiy believe it? How is this terrorist state getting away with it? Opps, purely rhetorical question there.
Boy, I hope I'm around on Judgment Day!!!
Palestinian State with Reasonable Borders is needed now, before Israel is allowed to do more damage....
U.S. do the right thing now, Show the world that you really are for justice for all, Justice Freedom and Peace for the Palestinian People.
West Bank and Gaza are only 22% of what is TODAY, Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE MAP IN THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
The Orange areas are Israeli settlements in the already small 22% that is West Bank and Gaza. What kind of carved up mess will the Palestinian State be unless all the settlements are removed (which will probably never happen) or just make the settlements part of the New Palestinian State (which can happen right now)??
CLICK HERE > http://mondediplo.com/maps/IMG/artoff3260.jpg
For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
(MAHMOUD ABBAS HAS SAID MORE THEN ONCE THAT HE WANTS U.S. OBSERVERS THERE, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY, THAT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS REALLY OCCURRING WILL BE BELIEVED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.)
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
U.S. do the right thing now, Show the world that you really are for justice for all, Justice Freedom and Peace for the Palestinian People.
West Bank and Gaza are only 22% of what is TODAY, Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE MAP IN THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
The Orange areas are Israeli settlements in the already small 22% that is West Bank and Gaza. What kind of carved up mess will the Palestinian State be unless all the settlements are removed (which will probably never happen) or just make the settlements part of the New Palestinian State (which can happen right now)??
CLICK HERE > http://mondediplo.com/maps/IMG/artoff3260.jpg
For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
(MAHMOUD ABBAS HAS SAID MORE THEN ONCE THAT HE WANTS U.S. OBSERVERS THERE, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY, THAT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS REALLY OCCURRING WILL BE BELIEVED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.)
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
As you're aware I have always been a staunch supporter of your particular solution to the CONFLICT, and I think it's far far more appropriate than any road map that caters only to Israel's demands.
However, my friend, there is no way I can support or accept what is currently being put forth by the so-called consensus of the UN, Europe, Russia, and the US. It's not really that at all. It's the US once again catering to what Israel wants. Otherwise, why doesn't the EU, Russia, and the UN have delegations in Israel and the Territories?
There is no consideration given to the current situation of the Palestinians. Is this what the so-called "peace" will be? As Sharon said on Christmas Day past, "a totally unarmed state with reduced borders". If any more of the land on which Palestinians have resided is stolen, what is left?
And that's what this war criminal is aiming at. Under the guise of accepting the peace plan, new settlements are being erected in flagrant violation of the UN Resolutions, the Oslo Agreements, etc., etc.
People can turn around and misinterpret any of these earlier attempts at peace for the benefit of Israel, but the fact remains. The rest of the world is not buildling settlements and roads in the Territories. It's Israel, doing what it does best - whatever it wants - regardless of laws and agreements, etc.
What is going to happen re the settlements, the myraid of roads criss-crossing the villages and towns of the Palestinian people? What is going to happen to their livelihood? How are they supposed to live normal lives in their own "state" when they are surrounded by enclaves of guarded Israeli (???) settlements just as they are now? How can anyone call that a "state"?
It's so totally despicable, abhorant that the world will allow this to happen.
I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm going to be writing my government member as well as our Prime Minister to find out what we are doing about it.
People around the world should do likewise. And if our Governments are going to sit back and do nothing, then we shall get out there and march in protest, make our voices heard, and demand nothing less than a "just and dignified peace".
It's way past the time for the suffering of the Palestinian peoples to end. It's way past the time for them to be treated as the human beings they are, not as second class citizens, and in some cases described by some Israelis and their supporters as "subhuman" amongst other derogatory adjectives.
You either have a just and dignified peace or you don't have any. To say or suggest otherwise is continuing to accept the Israeli side of this situation as opposed to the Palestinian side.
If Sharon wants to make "painful concessions", let him damn well suffer, and ensure he makes them. He can start by uprooting ALL the illegal settlements, illegal roadways, and the damn apartheid wall that's only built not because of terrorists, but to ensure more land appropriation from what's left of the Territories.
I sincerely hope and pray that this time someone is courageous enough to do it right. Sadly, I have my doubts. Courage against Israel hasn't been the strong point in international circles because, of course, the minute someone makes an obvious truth the attacks start, the accusations, etc. We know it well.
Until such time as Israel is treated the same as any other country, nothing will change. This bleeding nonsense has gone on long enough.
Either Israel behaves in an ethical, moral, and human fashion, following the rules of international behaviour, or it will be condemned by the international community just as any other rogue state is and should be.
The old "everyone is lying except us" refrain has had its day, and intelligent people everywhere are heartily SICK of it. The time is now for the people of Palestine to receive the dignity, respect, and homeland that they've been deprived off for WAY TOO LONG. Waiting another several years is a stalling tactic, nothing else.
It's too bad, Angel, that you are not the one appointed to deal with this issue! We'll have to wait a while and see what happens.
Angie
However, my friend, there is no way I can support or accept what is currently being put forth by the so-called consensus of the UN, Europe, Russia, and the US. It's not really that at all. It's the US once again catering to what Israel wants. Otherwise, why doesn't the EU, Russia, and the UN have delegations in Israel and the Territories?
There is no consideration given to the current situation of the Palestinians. Is this what the so-called "peace" will be? As Sharon said on Christmas Day past, "a totally unarmed state with reduced borders". If any more of the land on which Palestinians have resided is stolen, what is left?
And that's what this war criminal is aiming at. Under the guise of accepting the peace plan, new settlements are being erected in flagrant violation of the UN Resolutions, the Oslo Agreements, etc., etc.
People can turn around and misinterpret any of these earlier attempts at peace for the benefit of Israel, but the fact remains. The rest of the world is not buildling settlements and roads in the Territories. It's Israel, doing what it does best - whatever it wants - regardless of laws and agreements, etc.
What is going to happen re the settlements, the myraid of roads criss-crossing the villages and towns of the Palestinian people? What is going to happen to their livelihood? How are they supposed to live normal lives in their own "state" when they are surrounded by enclaves of guarded Israeli (???) settlements just as they are now? How can anyone call that a "state"?
It's so totally despicable, abhorant that the world will allow this to happen.
I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm going to be writing my government member as well as our Prime Minister to find out what we are doing about it.
People around the world should do likewise. And if our Governments are going to sit back and do nothing, then we shall get out there and march in protest, make our voices heard, and demand nothing less than a "just and dignified peace".
It's way past the time for the suffering of the Palestinian peoples to end. It's way past the time for them to be treated as the human beings they are, not as second class citizens, and in some cases described by some Israelis and their supporters as "subhuman" amongst other derogatory adjectives.
You either have a just and dignified peace or you don't have any. To say or suggest otherwise is continuing to accept the Israeli side of this situation as opposed to the Palestinian side.
If Sharon wants to make "painful concessions", let him damn well suffer, and ensure he makes them. He can start by uprooting ALL the illegal settlements, illegal roadways, and the damn apartheid wall that's only built not because of terrorists, but to ensure more land appropriation from what's left of the Territories.
I sincerely hope and pray that this time someone is courageous enough to do it right. Sadly, I have my doubts. Courage against Israel hasn't been the strong point in international circles because, of course, the minute someone makes an obvious truth the attacks start, the accusations, etc. We know it well.
Until such time as Israel is treated the same as any other country, nothing will change. This bleeding nonsense has gone on long enough.
Either Israel behaves in an ethical, moral, and human fashion, following the rules of international behaviour, or it will be condemned by the international community just as any other rogue state is and should be.
The old "everyone is lying except us" refrain has had its day, and intelligent people everywhere are heartily SICK of it. The time is now for the people of Palestine to receive the dignity, respect, and homeland that they've been deprived off for WAY TOO LONG. Waiting another several years is a stalling tactic, nothing else.
It's too bad, Angel, that you are not the one appointed to deal with this issue! We'll have to wait a while and see what happens.
Angie
Because the Settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are situated in all the different areas in question is precisely why there should be no negotiation on land, all of the West Bank and All of Gaza needs to be part of Palestine. It is the only way that Palestine can have reasonable borders and as many people know by now this area in question (West Bank and Gaza) is only 22% of what is TODAY (I say Today because some People insist on going back to when West Bank was part of Jordan and Gaza was part of Egypt, but by going back in History that way, then we could go back and say that before 1947 there was no Israel, etc, etc.) Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
If Israel with 5,000,000 or so people can have 78% of the land for their State…..
Why can the 4,000,000 or so people not have only 22% (the Whole of West Bank and Gaza) for their State???
The only negotiation that is reasonable is that the Right of Return might not be allowed.
The places that the People might want to return to has already turned into Israel homes and businesses but the Refugees should be helped to settle somewhere in the New Palestinian State. Just like the Israeli Settlers who would be living in the new State of Palestine can be helped to move into the State of Israel (if they choose to move there).
Without some common sense and reasoning, There will never be Peace….
If Israel with 5,000,000 or so people can have 78% of the land for their State…..
Why can the 4,000,000 or so people not have only 22% (the Whole of West Bank and Gaza) for their State???
The only negotiation that is reasonable is that the Right of Return might not be allowed.
The places that the People might want to return to has already turned into Israel homes and businesses but the Refugees should be helped to settle somewhere in the New Palestinian State. Just like the Israeli Settlers who would be living in the new State of Palestine can be helped to move into the State of Israel (if they choose to move there).
Without some common sense and reasoning, There will never be Peace….
The majority of NGO workers and members of the Press "accidently" gunned-down by the IOF were - shot in the head.
Many of the children "accidently" gunned-down by the IOF - were shot in the head.
"Real" accidents do not "normally" have a common thread.
Many of the children "accidently" gunned-down by the IOF - were shot in the head.
"Real" accidents do not "normally" have a common thread.
Have you also noticed that when Israel dropped a bomb in the middle of the night on the residence of a Hamas leader, Salah Shehadeh it was, according to Peres, "self defence"?????
Aha!!
Bet that the attention of anyone looking at this thread!
I SIMPLY MUST FIND AN UP TO THE MINUTE ADDRESS FOR MY DEAR URI AVNERY. CAN SOMEONE HELP????
Bet that the attention of anyone looking at this thread!
I SIMPLY MUST FIND AN UP TO THE MINUTE ADDRESS FOR MY DEAR URI AVNERY. CAN SOMEONE HELP????
I've responded to your kind info in another thread. Was this mentioned in Uri's News and Articles that I have as my home page? (See my mentally beating myself up in that one!)
Yes - look over at the left side of the page... see the "@" symbol?
I will never live this down! And my home page yet!!!
Didn't even realize that @ could be remotely referring to anythingl. Just thought it was an inconsequental part of the site if I thought about it at all, and I didn't.
Thanks again!
Didn't even realize that @ could be remotely referring to anythingl. Just thought it was an inconsequental part of the site if I thought about it at all, and I didn't.
Thanks again!
If it is any consolation... I didn't "grok" immediately either.
I've sent off a wee note, hoping to sound not too much the huge fan I am, but it's difficult to stop being forever impressed with him. I mean, he's 80 years old in a few weeks, "crossed the lines" in '82 in poor Beirut to meet Arafat, causing some idiots in the government to demand he be tried for treason. If you've glanced at his bio, you'll see what he suffered over his lengthy career as a journalist to get the truth out there.
I love him dearly for his great forward thinking, his vision, his courage, and his ability to write. He wants a "dignified and just peace', and so do I. We should all want it. He's advocated a Palestinian state separate and apart since 1948!!! Why hasn't someone listened to him?
Sorry, didn't mean to go on here about dear Uri, but it's so absolutely astonishing that he's kept up the good fight for over 65 years despite the vilification from his own country.
And thus there's no reason that I can't do likewise.
Will advise if I hear a response! If I live through the shock, that is!!
I love him dearly for his great forward thinking, his vision, his courage, and his ability to write. He wants a "dignified and just peace', and so do I. We should all want it. He's advocated a Palestinian state separate and apart since 1948!!! Why hasn't someone listened to him?
Sorry, didn't mean to go on here about dear Uri, but it's so absolutely astonishing that he's kept up the good fight for over 65 years despite the vilification from his own country.
And thus there's no reason that I can't do likewise.
Will advise if I hear a response! If I live through the shock, that is!!
Cone on, darlin', you sound ready to jump his bones. Respect is one thing, fawning lust is another. And you're there.
Have you been living in the gutter all your life??
Required one of those brown paper bags.
Angie is like a new devotee to some cult running around telling us how godly all of her leaders are.
no room for critical thinking here.
Angie is like a new devotee to some cult running around telling us how godly all of her leaders are.
no room for critical thinking here.
No!
It's called: Eyes opened - Moral responsablity assumed!
It's called: Eyes opened - Moral responsablity assumed!
My views today, Scottie, and my views from time immemorial have been the same.
Now what you mean by your few lines above is anyone's guess, but at this point in the early a.m. it's not something I have time to be bothered with analyzing.
Now what you mean by your few lines above is anyone's guess, but at this point in the early a.m. it's not something I have time to be bothered with analyzing.
As I understand it, until recently (take your pick: 1948 and/or 1967) the term "Palestine" referred to a territory rather than an (Arab) nation, and all groups within that territory, whether Jew, Christian or Arab could have claimed the name "Palestinian", but none did, as it is more common to refer to oneself in cultural terms, defined by a common language, cuisine, religion, and/or national or ethnic alliance.
Moreover, based on continuous presence, however small, the Christian enclave has been there significantly longer than the Arab/Islamic faction, and the Jews have them beat by thousands of years.
And though I don't expect this will change anyone's mind, but instead serve as something more akin to
"fighting words", especially considering the type of web site this is, my reading of both Israeli and Arab/Palestinian renderings of the situation leave me inclined to think that the Israelis are more respectful and cognizant of Palestinian rights than the Palestinians are of theirs. And to make matters worse, the Palestinians are more prone to (as a matter of policy as opposed to "uncondoned" actions)
murder and lying,. These behaviors do not strengthen their position in my mind; I consider these actions,especially when taken beyond the bounds of hypocrisy that we all stumble into now and then, as repugnant, and, if any readers are aware of the source to which Jesus Christ ascribed murder and lying (etc.),\
then they would understand why I fling the term "satanic" back in the teeth of those who accuse the Israelis and U.S. of embodying that concept, not that as national entities we are not undeserving of the term, especially in view of the increased national ditching(s) of Biblical standards and the underlying respect for God and his word that would serve us better.
I think I will close with a few more words from Jesus Christ. "It is not what someone eats that defiles...that just passes through the body... it is what comes out of a person's heart that defiles!"
Moreover, based on continuous presence, however small, the Christian enclave has been there significantly longer than the Arab/Islamic faction, and the Jews have them beat by thousands of years.
And though I don't expect this will change anyone's mind, but instead serve as something more akin to
"fighting words", especially considering the type of web site this is, my reading of both Israeli and Arab/Palestinian renderings of the situation leave me inclined to think that the Israelis are more respectful and cognizant of Palestinian rights than the Palestinians are of theirs. And to make matters worse, the Palestinians are more prone to (as a matter of policy as opposed to "uncondoned" actions)
murder and lying,. These behaviors do not strengthen their position in my mind; I consider these actions,especially when taken beyond the bounds of hypocrisy that we all stumble into now and then, as repugnant, and, if any readers are aware of the source to which Jesus Christ ascribed murder and lying (etc.),\
then they would understand why I fling the term "satanic" back in the teeth of those who accuse the Israelis and U.S. of embodying that concept, not that as national entities we are not undeserving of the term, especially in view of the increased national ditching(s) of Biblical standards and the underlying respect for God and his word that would serve us better.
I think I will close with a few more words from Jesus Christ. "It is not what someone eats that defiles...that just passes through the body... it is what comes out of a person's heart that defiles!"
--"the Palestinians are more prone to ... murder and lying"
Oh yeah. That's not racist.
Despite your twisting, the fact remains that Palestinian Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in peace until European Zionists arrived there with their idea of an ethnically pure Jewish state -- which meant ethnically cleansing Christians and Palestinians and oppressing those few who remained.
And the worst thing about this is that we pay for it and very, very few know the truth. But the truth is getting, slowly but surely. And eventually Palestinians will have justice even if it means dragging the Israeli settlers kicking and screaming out of the Occupied Territories.
Oh yeah. That's not racist.
Despite your twisting, the fact remains that Palestinian Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in peace until European Zionists arrived there with their idea of an ethnically pure Jewish state -- which meant ethnically cleansing Christians and Palestinians and oppressing those few who remained.
And the worst thing about this is that we pay for it and very, very few know the truth. But the truth is getting, slowly but surely. And eventually Palestinians will have justice even if it means dragging the Israeli settlers kicking and screaming out of the Occupied Territories.
Palestine would be declaired international criminals
we all need to e-mail the un and demand that Palestine be desolved for the good of mankind.
we all need to e-mail the un and demand that Palestine be desolved for the good of mankind.
If I actually understood what you were saying I would respond. Since your Zionist ranting is senseless anyway, I'll just let it be so you can embarrass yourself with it.
Is the following article worth the Wrath of zionists who have threatened to "kill of" the publisher of the piece?
For more information:
http://www.rense.com/general38/zthreat.htm
The only reason this story has presented a "problem" is because it's about Israel. Were it written about any other country in the world, no one would blink an eye.
And that's the tragedy of this world right now.
And that's the tragedy of this world right now.
It is not a tragedy,
It's not?
ABSOLUTELY NOT`
This is the most damming thing about you angie
"My views today, Scottie, and my views from time immemorial have been the same. "
Facts, education, events in the world arena, personal experience.. nope none of that counts for angie because she has some sort of a "faith".
You have basically said it yourself.. if you are right it is only by coincidence.
"My views today, Scottie, and my views from time immemorial have been the same. "
Facts, education, events in the world arena, personal experience.. nope none of that counts for angie because she has some sort of a "faith".
You have basically said it yourself.. if you are right it is only by coincidence.
Are you the same Scottie who makes an idiot out of himself every day over at LA-IMC?
Angie means her thirst for Justice by searching for the facts on the ground is constant.
You are reffering to yourself because no matter what irrefutable facts on the ground there are which aren't favorable to your cult, you are never swayed by them but remain the constant defender of the indefensible.
You are reffering to yourself because no matter what irrefutable facts on the ground there are which aren't favorable to your cult, you are never swayed by them but remain the constant defender of the indefensible.
What a relief someone understood what I was saying!!!
Perhaps for the benefit ot Scottie we should all revert to kindergarten chatter, hey?
Perhaps for the benefit ot Scottie we should all revert to kindergarten chatter, hey?
?
you already made that post somwhere else.
Me
she may have meant that in this instance for all that I know but she has more specificaly stated that her opinion is unchangable elsewhere. therefore there is no need for you to make comments that just emphasise your lack of information.
"You are reffering to yourself because no matter what irrefutable facts on the ground there are which aren't favorable to your cult, you are never swayed by them but remain the constant defender of the indefensible."
You again point out your ignorance. Try to catch up.
Angie
"What a relief someone understood what I was saying!!!"
-As I said I was refering to YOU not necercerily what you were saying.
Even though you did say
"My views today, Scottie, and my views from time immemorial have been the same. " when we as usual were discussing views on israel.
as opposed to your Method
If you meant method you just used the wrong words, (and therefore it is not surprising if only one person understoood you). but most likely is that you are trying to cover up your own contradictions.
. refer to the last time we discussed this issue and you basically said your opinion was unchangable. It is sad that you have to spend so much time denying your own words.
you already made that post somwhere else.
Me
she may have meant that in this instance for all that I know but she has more specificaly stated that her opinion is unchangable elsewhere. therefore there is no need for you to make comments that just emphasise your lack of information.
"You are reffering to yourself because no matter what irrefutable facts on the ground there are which aren't favorable to your cult, you are never swayed by them but remain the constant defender of the indefensible."
You again point out your ignorance. Try to catch up.
Angie
"What a relief someone understood what I was saying!!!"
-As I said I was refering to YOU not necercerily what you were saying.
Even though you did say
"My views today, Scottie, and my views from time immemorial have been the same. " when we as usual were discussing views on israel.
as opposed to your Method
If you meant method you just used the wrong words, (and therefore it is not surprising if only one person understoood you). but most likely is that you are trying to cover up your own contradictions.
. refer to the last time we discussed this issue and you basically said your opinion was unchangable. It is sad that you have to spend so much time denying your own words.
Very quietly, Scottie, listen up because I don't intend to say this to you again.
My position on the situation in the middle east has not changed today, yesterday, last year, five years ago. Now I don't know what you consider contradictions in anything I say (said) or anything else you are saying, but I want Israel out of the Occupied Territories, I want a just and dignified peace, I want a separate and distinct state, standing alone longside Israel with its own confirmed and recognized borders, and I want reparation for the decades of horrors inflicted on the Palestinian peoples by the occupying force.
Can I make myself any clearer? I don't intend to.
My position on the situation in the middle east has not changed today, yesterday, last year, five years ago. Now I don't know what you consider contradictions in anything I say (said) or anything else you are saying, but I want Israel out of the Occupied Territories, I want a just and dignified peace, I want a separate and distinct state, standing alone longside Israel with its own confirmed and recognized borders, and I want reparation for the decades of horrors inflicted on the Palestinian peoples by the occupying force.
Can I make myself any clearer? I don't intend to.
"My position on the situation in the middle east has not changed today, yesterday, last year, five years ago. Now I don't know what you consider contradictions in anything I say (said) or anything else you are saying, but I want Israel out of the Occupied Territories, I want a just and dignified peace, I want a separate and distinct state, standing alone longside Israel with its own confirmed and recognized borders, and I want reparation for the decades of horrors inflicted on the Palestinian peoples by the occupying force."
Thank you for that but only the evil zionist in JA's head rejects that out of hand.
Well unless you are stupid you would know that we all agree on that even the reparations part is OK since palestine is "piss poor" (if you ignore arafat) and israel could aford to throw some money their way if it got this damn thing over and done with totally irrespective of whether that is fair or not. (although the wording of the reason for the payment would of course be different)
However you have adressed the "easy questions". even sharon agrees on those. What we (just about everyone on the right from sharon to KL to me) want is and end to terrorism at least at the same time as the end to the "occupation" together with a credible promise to stop terrorism into the forseeable future. we also want the arab states to recognise israel and its right to exist within the negotiated boarders. It would also be nice if for the palistinians sake if the PLO ceased to be a corupt despotism and they stoped teaching hatred of israel in their schools and mosques. etc etc
If the only difference between our points of view is "we want the palistinians to stop killing the jews" i would say we are on pretty safe moral ground.
Thank you for that but only the evil zionist in JA's head rejects that out of hand.
Well unless you are stupid you would know that we all agree on that even the reparations part is OK since palestine is "piss poor" (if you ignore arafat) and israel could aford to throw some money their way if it got this damn thing over and done with totally irrespective of whether that is fair or not. (although the wording of the reason for the payment would of course be different)
However you have adressed the "easy questions". even sharon agrees on those. What we (just about everyone on the right from sharon to KL to me) want is and end to terrorism at least at the same time as the end to the "occupation" together with a credible promise to stop terrorism into the forseeable future. we also want the arab states to recognise israel and its right to exist within the negotiated boarders. It would also be nice if for the palistinians sake if the PLO ceased to be a corupt despotism and they stoped teaching hatred of israel in their schools and mosques. etc etc
If the only difference between our points of view is "we want the palistinians to stop killing the jews" i would say we are on pretty safe moral ground.
"since palestine is "piss poor" and israel could aford to throw some money their way if it got this damn thing over and done with totally irrespective of whether that is fair or not. "
What are you talking about, ha... it is not your money that you will throw away, it the American tax payers money that you will "donate" to the Palestinians.
It is the zionist occupation which has rendered Palestine "piss poor" and we fund it to the tune of 10 billion dollars a year!
We will also bail them out, against your and other cult members wishes...
We will also bail them out, against your and other cult members wishes...
First of all, leave JA out of this. I've noted twice in the last few minutes in posts directed to me, you've dragged my friend into the mix.
And your great comment "unless you're stupid" blah, blah. A few days ago you inquired as to whether I've ever taken an IQ test.
So "even Sharon" agrees???
Let me tell you something, Scottie. Sharon agrees on nothing. Nothing at all. He's got no desire now, or never did, to give the Palestinian peoples freedom.
Under the guise right now of accepting the so-called road map, he's still buildling settlements. What does that tell you?
It tells me that he is the lying war criminal we've always known him as. I'll give him another few days, and he'll be accusing Arafat or someone else of trying to undermine the peace process, which he is blatantly ignoring himself with the settlements. But it's always so much easier to blame the other side when that side is the Palestinians.
Do you seriously think for a moment - FOR A DAMN MOMENT - that this Government is going to remotely give the Palestinian peoples a real state? A state with its own borders, a state that will stand alone, separate and distinct from Israel? Think again.
Have you - and when I say "you" I mean the multitude of you - ever considered that Palestinian peoples would like nothing more than to see the end of the state terror Israel has been using against them for decades? Oh, it's so easy to say make the Palestinians give up "terror". It's a two-way street. No one does terror better than Israel.
My idea of peace does not concur with yours (and by 'yours" , again, I mean the multitude of you). Because, you see, I want a just and dignified peace.
And if I had more time I'd certainly (and I will in the next few days) expound on my vision for the area. However, one thing astonishes me. How "we" became Sharon, kL, you et al.
Sharon? .
And your great comment "unless you're stupid" blah, blah. A few days ago you inquired as to whether I've ever taken an IQ test.
So "even Sharon" agrees???
Let me tell you something, Scottie. Sharon agrees on nothing. Nothing at all. He's got no desire now, or never did, to give the Palestinian peoples freedom.
Under the guise right now of accepting the so-called road map, he's still buildling settlements. What does that tell you?
It tells me that he is the lying war criminal we've always known him as. I'll give him another few days, and he'll be accusing Arafat or someone else of trying to undermine the peace process, which he is blatantly ignoring himself with the settlements. But it's always so much easier to blame the other side when that side is the Palestinians.
Do you seriously think for a moment - FOR A DAMN MOMENT - that this Government is going to remotely give the Palestinian peoples a real state? A state with its own borders, a state that will stand alone, separate and distinct from Israel? Think again.
Have you - and when I say "you" I mean the multitude of you - ever considered that Palestinian peoples would like nothing more than to see the end of the state terror Israel has been using against them for decades? Oh, it's so easy to say make the Palestinians give up "terror". It's a two-way street. No one does terror better than Israel.
My idea of peace does not concur with yours (and by 'yours" , again, I mean the multitude of you). Because, you see, I want a just and dignified peace.
And if I had more time I'd certainly (and I will in the next few days) expound on my vision for the area. However, one thing astonishes me. How "we" became Sharon, kL, you et al.
Sharon? .
Angie the scapegoating has begun.
"What are you talking about, ha... it is not your money that you will throw away, it the American tax payers money that you will "donate" to the Palestinians."
hmm ok I have no right since Im not an american.. ok the israelis can keep their money until you say its ok..
unbelievable.
"It is the zionist occupation which has rendered Palestine "piss poor" and we fund it to the tune of 10 billion dollars a year!"
"How rich were the "palistinians prior to the arrival of the "zionists" OK I will answer that Ridiculously poor. That even outranks "piss poor" in the scale of poorness.
besides even if I accept your assumptions - you are saying exactly the opposite argument to the argument that alot of people on here use in regard to sanctions on iraq. Their argument is that if you cut off incoming money (such as oil money in iraq) to the government you make the poor suffer most. in this case the poor could be considered to be the palistinians. Just noting the issue.
Besides that KL has gone into detail debating the exact nature of the money that goes to israel. and I am pleased that I personally dont fund it unless you are getting somthing good in return.. "
"We will also bail them out, against your and other cult members wishes..."
You will pay the palistinians? hmm ok go ahead. There are all sorts of peopel propping up the palistinians side too not like your money is going to matter.
Angie
"Let me tell you something, Scottie. Sharon agrees on nothing. Nothing at all. He's got no desire now, or never did, to give the Palestinian peoples freedom."
- really? when did you become the personal spokesman for sharon? Or has he been attending private psycological assesments at your office?
OBVIOUSLY NOT
You are just equating yourself with the people who do the same thing and say that you are evil terrorist or somthing.
"It tells me that he is the lying war criminal we've always known him as."
- Ahh sharon and KL and me all lying war criminals eh?
its easy to just say "anyone who disagrees with me is EVIL" Shall we just stand here accusing eachother of being baby eating stan worshipers and see how far it gets us?
That might make life more simple but it would
A) be totally unproductive
and B) be a ridiculous untruth.
Do you seriously think for a moment - FOR A DAMN MOMENT - that this Government is going to remotely give the Palestinian peoples a real state?
- YES. If the palistinians meet their obligations
You are again being intelectually lazy. the real answer is always more complex.
"Have you - and when I say "you" I mean the multitude of you - ever considered that Palestinian peoples would like nothing more than to see the end of the state terror Israel has been using against them for decades? "
- some would some wouldn't. You know that. and you know we know that. the problem is while some dont you have a problem a problem that the PA (whoever that might be) needs to fix.
No one does terror better than Israel."
- that is ridiculous statement. that you should know is wrong as soon as it left your mouth. amongst a thousand other countries and people. vlad the imapiler?
yet again intelectual lazyness - it is too easy to just say they are the evilest people ever than to actually look at the real situation.
"My idea of peace does not concur with yours (and by 'yours" , again, I mean the multitude of you). Because, you see, I want a just and dignified peace."
- MORON. you think we (even sharon) sit here going "lets have an unjust and undignified peace!!
Of course we want just and dignified peace. again your being intelectually lazy.
"And if I had more time I'd certainly (and I will in the next few days) expound on my vision for the area. However, one thing astonishes me. How "we" became Sharon, kL, you et al. Sharon? "
Yes Sharon. If he was far enough right to never want peace ever as you suggest there would be nothing left of palistine I mean no PA. Clearly Israel is NOT that far right. and you are just being intelectually lazy.
hmm ok I have no right since Im not an american.. ok the israelis can keep their money until you say its ok..
unbelievable.
"It is the zionist occupation which has rendered Palestine "piss poor" and we fund it to the tune of 10 billion dollars a year!"
"How rich were the "palistinians prior to the arrival of the "zionists" OK I will answer that Ridiculously poor. That even outranks "piss poor" in the scale of poorness.
besides even if I accept your assumptions - you are saying exactly the opposite argument to the argument that alot of people on here use in regard to sanctions on iraq. Their argument is that if you cut off incoming money (such as oil money in iraq) to the government you make the poor suffer most. in this case the poor could be considered to be the palistinians. Just noting the issue.
Besides that KL has gone into detail debating the exact nature of the money that goes to israel. and I am pleased that I personally dont fund it unless you are getting somthing good in return.. "
"We will also bail them out, against your and other cult members wishes..."
You will pay the palistinians? hmm ok go ahead. There are all sorts of peopel propping up the palistinians side too not like your money is going to matter.
Angie
"Let me tell you something, Scottie. Sharon agrees on nothing. Nothing at all. He's got no desire now, or never did, to give the Palestinian peoples freedom."
- really? when did you become the personal spokesman for sharon? Or has he been attending private psycological assesments at your office?
OBVIOUSLY NOT
You are just equating yourself with the people who do the same thing and say that you are evil terrorist or somthing.
"It tells me that he is the lying war criminal we've always known him as."
- Ahh sharon and KL and me all lying war criminals eh?
its easy to just say "anyone who disagrees with me is EVIL" Shall we just stand here accusing eachother of being baby eating stan worshipers and see how far it gets us?
That might make life more simple but it would
A) be totally unproductive
and B) be a ridiculous untruth.
Do you seriously think for a moment - FOR A DAMN MOMENT - that this Government is going to remotely give the Palestinian peoples a real state?
- YES. If the palistinians meet their obligations
You are again being intelectually lazy. the real answer is always more complex.
"Have you - and when I say "you" I mean the multitude of you - ever considered that Palestinian peoples would like nothing more than to see the end of the state terror Israel has been using against them for decades? "
- some would some wouldn't. You know that. and you know we know that. the problem is while some dont you have a problem a problem that the PA (whoever that might be) needs to fix.
No one does terror better than Israel."
- that is ridiculous statement. that you should know is wrong as soon as it left your mouth. amongst a thousand other countries and people. vlad the imapiler?
yet again intelectual lazyness - it is too easy to just say they are the evilest people ever than to actually look at the real situation.
"My idea of peace does not concur with yours (and by 'yours" , again, I mean the multitude of you). Because, you see, I want a just and dignified peace."
- MORON. you think we (even sharon) sit here going "lets have an unjust and undignified peace!!
Of course we want just and dignified peace. again your being intelectually lazy.
"And if I had more time I'd certainly (and I will in the next few days) expound on my vision for the area. However, one thing astonishes me. How "we" became Sharon, kL, you et al. Sharon? "
Yes Sharon. If he was far enough right to never want peace ever as you suggest there would be nothing left of palistine I mean no PA. Clearly Israel is NOT that far right. and you are just being intelectually lazy.
"the israelis can keep their money until you say its ok"
the israelis can keep our money until we say it is ok.
before the zionists invaded Palestine, Palestinians were not homeless living in tents.
the israelis can keep our money until we say it is ok.
before the zionists invaded Palestine, Palestinians were not homeless living in tents.
So now it's your turn. "Intellectually lazy". A while ago someone else was throwing out "intellectually dishonest" at every turn. Excuse me whilst I stop laughing here.
We shall see exactly what transpires in this so called "peace" process. But in the meantime maybe you can tell me and the rest of us here if Israel has any intentions of following the road map WHY ARE MORE settlements going up as we speak in the occupied territories? Tell me why 30 percent of the current crop of immigrants are going to the west bank?
That certainly sounds as if Sharon is about to capitulate with regards to Palestine.
Oh, and now I'm not only intellectually lazy but also a moron. That's the second time you called me that. Trying to prove something? Sorry, the word does not apply. Look around, you'll find someone more fitting of the title, and you won't have to look far.
Yes, Israel does terror better than anyone else. I was speaking about Israel and Palestine. If you want to drag the "thousands of other countries" into the mix,
start another thread.
I mentioned what's with the "Sharon, KL and me" bit because it sounded like you three were all great pals, sharing some mystical powers or divine insights.
But, then, again, if you want to align yourself with a war criminal, what can I say? Go for it! Don't expect me to applaud from the sidelines.
We shall see exactly what transpires in this so called "peace" process. But in the meantime maybe you can tell me and the rest of us here if Israel has any intentions of following the road map WHY ARE MORE settlements going up as we speak in the occupied territories? Tell me why 30 percent of the current crop of immigrants are going to the west bank?
That certainly sounds as if Sharon is about to capitulate with regards to Palestine.
Oh, and now I'm not only intellectually lazy but also a moron. That's the second time you called me that. Trying to prove something? Sorry, the word does not apply. Look around, you'll find someone more fitting of the title, and you won't have to look far.
Yes, Israel does terror better than anyone else. I was speaking about Israel and Palestine. If you want to drag the "thousands of other countries" into the mix,
start another thread.
I mentioned what's with the "Sharon, KL and me" bit because it sounded like you three were all great pals, sharing some mystical powers or divine insights.
But, then, again, if you want to align yourself with a war criminal, what can I say? Go for it! Don't expect me to applaud from the sidelines.
"the israelis can keep their money until you say its ok"
ok correction you can keep your money if you want. make sure you remind your representative. see if you can get it back.
"before the zionists invaded Palestine, Palestinians were not homeless living in tents."
Exactly how did they live?
ok correction you can keep your money if you want. make sure you remind your representative. see if you can get it back.
"before the zionists invaded Palestine, Palestinians were not homeless living in tents."
Exactly how did they live?
So now it's your turn. "Intellectually lazy". A while ago someone else was throwing out "intellectually dishonest" at every turn. Excuse me whilst I stop laughing here.
- you may notice that I am being a little less insulting towards you. they thought you were a lier I just noted that you dont think it through. From your answer which obviously you saved brain power in writing you just proved the point.
"We shall see exactly what transpires in this so called "peace" process. "
- sure the peace process may fail as it has failed before but that doesnt prove your point. Alot of business agreements fail but that doesnt mean one of hte parties is "evil and wants to eat the other groups babies".
That certainly sounds as if Sharon is about to capitulate with regards to Palestine.
- you aren't proving anything and you aren't providing sources. lazy? Better elaborate
"Sorry, the word does not apply."
that is what you would say. If you are going to come to stupid conclusions your "actions" speak louder than your words 'so to speak".
Yes, Israel does terror better than anyone else. I was speaking about Israel and Palestine.
- But that isnt what you said. So pay attention next time. Besides that is an israeli attack on a hamas leader really "better terrorism" than a suicide bomb on a bus?
I mentioned what's with the "Sharon, KL and me" bit because it sounded like you three were all great pals, sharing some mystical powers or divine insights.
- No It just happens to be a very wide catagory. for example I might say "you me and sharon are politically to the left of attilla the hun."
But, then, again, if you want to align yourself with a war criminal, what can I say? Go for it! Don't expect me to applaud from the sidelines.
- see above
besides your applause is worthless since you are a faith based debater
- you may notice that I am being a little less insulting towards you. they thought you were a lier I just noted that you dont think it through. From your answer which obviously you saved brain power in writing you just proved the point.
"We shall see exactly what transpires in this so called "peace" process. "
- sure the peace process may fail as it has failed before but that doesnt prove your point. Alot of business agreements fail but that doesnt mean one of hte parties is "evil and wants to eat the other groups babies".
That certainly sounds as if Sharon is about to capitulate with regards to Palestine.
- you aren't proving anything and you aren't providing sources. lazy? Better elaborate
"Sorry, the word does not apply."
that is what you would say. If you are going to come to stupid conclusions your "actions" speak louder than your words 'so to speak".
Yes, Israel does terror better than anyone else. I was speaking about Israel and Palestine.
- But that isnt what you said. So pay attention next time. Besides that is an israeli attack on a hamas leader really "better terrorism" than a suicide bomb on a bus?
I mentioned what's with the "Sharon, KL and me" bit because it sounded like you three were all great pals, sharing some mystical powers or divine insights.
- No It just happens to be a very wide catagory. for example I might say "you me and sharon are politically to the left of attilla the hun."
But, then, again, if you want to align yourself with a war criminal, what can I say? Go for it! Don't expect me to applaud from the sidelines.
- see above
besides your applause is worthless since you are a faith based debater
They had a lot of riches and due to no fault of their own, they were booted off of their land by foreigners.
There was a lot of going on there, but you didn't have anything to say with respect to my question about the new settlements.
It is a part of the road map that no settlements be added; right, it was also a part of the geneva convention back in '49, Olso in '93, but isn't this rather blatant?
Oh, yes, Sharon blusters. We accept the road map. Yet the settlements continue, and the US says nil.
I've had enough from you tonight, Scottie. More than enough.
It is a part of the road map that no settlements be added; right, it was also a part of the geneva convention back in '49, Olso in '93, but isn't this rather blatant?
Oh, yes, Sharon blusters. We accept the road map. Yet the settlements continue, and the US says nil.
I've had enough from you tonight, Scottie. More than enough.
Are you the same Scottie who makes an idiot out of himself every day over at LA-IMC?
"There was a lot of going on there, but you didn't have anything to say with respect to my question about the new settlements."
Front up with where you got this about expanding setlements from. you were able to tell me what percentages were going where so i assume you got that from somwhere.
I dont want to accept your assumptions since you are known for using unreliable sources. And without accepting your assumptions it is hard to debate.
"Oh, yes, Sharon blusters. We accept the road map. Yet the settlements continue, and the US says nil."
How about terrorism. the "we accept the road map but we wont stop the terrorists" argument. And why do you care what the US govt says. "talk is cheep" as they say.
Front up with where you got this about expanding setlements from. you were able to tell me what percentages were going where so i assume you got that from somwhere.
I dont want to accept your assumptions since you are known for using unreliable sources. And without accepting your assumptions it is hard to debate.
"Oh, yes, Sharon blusters. We accept the road map. Yet the settlements continue, and the US says nil."
How about terrorism. the "we accept the road map but we wont stop the terrorists" argument. And why do you care what the US govt says. "talk is cheep" as they say.
Sorry must be too sleepy that above post was me
SCOTTIE
SCOTTIE
Who is addressing this board using my name again?
This is getting to be just a bit much even for a normally "even tempered" individual such as myself.
If you don't have enough intellect to use your own bleeding name or a reasonable facsimile thereof, then what the hell are you doing?
This is getting to be just a bit much even for a normally "even tempered" individual such as myself.
If you don't have enough intellect to use your own bleeding name or a reasonable facsimile thereof, then what the hell are you doing?
Our posts must have crossed. My angry retort to the "Angie" arrived after you identified yourself.
Why don't you take a nap unless you're at work. It's going to be a long night on this SF Indymedia Board she (me) points out. It's only 8 p.m. where i am. Is it late night there? Just curious.
Why don't you take a nap unless you're at work. It's going to be a long night on this SF Indymedia Board she (me) points out. It's only 8 p.m. where i am. Is it late night there? Just curious.
I believe everything I hear that slants things negatively against Israel and slants things positively towards Arafat, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian majority.
Nothing makes me happier than a bright sunny day and Hamas successfully murdering zionist Jews. :)
The empty little minds have come out in tandem, I see.
What sad, tragic lives you must lead if this is your only source of entertainment. But carry on. Hiding behind someone else's name takes a whole lot of intellect. What have you accomplished? Kindergarten?
What sad, tragic lives you must lead if this is your only source of entertainment. But carry on. Hiding behind someone else's name takes a whole lot of intellect. What have you accomplished? Kindergarten?
Furthermore, stop insulting the good name of Hamas murderers, they just want to wipe out a few million zionist Jews and take over Israel, after that they'll be very nice! :)
You can keep this up and let people out there how how totally stupid and childish you are, or you step forward, use your own damn name, and discuss what your problem is. Otherwise, run along and play.
I guess you dont believe anyone who isnt quite anti israel so why dont you read this...
This is Phil Reeves - proving he is not a zionist
Phil Reeves of the London Independent (April 16): "A monstrous war crime that Israel has tried to cover up for a fortnight has finally been exposed... The sweet and ghastly reek of rotting human bodies is everywhere, evidence that it is a human tomb. The people say there are hundreds of corpses, entombed beneath the dust."
This is him proving he is not a brainwashed ideologue
"Phil Reeves: Even journalists have to admit they're wrong sometimes
03 August 2002
One of the hardest aspects of covering the Middle East is admitting to a mistake. A veteran commentator once told me that it was usually best to fudge the issue. This was not because of any desire on his part to be dishonest, but because of the risk that such an admission will be exploited and distorted by the region's many propagandists."
And in the light of this
"[his report] was highly personalized" and writes: "It was clear that the debate over the awful events in Jenin four months ago is still dominated by whether there was a massacre, even though it has long been obvious that one did not occur.""
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=320942
The london times another "zionist media source"
said this..
(April 16): "Rarely in more than a decade of war reporting from Bosnia, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, have I seen such deliberate destruction, such disrespect for human life."
and then later as more evidence came out decided this
"A United Nations report broke new ground yesterday by accusing Palestinian militants of violating international law when they fought attacking Israeli troops in the Jenin refugee camp."
This is Phil Reeves - proving he is not a zionist
Phil Reeves of the London Independent (April 16): "A monstrous war crime that Israel has tried to cover up for a fortnight has finally been exposed... The sweet and ghastly reek of rotting human bodies is everywhere, evidence that it is a human tomb. The people say there are hundreds of corpses, entombed beneath the dust."
This is him proving he is not a brainwashed ideologue
"Phil Reeves: Even journalists have to admit they're wrong sometimes
03 August 2002
One of the hardest aspects of covering the Middle East is admitting to a mistake. A veteran commentator once told me that it was usually best to fudge the issue. This was not because of any desire on his part to be dishonest, but because of the risk that such an admission will be exploited and distorted by the region's many propagandists."
And in the light of this
"[his report] was highly personalized" and writes: "It was clear that the debate over the awful events in Jenin four months ago is still dominated by whether there was a massacre, even though it has long been obvious that one did not occur.""
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=320942
The london times another "zionist media source"
said this..
(April 16): "Rarely in more than a decade of war reporting from Bosnia, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, have I seen such deliberate destruction, such disrespect for human life."
and then later as more evidence came out decided this
"A United Nations report broke new ground yesterday by accusing Palestinian militants of violating international law when they fought attacking Israeli troops in the Jenin refugee camp."
I am well aware of what Phil Reeves said; and I am also aware of what Justin Huggler said.
I am also aware of what the UN said, but considering the fact that no one from the UN fact finding mission was able to access Jenin (and today we shall see what happened behind the scenes) anything it says is suspect.
And certainly never in the history of any massacre has the victims en masse been blamed for killing themselves and blowing up their own villages whilst israeli bulldozers, missiles etc. were doing it for them.
It's been a gross miscarriage of human decency and justice sweeping Jenin under the bloody rug, but we were told by the Israelis to expect "a huge Palestinian lie" with respect to same. Didn't you read my posts re same or just bits and pieces. It's just that no one ever expected the propaganda machine to do such a marvellous job. It hasn't succeeded, nor will it.
I shall continue on, bearing in mind, why don't you, that I receive the UK Independent daily.
Now if you will excuse me, I have things to do. It's morning here, and I intend to continue my Jenin spiel by this afternoon.
As I said at the beginning of this, if you and your infamous "us" don't like it, go find your own bloody massacre.
I am also aware of what the UN said, but considering the fact that no one from the UN fact finding mission was able to access Jenin (and today we shall see what happened behind the scenes) anything it says is suspect.
And certainly never in the history of any massacre has the victims en masse been blamed for killing themselves and blowing up their own villages whilst israeli bulldozers, missiles etc. were doing it for them.
It's been a gross miscarriage of human decency and justice sweeping Jenin under the bloody rug, but we were told by the Israelis to expect "a huge Palestinian lie" with respect to same. Didn't you read my posts re same or just bits and pieces. It's just that no one ever expected the propaganda machine to do such a marvellous job. It hasn't succeeded, nor will it.
I shall continue on, bearing in mind, why don't you, that I receive the UK Independent daily.
Now if you will excuse me, I have things to do. It's morning here, and I intend to continue my Jenin spiel by this afternoon.
As I said at the beginning of this, if you and your infamous "us" don't like it, go find your own bloody massacre.
As regards your claim that
"WHY ARE MORE settlements going up as we speak in the occupied territories? Tell me why 30 percent of the current crop of immigrants are going to the west bank? "
I think you are probably refering to
What the israelis term "natural growth" of settlements such as Maaleh Adumim.
However if you are refering to that --- your calling them "new settlements" is not very honest and might explain your reluctance to reference your comment.
Basically Sharon says he wants to continue building to account for "natural increase", i.e., children born to existing settlers.
I guess more likely he doesnt want to have the very politically expensive task of denying a city the sort of things cities normally have. Anyway from what I read this area may be a prime opportunities for a land swap.
shimon prez. has comitted himself to this idea - stop the teritorial expansion and dont worry about the population issue for now.
I expect that is what you will get if the plan gets/"stays" on track. If not you will get nothing as usual.
"WHY ARE MORE settlements going up as we speak in the occupied territories? Tell me why 30 percent of the current crop of immigrants are going to the west bank? "
I think you are probably refering to
What the israelis term "natural growth" of settlements such as Maaleh Adumim.
However if you are refering to that --- your calling them "new settlements" is not very honest and might explain your reluctance to reference your comment.
Basically Sharon says he wants to continue building to account for "natural increase", i.e., children born to existing settlers.
I guess more likely he doesnt want to have the very politically expensive task of denying a city the sort of things cities normally have. Anyway from what I read this area may be a prime opportunities for a land swap.
shimon prez. has comitted himself to this idea - stop the teritorial expansion and dont worry about the population issue for now.
I expect that is what you will get if the plan gets/"stays" on track. If not you will get nothing as usual.
Is this some kind of sick joke?
Look, whoever you are, I've had enough of this, okay? I'm tired, and I have things to do. I am not wasting any additional time going around this board defending myself, and I should not have to.
Do your best, JA. It's time these blithering idiots got a taste of their own medicine.
Look, whoever you are, I've had enough of this, okay? I'm tired, and I have things to do. I am not wasting any additional time going around this board defending myself, and I should not have to.
Do your best, JA. It's time these blithering idiots got a taste of their own medicine.
Are you the same Scottie who makes an idiot out of himself every day over at LA-IMC?
Ok damn it I did it again.. I am obviously not looking where I am typing.
The sarcastic ones however wee not me I just do it by mistake.. because I write a title and hten at the end write anotehr title.. one was your name and the other was the other title.. nnggh.. *annoied at myself*
The sarcastic ones however wee not me I just do it by mistake.. because I write a title and hten at the end write anotehr title.. one was your name and the other was the other title.. nnggh.. *annoied at myself*
so annoied my spelling went down the toilet.
you may notice I am not a touch typist (looking at the keyboard)
"I am well aware of what Phil Reeves said; and I am also aware of what Justin Huggler said. I am also aware of what the UN said"
Hmm but you think that they are just paid zionist propoganda people? Despite the personal risk that a reporter takes in publically admitting he was wrong Reeves did it anyway. It is not surprising many others refused to do it.
So if you question is "why didnt everyone else apologise" there is your answer. After comitting themselves to an "in vouge storyline they found that denying hte evidence is, career wise, much safer than honesty.
Again are you honestly saying reeves is a zionist tool?
", but considering the fact that no one from the UN fact finding mission was able to access Jenin (and today we shall see what happened behind the scenes) anything it says is suspect."
The UN is not a zionist pawn. If anything it is a big fat anti zionist "Queen" or somthing. What other organizations are you going to write off as zionist propoganda? ISM? Hamas?
"And certainly never in the history of any massacre has the victims en masse been blamed for killing themselves and blowing up their own villages."
Oh really? I thought destroying as you retreat was a well established military strategy. possibly a war crime but still a well established strategy.
"It's been a gross miscarriage of human decency and justice sweeping Jenin under the bloody rug."
- reeves (the zionist pawn that he is) says different. He also still thinks that israel sux by the way.
"As I said at the beginning of this, if you and your infamous "us" don't like it, go find your own bloody massacre. "
Hmm Angie comitted any war crimes lately? I hear from Angie on this board that we dont need any proof to convict you just a little hysteria and a vaguely plausible story. Then according to Angie you will be guilty until proven innoc..... no wait scrach the last part, evidence is irrelevant... the UN itself can say you are innocent and it wont matter.
you may notice I am not a touch typist (looking at the keyboard)
"I am well aware of what Phil Reeves said; and I am also aware of what Justin Huggler said. I am also aware of what the UN said"
Hmm but you think that they are just paid zionist propoganda people? Despite the personal risk that a reporter takes in publically admitting he was wrong Reeves did it anyway. It is not surprising many others refused to do it.
So if you question is "why didnt everyone else apologise" there is your answer. After comitting themselves to an "in vouge storyline they found that denying hte evidence is, career wise, much safer than honesty.
Again are you honestly saying reeves is a zionist tool?
", but considering the fact that no one from the UN fact finding mission was able to access Jenin (and today we shall see what happened behind the scenes) anything it says is suspect."
The UN is not a zionist pawn. If anything it is a big fat anti zionist "Queen" or somthing. What other organizations are you going to write off as zionist propoganda? ISM? Hamas?
"And certainly never in the history of any massacre has the victims en masse been blamed for killing themselves and blowing up their own villages."
Oh really? I thought destroying as you retreat was a well established military strategy. possibly a war crime but still a well established strategy.
"It's been a gross miscarriage of human decency and justice sweeping Jenin under the bloody rug."
- reeves (the zionist pawn that he is) says different. He also still thinks that israel sux by the way.
"As I said at the beginning of this, if you and your infamous "us" don't like it, go find your own bloody massacre. "
Hmm Angie comitted any war crimes lately? I hear from Angie on this board that we dont need any proof to convict you just a little hysteria and a vaguely plausible story. Then according to Angie you will be guilty until proven innoc..... no wait scrach the last part, evidence is irrelevant... the UN itself can say you are innocent and it wont matter.
Are you the same Scottie who makes an idiot out of himself every day over at LA-IMC?
I've just read your above spiel, and there's little to comment on that's relevant; however, I'm a wee it confused by the comments with respect to the UN.
Are you saying that the UN said that there was no massacre or wrong doing in Jenin? If so, how the hell would the UN know, considering it allowed the US and Israel to saboteage the fact-finding investigation?
Are you saying that the UN said that there was no massacre or wrong doing in Jenin? If so, how the hell would the UN know, considering it allowed the US and Israel to saboteage the fact-finding investigation?
"what the hell would the UN know"
this is the "if they disagree with me they must be wrong"
argument.
you can always create a theory like "the us sabotaged it" but I could have guessed you would say that.
You will always come to the same conclusins because you have no assumptions stronger than the one that you want to prove.
this is the "if they disagree with me they must be wrong"
argument.
you can always create a theory like "the us sabotaged it" but I could have guessed you would say that.
You will always come to the same conclusins because you have no assumptions stronger than the one that you want to prove.
There's not much to quibble about here.
The Security Council voted unanimously to send an investigative team to Jenin.
Israel and the US made sure it didn't happen, thus forcing Annan to disband the "team". Nothing sinister about that. It happened. Don't blame me. I wasn't there.
However, if you're interested in my Jenin bit tomorrow, I'll be dealing with the UN and how it failed the people of Jenin.
The Security Council voted unanimously to send an investigative team to Jenin.
Israel and the US made sure it didn't happen, thus forcing Annan to disband the "team". Nothing sinister about that. It happened. Don't blame me. I wasn't there.
However, if you're interested in my Jenin bit tomorrow, I'll be dealing with the UN and how it failed the people of Jenin.
Hi Angie,
I've been reading your posts for a while as well as JA's, A concerned zionist, sick of lies, and others.
It's really heartening to see how people have finally started taking notice of the injustice against Palestinians and Israel's fascism because only a few years ago, there was hardly anyone in the peace movement willing to openly criticize Israel.
I was especially delighted to see your resoluteness on this when you stated that you would never give up despite all the despicable methods used by Israel's supporters to undermine support.
Keep up the good work and here are some sites I use for research and information. I hope you find some of these helpful.
http://www.merip.org/
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/eappi/index_10.html
http://www.mediamonitors.net
http://www.robincmiller.com/index2.htm
http://www.leftcurve.org/
http://www.cnionline.org/
http://www.flashpoints.net/gwynne.html
http://www.ccmep.org
http://www.palestinechronicle.com
http://www.electronicintifada.net
http://www.electroniciraq.net
http://www.counterpunch.org
http://www.democracynow.org
http://www.flashpoints.net
http://www.dissidentvoice.org
http://www.wrmea.com
http://www.independent.co.uk
http://www.robert-fisk.com
weekly.ahram.org.eg
http://www.radio4all.net
search on
chomsky
kristen ess
http://monkeyfist.com/ChomskyArchive
http://www.guardian.co.uk
http://www.zmag.org
http://www.mirror.co.uk
http://www.aljazeerah.info
http://www.aljazeerah.net
english.aljazeera.net
http://www.sf.indymedia.org
http://www.alternativenews.org/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
authors/writers
Israel Shamir
Israel Shahak
Stanley Cohen
http://www.palestinianjustice.com/photo.htm
http://www.palestinianjustice.com/contact.htm
Palestinian Justice Campaign
P.O. Box 1922
Albany
New York, 12201-1922
The Law Office of
Stanley L. Cohen
351 Broadway,
Suite 300,
New York, NY 10013
scohen [at] palestinianjustice.com
Norman Finkelstein
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
Henry Lindner
http://home.earthlink.net/~hhlindner/
Dave Kersting
Noam Chomsky
http://web.media.mit.edu/~nitin/mideast/chomsky.html
Edward Herman
Edward Said
Jeffrey Blankfort
Paul de Rooij
Anne Gwynne
Kristen Ess
Kristen Schurr
Michael Neumann
http://members.tripod.com/~mneumann/mnisrael.htm
Robin C. Miller
http://www.robincmiller.com/index2.htm
Francis Boyle
Alfred Lilienthal
http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/
Mark Bruzonsky
http://www.middleeast.org/mernew.htm
Elaine Hagopian
Alison Weir
Dennis Bernstein
http://www.flashpoints.net/
Charlie Reese
http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030709/index.php
I've been reading your posts for a while as well as JA's, A concerned zionist, sick of lies, and others.
It's really heartening to see how people have finally started taking notice of the injustice against Palestinians and Israel's fascism because only a few years ago, there was hardly anyone in the peace movement willing to openly criticize Israel.
I was especially delighted to see your resoluteness on this when you stated that you would never give up despite all the despicable methods used by Israel's supporters to undermine support.
Keep up the good work and here are some sites I use for research and information. I hope you find some of these helpful.
http://www.merip.org/
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/eappi/index_10.html
http://www.mediamonitors.net
http://www.robincmiller.com/index2.htm
http://www.leftcurve.org/
http://www.cnionline.org/
http://www.flashpoints.net/gwynne.html
http://www.ccmep.org
http://www.palestinechronicle.com
http://www.electronicintifada.net
http://www.electroniciraq.net
http://www.counterpunch.org
http://www.democracynow.org
http://www.flashpoints.net
http://www.dissidentvoice.org
http://www.wrmea.com
http://www.independent.co.uk
http://www.robert-fisk.com
weekly.ahram.org.eg
http://www.radio4all.net
search on
chomsky
kristen ess
http://monkeyfist.com/ChomskyArchive
http://www.guardian.co.uk
http://www.zmag.org
http://www.mirror.co.uk
http://www.aljazeerah.info
http://www.aljazeerah.net
english.aljazeera.net
http://www.sf.indymedia.org
http://www.alternativenews.org/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
authors/writers
Israel Shamir
Israel Shahak
Stanley Cohen
http://www.palestinianjustice.com/photo.htm
http://www.palestinianjustice.com/contact.htm
Palestinian Justice Campaign
P.O. Box 1922
Albany
New York, 12201-1922
The Law Office of
Stanley L. Cohen
351 Broadway,
Suite 300,
New York, NY 10013
scohen [at] palestinianjustice.com
Norman Finkelstein
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
Henry Lindner
http://home.earthlink.net/~hhlindner/
Dave Kersting
Noam Chomsky
http://web.media.mit.edu/~nitin/mideast/chomsky.html
Edward Herman
Edward Said
Jeffrey Blankfort
Paul de Rooij
Anne Gwynne
Kristen Ess
Kristen Schurr
Michael Neumann
http://members.tripod.com/~mneumann/mnisrael.htm
Robin C. Miller
http://www.robincmiller.com/index2.htm
Francis Boyle
Alfred Lilienthal
http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/
Mark Bruzonsky
http://www.middleeast.org/mernew.htm
Elaine Hagopian
Alison Weir
Dennis Bernstein
http://www.flashpoints.net/
Charlie Reese
http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030709/index.php
Have you read the report angie?
the report obviously (since the fact finding group was disbanded - for whatever reason) was not based on the fact finding mission. it was based on other sources of information. you are still faced with the same problem of
Did the UN Intentionally give us a biased report?
Or was it giving us the best unbiased report of the not insignificant group of facts available to it.
So you are faced with the same problem as I stated it. you believe that their was a massacare when the UN presented with the available facts (presumably more than you have) decided precicely what is in the report.
the report obviously (since the fact finding group was disbanded - for whatever reason) was not based on the fact finding mission. it was based on other sources of information. you are still faced with the same problem of
Did the UN Intentionally give us a biased report?
Or was it giving us the best unbiased report of the not insignificant group of facts available to it.
So you are faced with the same problem as I stated it. you believe that their was a massacare when the UN presented with the available facts (presumably more than you have) decided precicely what is in the report.
search 'Jenin and UN ' on the google search engine and read the UN report.
They stress that none of their conclusions were arrived from first hand testimony but all were arrived from second hand resources available to the buying public in mainstream News publication.
The problem is that no news publication was allowed on the vacinity until a week later after the jenin massacre when the premises were opened to outsider scrutiny.
They stress that none of their conclusions were arrived from first hand testimony but all were arrived from second hand resources available to the buying public in mainstream News publication.
The problem is that no news publication was allowed on the vacinity until a week later after the jenin massacre when the premises were opened to outsider scrutiny.
Yes iI have read the report. I was dealing with the issue of whether Angie found any source a reliable source if it disagreed with her.
Apparently not.
My point is that the UN report was an honest report that was not zionist propoganda. If they had no evidence at all they would not have produced a report.
If you ae building a conspiricy theory KL has dealt with the issue of whether the IDF hid bodies and whether the "52" was correct in another thread. go debate that with him there.
Apparently not.
My point is that the UN report was an honest report that was not zionist propoganda. If they had no evidence at all they would not have produced a report.
If you ae building a conspiricy theory KL has dealt with the issue of whether the IDF hid bodies and whether the "52" was correct in another thread. go debate that with him there.
This is my story re Jenin, and I'm doing the research, and I'm stating what I find in the Illan Pappe's thread.
I hardly think that I will be taking any direction from you or KL on what I want to say. As I said at the beginning of my spiels re Jenin, if you don't like it, grab your own damn massacre.
I am stating here for your benefit that by the time Israel had kept putting obstacles in the way of the investigative team's ability to do its job the UN had to disband it because it had become a damn farce, which, of course, is what Israel and the US intended.
I hardly think that I will be taking any direction from you or KL on what I want to say. As I said at the beginning of my spiels re Jenin, if you don't like it, grab your own damn massacre.
I am stating here for your benefit that by the time Israel had kept putting obstacles in the way of the investigative team's ability to do its job the UN had to disband it because it had become a damn farce, which, of course, is what Israel and the US intended.
Thank you for your kind words.
The Jenin thing with me has always been a dispicable charade. I remember being glued to BBC and CBC (Canada) last spring watching these events unfold, and being in one hell of a fine rage indeed.
I am familiar with most of the info you were kind enough to pass on which caused me to smile here.
Again, thanks!
The Jenin thing with me has always been a dispicable charade. I remember being glued to BBC and CBC (Canada) last spring watching these events unfold, and being in one hell of a fine rage indeed.
I am familiar with most of the info you were kind enough to pass on which caused me to smile here.
Again, thanks!
Hi Angie,
Here is a documentary on Jenin created by Palestinians:
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/242/
This was banned in Israel and the producer of the film was killed at his home by Israeli soldiers.
I remember at the time seeing a lot of information on Jenin. A couple things that stick out in my mind. An Israeli official said (I'm paraphrasing): "We must give the bodies a proper burial in Israel before they bury us." Another thing is a report by an ISM member relating an eyewitness account of a boy who said Israelis were running over bodies with bulldozers and tanks in order to hide the evidence. This is corroborated by the fact that only digits could be found in some places. I saw this on jerusalem.indymedia.org and another witness said the same thing in the movie Jenin, Jenin from above.
Here is a documentary on Jenin created by Palestinians:
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/242/
This was banned in Israel and the producer of the film was killed at his home by Israeli soldiers.
I remember at the time seeing a lot of information on Jenin. A couple things that stick out in my mind. An Israeli official said (I'm paraphrasing): "We must give the bodies a proper burial in Israel before they bury us." Another thing is a report by an ISM member relating an eyewitness account of a boy who said Israelis were running over bodies with bulldozers and tanks in order to hide the evidence. This is corroborated by the fact that only digits could be found in some places. I saw this on jerusalem.indymedia.org and another witness said the same thing in the movie Jenin, Jenin from above.
The film above also shows actual footage of an Israeli APC hurling towards young Palestinian men (boys?) who were tied with their hands behind their backs and lying face down on the dirt. The footage ends just a few feet before the armored APC was going to crush them alive.
If the director of jenin Jenin was not above planning terrorist acts then he is also probably not above falsifying evidence.
then again maybe we should go to a settlement in the occupied territories and as the opinion of the furthest right person you can find. he may well be less biased
then again maybe we should go to a settlement in the occupied territories and as the opinion of the furthest right person you can find. he may well be less biased
Are you so damn brainwashed to think that every Palestiniian in the Occupied Territories is a "terrorist"? That because someone made a movie about Jenin he deserves to be shot dead? That his name must be vilified? What in the hell kind of people are we dealing with here? The only bias on this board is by those who refuse to believe that their beloved terrorist state ever did anything wrong in its existence.
Well, I beg to differ, and I am damn well sure I'm not alone.
Well, I beg to differ, and I am damn well sure I'm not alone.
Angie - what has what you said got to do with this? you said that israel stood in the way of the team coming into jenin. that has nothing to do with the video.
I am speaking to those who spoke about the video recently. (I expect you talked about it earlier but I dont look back that far every time I post.)
- Are you so damn brainwashed to think that every Palestiniian in the Occupied Territories is a "terrorist"?
- No you know that I don't.........
"are you so brainwashed that you think that all israelis are christian baby eating monsters?"
That because someone made a movie about Jenin he deserves to be shot dead?
- I did not say that either. I have already told you about the director of jenin jenin if you dont remember that is your problem but I refer to a specific event not directly related to him making the movie.
That his name must be vilified?
- if he is a terrorist then calling him a terrorist surely is not somthing you should complain about.
What in the hell kind of people are we dealing with here?
- terrorists.
The only bias on this board is by those who refuse to believe that their beloved terrorist state ever did anything wrong in its existence.
- do you mean canada? I remember your definition of a terrorist state includes canada......
I am speaking to those who spoke about the video recently. (I expect you talked about it earlier but I dont look back that far every time I post.)
- Are you so damn brainwashed to think that every Palestiniian in the Occupied Territories is a "terrorist"?
- No you know that I don't.........
"are you so brainwashed that you think that all israelis are christian baby eating monsters?"
That because someone made a movie about Jenin he deserves to be shot dead?
- I did not say that either. I have already told you about the director of jenin jenin if you dont remember that is your problem but I refer to a specific event not directly related to him making the movie.
That his name must be vilified?
- if he is a terrorist then calling him a terrorist surely is not somthing you should complain about.
What in the hell kind of people are we dealing with here?
- terrorists.
The only bias on this board is by those who refuse to believe that their beloved terrorist state ever did anything wrong in its existence.
- do you mean canada? I remember your definition of a terrorist state includes canada......
JENIN- UPDATE:
by ... 4:09am Fri Jul 18 '03
JENIN- JENIN
print article
The documentary Jenin Jenin which is deemed illegal for viewing within Israel can be purchased in the following website- http://www.arabfilm.com/item/242/
Since its first screening, it has been the target of much disparagement from Israeli political circles.
In fact one of its producers has been shot while the other has been taken to court
by ... 4:09am Fri Jul 18 '03
JENIN- JENIN
print article
The documentary Jenin Jenin which is deemed illegal for viewing within Israel can be purchased in the following website- http://www.arabfilm.com/item/242/
Since its first screening, it has been the target of much disparagement from Israeli political circles.
In fact one of its producers has been shot while the other has been taken to court
If zionists are not above killing people then they aren't above falsifying what they do
OK I mean producer of jenin jenin the director was Mohammed Bakri of course
Iad Taisir Taher Samodi was killed on June 23, 2002 in the village Yamon, while trying to resist arrest. Three cell phones, a gun and ammunitions were discovered on his body. Thirty pipe explosives ready to be used for attacks were subsequently found at his house.
= TERRORIST
Here is a "fisking of the movie
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0mus0
speaking of people who were actually there..........
"Our medical teams treated every wounded person, even if he had Hamas tattoos on his arms. At no stage was medical care withheld from anyone. This heroic and at the same time moral fighting cost us dearly in the lives of the best of our fighters. We who were there, the soldiers who fell there, their families, and the IDF don't deserve to be used by Muhammad Bakri to incite the world to murder and hatred."
Besides that In the case regarding the censorship (yes there was one) it was argued -
The Censorship Board's position is not so unreasonable. The board's most recent banning of a film - "The Last Temptation of Christ" - took place in 1988. Since then, the board has authorized the screenings of some 2,700 films.
Iad Taisir Taher Samodi was killed on June 23, 2002 in the village Yamon, while trying to resist arrest. Three cell phones, a gun and ammunitions were discovered on his body. Thirty pipe explosives ready to be used for attacks were subsequently found at his house.
= TERRORIST
Here is a "fisking of the movie
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0mus0
speaking of people who were actually there..........
"Our medical teams treated every wounded person, even if he had Hamas tattoos on his arms. At no stage was medical care withheld from anyone. This heroic and at the same time moral fighting cost us dearly in the lives of the best of our fighters. We who were there, the soldiers who fell there, their families, and the IDF don't deserve to be used by Muhammad Bakri to incite the world to murder and hatred."
Besides that In the case regarding the censorship (yes there was one) it was argued -
The Censorship Board's position is not so unreasonable. The board's most recent banning of a film - "The Last Temptation of Christ" - took place in 1988. Since then, the board has authorized the screenings of some 2,700 films.
We know you are already working on that assumption.
But you also think you are talking to "zionists" so do you see the dilema?
But you also think you are talking to "zionists" so do you see the dilema?
Kurdi gave the world a glimpse into what had happened in Jenin and one cannot simply whitewash his testimony as anything but a massacre;
Do you subscribe to the hamas newsletter also?
what do you mean?
? ? I was talking to !!! !
So, ?, shall I take it that you subscribe?
and believe them?
So, ?, shall I take it that you subscribe?
and believe them?
guess again scottie, the paper was yedioth ahronot, where the testimony by kurdi is publishe
There's a difference between subscribing to a Hamas Newsletter (if there is such an animal) and subscribing to some of the propaganda sheets out there that pass for newspaper?
Are you the same Scottie who makes an idiot out of himself every day over at LA-IMC?
Clearly I hae much higher standards than you do. But I knew that already.
That was a highly outrageous remark to make considering you know nothing about me at all.
You without any particular reason leapt up to write an excuse for some sort of
A) support for a terrorist organization
and
B) implied use of a resource which is almost certainly 100% propoganda?
What does that say about you if it doesnt say "low standards"?
Even totally inspite of this conversation here your readership already shows much more bias than balance.
A) support for a terrorist organization
and
B) implied use of a resource which is almost certainly 100% propoganda?
What does that say about you if it doesnt say "low standards"?
Even totally inspite of this conversation here your readership already shows much more bias than balance.
And you are SO balanced yourself.
How come you can write with sarcasm in this thread and yet not understand it when you see it in another thread?
Specifically my point was i am less biased (or more balanced in my reading) than to you. If you want to make the claim that I am not balanced please feel free to try to prove it.
Specifically my point was i am less biased (or more balanced in my reading) than to you. If you want to make the claim that I am not balanced please feel free to try to prove it.
That I'm learning what sarcasm is here?
Stop threatening me, man. "Prove it" indeed. You're the one that mentioned "balance". I simply responded. It's allowed, I think.
Stop threatening me, man. "Prove it" indeed. You're the one that mentioned "balance". I simply responded. It's allowed, I think.
you (of all people) are lecturing others on forum behavior??????????
this IS RICH! the crowned princess of snobbery has gotten her nose out of joint, what's the matter did you get a little of what you have been giving out?
this IS RICH! the crowned princess of snobbery has gotten her nose out of joint, what's the matter did you get a little of what you have been giving out?
In the light of the above points we then have the fact that I have read basically all of your favourite authors. So if you meant bias in the newspapers etc that I read if anything it has a leftist bias (I just don't believe everything that they say).
I see no basis for your claim that I am biased except for that I don't agree with you on one specific point regarding whether israel is "evil" in regard to the middle east situation.
I come here to look and see who makes the greatest fool of themselves the conservatives or the liberals and the funny thing is the liberals have won hands down.
I see no basis for your claim that I am biased except for that I don't agree with you on one specific point regarding whether israel is "evil" in regard to the middle east situation.
I come here to look and see who makes the greatest fool of themselves the conservatives or the liberals and the funny thing is the liberals have won hands down.
You were the one who mentionied "bias".
That's rich coming from you, considering those who want to maintain the myth of poor little Israel, will go to any lengths to ridicule and vilify those of us who know better.
Forum behaviour? Why don't you go back and read the posts from your likeminded pals here and see what, in their mind, constitutes "forum behaviour".
And maybe you can obtain help with your reading problem. Scottie brought up the "prove it" bit. He also brought up "bias".
And while you're at it, sir/madam, learn the meaning of "snobbery", and then apply it to the appropriate sources here..
Forum behaviour? Why don't you go back and read the posts from your likeminded pals here and see what, in their mind, constitutes "forum behaviour".
And maybe you can obtain help with your reading problem. Scottie brought up the "prove it" bit. He also brought up "bias".
And while you're at it, sir/madam, learn the meaning of "snobbery", and then apply it to the appropriate sources here..
Angie
"And you are SO balanced yourself. " (sarcasm)
I am inviting you to try to back that up. Since all of your recent posts have contained no actual evidence for anything (kind of like your debating style in general) I assume that you had no basis for the sarcasm..
"And you are SO balanced yourself. " (sarcasm)
I am inviting you to try to back that up. Since all of your recent posts have contained no actual evidence for anything (kind of like your debating style in general) I assume that you had no basis for the sarcasm..
You mentioned bias. You mentioned balance.
I simply responded. Is that so difficultt?
Frankly I couldn't care less if you're biased or balancaed nor neither. I was merely commenting on your post there.
I simply responded. Is that so difficultt?
Frankly I couldn't care less if you're biased or balancaed nor neither. I was merely commenting on your post there.
If you dont have anything to say you dont have to say anything.
But that's never stopped you, has it, Scottie?
THE NACERTANIJE (DRAFT): THE PROGRAMME OF SERBIAN FOREIGN AND NATIONAL POLICY AT THE END OF 1844
(translated from Serbian by D.T. Batakovic)
Serbia must place herself in the ranks of other European states, creating a plan for her future or composing, so to speak, a long-term domestic policy to the principles of which she should firmly adhere, and according to which she should conduct herself and decide steadily all her affairs.
Movement and agitation among the Slavs has already begun and will, indeed, never cease. Serbia must well understand this movement along with the role or the assignment which she will have in it.
If Serbia ponders well enough what she is, and what her position is, and what are the peoples that surround her, she will realize that she is still very small, that she must not remain in such position, and that only through alliance with other neighbouring peoples can she fulfil the tasks for her future.
From this knowledge the plan and the foundation originate of Serbia's policy /which does not limit Serbia to her present borders, but endeavours to attach to her all the neighbouring Serbian peoples./
If Serbia does not vividly pursue this policy /and, worse still, if she rejects it/ failing to prepare a well-made plan fit for this assignment, she will be buffetted to and fro like a small vessel by the alien tempests until finally she will be broken into pieces on some huge reef.
What we wish and attempt to do here is to contribute somewhat and prepare the plan of Serbian policy abiding by its natural demands.
The Policy of Serbia
The Ottoman Empire /must/ disintegrate and this disintegration can only occur in two possible ways:
1. either it will be partitioned, or
2. it will be rebuilt anew by its Christian inhabitants.
Observations on tbe Partition of tbe (Ottoman) Empire/
We do not wish to comment extensively on this subject, but shall limit ourselves merely to observe that Austria and Russia must play the principal roles in this event since they are neighbouring and contiguous powers.
These two powers could easily agree and decide who is to receive certain lands and regions and where their borders shall lie. Austria can only aspire to rule over the western provinces, while Russia can only aspire to conquer the eastern ones. /Therefore, if/ a straight line were to be drawn from Vidin to Salonika, this question might be solved to the satisfaction of both parties.
Thus, in the event of a partition all the Serbs would fall into the Austrian portion.
Austria and Russia know well enough that the Ottoman Empire as such will not enjoy a long future. Therefore, both states are making use of this opportunity to extend their borders as quickly as possible. Both also work in every way to forestall and prevent the emergence of another Christian empire in place of the Ottoman Empire; for then, the fond hope and pleasant prospect would disappear for Russia of seizing and holding Constantinople, which has been her most cherished plan since Peter the Great; and Austria would then be in terrifying danger of losing her South Slavs.
Thus, Austria must, under all circumstances, keep being the enemy of a Serbian state. For the Serbs, then, agreement and understanding with Austria is a political impossibility; for thus she would tight the rope around her neck herself.
Only Austria and Russia are able to foster the collapse and partition of the Ottoman Empire. They are seeing to that. For many years, Russia has been preparing the ground for that situation. Austria cannot now do otherwise than to assist her and seek something for herself, as she did at the partition of Poland. Naturally, all the other powers, under the leadership of France and England, are opposed to the expansion and enlargement of Russia and Austria. They would probably consider as the most suitable means for forestalling such partition, the conversion of the Ottoman Empire into a new and independent /Christian/ state which would occupy the vacuum left by the Turkish collapse, offering the sole means to maintain the balance of Europe in its entirety. Other way out cannot be expected.
The Serbian state which has already seen its good start, but must strive to expand and become stronger, has its roots and firm foundation in the Serbian Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries and in the glorious and rich Serbian history. /It is known from this history/ that the Serbian rulers began to assume the position held by the Greek [Byzantine] Empire and almost succeeded in making an end of it in order to replace the collapsed Eastern Roman Empire with a Serbian-Slavic Empire. Emperor Dusan the Mighty had even adopted the coat-of-arms of the Greek Empire. The arrival of the Turks in the Balkans interrupted this enterprise, and prevented it from taking place for a long time; but now, since the Turkish power is broken and almost destroyed, the same spirit should act again, claim its rights anew, and continue the enterprise interrupted.
These foundations and walls of the Serbian Empire, therefore, must be cleared of all ruins and debris, and brought to light, so that a new edifice may be constructed on this solid and durable historical foundation. Such an enterprise will be endowed with inestimable importance and great prestige among all the nations and their cabinets; for then we Serbs shall appear before the world as the true heirs of our illustrious forefathers, doing nothing new but restoring their legacy. Hence, our present will not be without a link to the past, but they will make an interdependent, integrated, and well-ordered whole; thus, the Serbdom, its nationality and the life of its state stand under the protection of the sacred historical right. Our aspirations cannot be reproached as something novel and unfounded, as revolution and coup; but all must acknowledge that they are politically necessary, grounded in ancient ages, and embedded in the state and national life of the Serbian people whose roots continually send forth branches to blossom anew.
If we consider the revival of the Serbian Empire from this standpoint, then other South Slavs will easily understand this idea and accept it with joy; for probably in no European country is the memory of the historical past so vivid as among the Slavs of Turkey, for whom the recollection is intense and faithful of the celebrated figures and events of their history. Therefore, it may be counted as certain that this enterprise will be readily accepted among the people, making unnecessary decades of activity among them, just in order to prepare them to understand utility and value of an independent administration.
The Serbs were the first, of all the Slavs of Turkey, to struggle for their freedom with their own resources and strength; therefore, they have the first and foremost right to further direct this endeavour. Even now in many places, and in certain cabinets, it is anticipated and expected that a great future is imminent for the Serbs, and it is this fact which has attracted the attention of entire Europe. If we thought of Serbia as merely a principality, which she is now, and if this principality were not the nucleus of a future Serbian Empire, then the world would concern itself no more with Serbia than it did with the Moldavian and Wallachian principalities where there is no principle of independent life and which it considers only as Russian pendants.
A new Serbian state in the south could give Europe every guarantee that it would be distinguished and vital, capable of maintaining itself between Austria and Russia. The geographic position of the country, its topography, abundance of natural resources, the combative spirit of its inhabitants, their sublime and ardent national feeling, their common origin and the same language - all indicates its stability and promising future.
On the Means By Which Serbian Goal May Be Attained
When the goal is firmly determined, and steadfastly and vividly pursued, then /a capable government/ can easily and quickly find the means neccessary for its attainment, /for the Serbian people are so good that with them everything may be reasonably achieved./
1. Initial Means
In order to determine what can be accomplished, and how to proceed, the government must know the conditions and circumstances /of the peoples residing in the surrounding provinces./ This is the first prerequisite for exactly determining the means. Accordingly, it will be necessary, above all, to send sharp and unprejudiced people, loyal to the government, as investigators of the conditions of those lands and peoples, and the former /would be required/ to give exact written reports upon their return. /It is especially necessary to be informed/ on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and northern Albania. /At the same time the exact situation in Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia must be learned and, of course, this includes the peoples in Srem, Banat, and the Backa as well./
These agents must be provided with instructions on how to circulate and pass through these lands. They must be informed, /among other things,/ which places and persons they should pay particular attention to. Besides these factual instructions, they should be given a general instruction that would contain the following points which they will be required to carry out:
1. They should judge the political situation of the designated country, especially its political currents; gather data which will enable better aquaintance with the people, their feelings and their innermost desires; but above all, they should indicate what must be considered as an already recognized and publicly expressed popular demand.
2. Special scrutiny must be attached to the military condition of the country and people, such as its martial spirit, armament, the size and disposition of the regular army; the location of military stores and arsenals; the location of industries for wartime demands, such as food and armament; or where they come from and enter the country etc.
3. They should compose description or evaluation, and the list of the most important and influential men in the country, not excluding potential opponents /of Serbia/.
4. The attitude of people in every province toward Serbia and their expectations from her must be observed, along with what they want from her or fear of.
These instructions, naturally, must seek to learn what every agent has to say so far about the ongoing Serbian policy, as well as what hopes may be awaken and how the attention and regard, particularly of Serbia's friends, should be centered.
First of All to Define our Relations to Bulgaria
Bulgaria is the closest of all the Slavic countries to the glorious capital of the Ottoman Empire [Constantinople], and the greatest part of this country is easily accessible; most of the important military positions of the Turks, and more than half of their army are located here. In no other European country does the Turk feel so secure and more a master than in this one; the Bulgarians are deprived of all weapons; they have learned to submit and work - submissiveness and diligence have become their second nature. However, this observation must not prevent us from recognizing their true value, or lead us, which is worse still, to become contemptuous of them. It is an unfortunate fact that the Bulgarians, though they are the largest branch of the Slavic peoples living in Turkey, possess almost no confidence in their own strength, but it is only upon the stimulus coming from foreign countries [Russia] that they would dare attempt to liberate themselves. It is Russia that they look upon as the power which wishes and can do the most for their liberation. (Apart from the fact that Russia would only act in her own interests and would certainly replace the Turkish yoke with an even more oppressive one of her own), she would not venture, as we have already seen, on direct military aid of the Bulgarians, because Europe is aware of the true purpose of these allegedly benevolent Russian intentions toward Turkey; indeed, a general European war would ensue if Russia would want to cross the Danube once more. For this reason, Russia acts through others to accomplish what she is unable to attain directly. Prince Michael was, in this respect, her involuntary instrument, and she will, beyond any doubt, wish to return to her former plan which she has already started to effect through Prince Michael.
Since the government of Prince Alexander [Karadjordjevic] does not possess the confidence of Russia, for it does not permit itself to be used as a blind tool, Russia is forced to work for the overthrow of the present government in order to establish another government which would enable her to achieve her goals.
All attempts to deceive Russia and to convince her that the present government will follow her plan, would be foredoomed to failure. /Once Russia sees for herself/ that in Serbia an independent national spirit is awakening, she will not believe any proposals, because /Russia is much too clever to allow herself into a trap which is opposed to her designs/. Furthermore, it may well be thought that any attempts by Serbia to establish a close alliance and agreement with the other Slavs in Turkey, would be betrayed by Russia, if she only learnt about them, to Turkey, Austria and others, with the sole purpose to convince Europe that it is not Russia but rebellious and opposing Serbia who is encouraging such revolts. But, in spite of it all, Russia would be glad to receive information about these agreements in order to learn their trace and evolvement, and little by little, to gain control of them for her own aims.
The more independent Serbia becomes the less confidence Russia will have in her, and if Russia is not able /to change the situation in Serbia and destroy her independent policy/, then she will certainly endeavour to turn all the Slavs of Turkey away from Serbia, to divide them and keep them in disagreement so that she may deal with and enter into agreement with each (Slavic) branch separately. If, then, Serbia does not prove to be more active and enterprising than Russia, she will be defeated and left behind by the latter.
In this enterprise we must guard against illusion. Russia will never demean herself before Serbia, and if she sees that Serbia will not serve her devotedly and unconditionally, then she will reject every condition proudly and contemptuously. Even the sage advice of her own diplomats - men such as (Russian envoyé baron) Lieven - has been fiercly rejected precisely because they suggested only temporary concessions; is it feasible, then, to believe that she will appear to be more yielding to foreigners than to her own faithful servants? - Finally, if Russia does not find in Serbia anyone who would unconditionally serve her wishes, then, she will not hesitate to ally and work with those who would be willing to serve her only under certain conditions /for, after all, she could never give up Serbia completely/; but as long as she can find people in Serbia that would obey and serve her unconditionally, she will prefer such Serbs to true patriots.
Russia will not allow such a small state like Serbia to set conditions; she demands her advice to be obeyed unconditionally as commands, and those who wish to carry out her will must submit to her completely. It is true that sometimes she appeares to accept all who agree to serve her, but she does not employ them in anything, as some of them do not possess her confidence, so that such conduct of hers removes any possibility of deceiving her.
If Serbia wishes to come out from her present subordinate position and become a true state, she must endeavour, on her way towards independence, to take over the political power of Turkey by destroying it little by little; for this is the point upon which Serbian and Russian policies clash, because Russia also seeks to weaken the political power of the Ottoman Empire. However, despite this correspondence between the two policies, it does not necessarily follow that the aims and intentions of both are the same, or that their policies must be in harmony.
/In brief/: Serbia must endeavour to break down, but only stone by stone, the edifice of the Ottoman state, preserving its good material in order to erect, upon the solid foundation of the old Serbian Empire, a great new Serbian state. Even now while Serbia is yet under the Turkish rule, the work of preparation and modification can be carried out, because such enterprise cannot be undertaken and finished at the last moment.
We have spoken here in detail about the nature of Russian and Serbian policies, precisely because Bulgaria is the country in which Serbian and Russian influences primarily and largely are to come into contact.
We have discussed and demonstrated here why Serbian policy is not able to agree with Russian; however, it must be said that with no other could Serbia attain her aim easier than through an agreement with Russia; but this can occur only when Russia would agree to accept completely and absolutely the conditions of Serbia through which the aforermentioned intention, that is, her future in a broad sense, would be assured. An alliance between Serbia and Russia would, indeed, be the most natural one, but its conclusion would depend upon Russia herself, while Serbia should accept it with open arms, but only when it has been clearly established that Russia's proposals are sincere and open-hearted; this can only come about when Russia abandons her present policy, that is, when she decides that an alliance with Serbia, no matter how small she may be, is more natural than the one with Austria for whose sake she keeps the Western Slavs. Although I do not hope that Russia will ever be sincerely inclined towards Serbia, it is, nevertheless, necessary to mention here of what benefit such an occurrence might be for Serbia, who should immediately make use of it, for whatever has been said against Russia, it was not out of hate, but out of neccessity into which Russia herself has forced us by so many of her actions.
/A few more words about Bulgaria and then we will proceed further./ If we have learnt well the disposition of people's spirit in Bulgaria, and if our respect for her patriotic means is not too low, then we must conclude that a greater effort for its liberation from Turkish yoke is still far away. And again, that is where Russia's primary aspirations are directed to, because this country lies directly before the gates of Constantinople and in her road toward it; but Bulgaria has the same location and importance for Serbia that it has for Russia. If Russia keeps acting in Bulgaria for only a few years more the way she has been acting lately, and if Serbia let her act without doing anything herself, then Russia will indeed achieve such success that Serbian influence in Bulgaria will become useless. Let this be a warning and sign for Serbia, and never let her forget that a political friendship may be expected only if we have already showed and proved our love for the friends. Serbia must do something for Bulgaria because love and help need to be mutual.
After we have briefly indicated our attitide towards present Bulgaria and her great importance for Serbia, and after few words about the Russian influence that dominates there, we shall proceed to give an outline of some initial means for establishing the Serbian influence.
1. The Bulgarians do not possess educational and pedagogical institutions, therefore, Serbia should open her schools to the Bulgarians and grant scholarships to some of young Bulgarians who are studying in Serbia.
2. The Bulgarian clergy is mainly Greek, and not of Bulgarian nationality; therefore, it would be desirable and useful if a certain number of young Bulgars were trained in theology in Serbia and then returned as priests to their people and homeland.
3. Bulgarian liturgic and other religious books, together with other Bulgarian works, should be printed in Serbia; this important means has long been used by Russia, and Serbia must see to surpass her in that respect.
4. Reliable and capable people must be sent to travel through Bulgaria, who would draw the attention of the Bulgarian people to Serbia, awakening in them the feelings of friendship toward Serbia and the Serbian government, as well as hopes that Serbia will truely aid their liberation and provide for their welfare.
On tbe Policy of Serbia Towards Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Northern Albania
When we take into closer consideration the topography and geographical position of these lands, togehter with the military traditions of their inhabitants, their mentality and ways of thinking, we will easily come to the conclusion that this is the part of Turkey upon which Serbia can exert the greatest influence. The continuous determination and organization of this infuence seems to us to be the main task of Serbian policy in Turkey for the moment [1844].
1. When two neighbouring peoples wish to conclude a close and intimate alliance their borders must be opened as much as possible so that continuous communication is most facilitated and stimulated. But Serbia seems to be separating herself from her co-nationals in Turkey as if by a Chinese wall, opening communications points in so few places that there are houses in bigger towns that have more doors for entry than the entire Principality of Serbia. Therefore, without reducing the border guard, we are to increase the number of points of contact, entry, and departure along the Serbian border with Bosnia. /And why not with Bulgaria as well ?/
The established system of separation might have been purposeful at the time; but to further maintain it, would be the same as shutting Serbia in and isolating her, which is in utter opposition to her future and prosperity.
2. We should act in such a manner that the two peoples, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, could reach mutual understanding and an agreement about their national policy, for only then can this policy be successfully brought into effect.
It is the duty of Serbia to propose the basic points of this policy to both parts of the people residing there, because she is able to act in this enterprise, and obliged to, owing to the years of experience and the diplomatically recognized rights. - One of the main points is: the principle of complete freedom of religion. This principle will satisfy all Christians, and who knows, in time it may become acceptable to some Muslims as well. But the most important and fundamental law of the state must be determined as follows: that the princedom must be instituted as hereditary. Without this principle which is the very embodiment of state unity, an enduring and permanent state union between Serbia and her neighbours is unthinkable.
If the Bosnians do not accept this solution the unevitable consequence would be the fragmentation of Serbdom into small provincial principalities under separate ruling families who would doubtless soon fall under the sway of foreign influences, because there would arise rivalry and envy between them. These families could never be led to sacrifice their personal interests for another family, even when the advancement of all these peoples would depend upon such a sacrifice.
/From these basic points it follows that if an attempt were made to effect any change in Bosnia prior to this general unification of Serbdom, such a change should be effected only in such a manner as to serve as a preparation for the general unification of all Serbs and their provinces into one whole; and this would be the only way in which the aims and interests common to all Serbs may be realized. - Therefore, I here emphasize Serbia merely because she alone is able to prepare that change, and being obliged to constantly work on it until the time will come to bring this plan to completion, Serbia will keep trying to make that time come./ - Thus, whoever is solicitious for the welfare of this people must not propose a hereditary princedom to the Bosnians. /In that case/, the most important figures should be elected among all the people, and not for life, but only for a certain time during which they would function as a sort of council. Even with such a separate and provincial authority the road would be open for advancement; it would then be an easy matter for Serbia eventually to bring about a closer union with Bosnia, which would be both possible and likely.
The third basic principle of this policy is that of unity of nationalities, whose diplomatic representative is to be the government of the Principality of Serbia. Whenever the validity of this principle is in question, it is to the governement that the Bosnians and other Slavs should turn to for protection and every assistance. Serbia, in this respect, must realize that she is the natural protector of all the Slavs living in Turkey, and that other Slavs will only concede her that right when she takes upon herself the duty of doing and saying something in their name. If Serbia sets to her neighbours bad and unfortunate example that she thinks only of herself without caring about the troubles or advancement of others, but being indifferent to them, then they would certainly follow such an example, and would not listen to her; thus, harmony and unity would be replaced by distrust, envy and misfortune.
3. Not only that all fundamental laws, the Constitution and all major institutions of the Principality of Serbia should be promoted among the people in Bosnia /and Herzegovina/, but a number of young Bosnians should be accepted into the Serbian officialdom to be operatively trained for political and financial profession, for law and public education, so that later these officials could apply in their own homeland what they have learned in Serbia. /Here it must be particularly observed that these young people should be specially supervised and educated in such a manner that their work becomes completely imbued by the redeeming idea of a general unification and great advancement. This obligation cannot be sufficiently emphasized./
4. /Special attention must be paid to diverting the peoples of the Roman Catholic faith from Austria and her influence, and their greater inclination towards Serbia should be fostered. This goal could be best achieved through the Franciscans there; the most important among them must be won over to the idea of the union of Bosnia and Serbia. To this end/, publishing of some prayer books and hymnals in the printing office of Belgrade should be ordered; also, liturgical books for Orthodox Christians and anthologies of popular poems which would be paralelly printed in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets; as a third step, a short and comprehensive history of Bosnia could be printed, in which the names and glory must not be omitted of several Bosnians who had converted to Muslim faith. It goes without saying that this history should be written in the spirit of the Slavic nationality and entirely in the spirit of the national unity of Serbs and Bosnians. Through the printing of these and similar patriotic works, /as well as through other necessary actions which should be reasonably determined and supervised/ Bosnia would be liberated from the influence of Austria and incline more to Serbia. In this way Croatia and Dalmatia would also procure books which cannot be printed in Austria, and this would naturally result in a closer relationship of these lands with Bosnia and Serbia. /Special attention should be given to this enterprise by entrusting the writing of the aforementioned history to a capable and deeply discerning person./
5. The entire foreign trade of Serbia is in the hands of Austria. /This is a misfortune whose exact consequences I shall leave the financial experts to determine, while I shall merely cite those facts that add to the importance of this plan./
Direct trade contact with foreign states through Zemun [Semlin] will always be a distressing affair. Consequently, Serbia must secure a new trade route which will connect her with the sea and provide her with a port. For the present, the only route possible is the one which leads through Skadar [Scutari] to Ulcinj. Here the Serbian merchant with his natural products would recognize natural Dalmatian seamen and traders as his nationals, but also as clever and capable people who would give him a hand honestly and efficiently when purchasing foreign wares. It is necessary therefore to establish a Serbian trade agency there to protect the selling of Serbian products and the buying of French and English goods.
For this work the government would have to take the first step providing for and appointing a commercial agent to Ulcinj who would instruct the Serbian merchant, as if pointing with his forefinger, where he should direct his attention. /This agent, entering into contact with our country's traders, would have to thouroghly explore a way to direct our trade towards favorable avenues abroad, and once the government makes certain of their benefit, it may publish such information through the newspapers, indicating to our traders the areas with lucrative prospects./ Even if only a few traders succeed in conducting good business at the outset, others would quickly follow their example, and /little by little this avenue of trade would be opened without the government having to forever concern itself about the matter; for merchants would themselves open routes of business, leaving the government's agents with their only concern to keep our merchants safe from any kind of oppression/. - From the foregoing it would follow that the price of Serbian products exported to the south would rise in the north, while the price of the products introduced into Serbia from the north would fall because of the competition with the products from the south. In a word, the Serb would in this way sell high and buy cheap.
This measure would be of no less importance in a political sense, since the new Serbian agent would find himself among a Serbian population, which situation would result in a stronger influence of Serbia upon the northern Albanians and Montenegro, and these are the peoples who actually hold the keys to the gates of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the Adriatic Sea. We are assured that the institution and establishment of such Serbian agency there would be understood by these poples as a political act of inestimable importance on the part of Serbia, so that a closer union of the people of those provinces with Serbia would be an easy matter.
Not only that France and England would not be opposed to this, but they would even support it, whereas the Porte also would not be opposed to it because its only harbour would prosper as a result.
6. Gaining a greater influence over the Eastern Orthodox Bosnians will not be a difficult task for Serbia. However, more caution and attention must be exercised if the Bosnian Catholics are to be won over. At their head are the Franciscans. - Therefore, would it not be advisable if, in addition to the printing of books hitherto mentioned, one of these Bosnian friars were to be appointed to the Belgrade Lycée as professor of Latin or some other science. This professor could serve as an intermediary between Serbia and the Catholics of Bosnia, because such a step would be our first reassuring gesture and a proof of tolerance. Could not this same Franciscan establish a Catholic chapel for Catholics residing here, /thereby Austrian influence upon the erection of such a chapel, which will have to be built sooner or later, would be obviated. The chapel could be placed under the protection of the French consul residing here/.
This would give the French government reason and occasion to participate actively in this affair, and would at the same time free Serbia from the danger of having in Belgrade a Catholic church which would be under the influence of Austria.
7. Karadjordje was a naturally gifted military leader of very great experience; he was not able to foresee the predominant military importance which Montenegro has for Serbia, and which it will always have whenever the issue arises of Bosnia and Herzegovina breaking away from Turkey and joining Serbia. The campaign of this vojvoda at Sjenica and Novi Pazar is still well remembered by all Serbs, hence, it is not necessary that we marshal new arguments to support the following proposal : Let Serbia follow the example of Russia in Montenegro, and give the Metropolitan of Montenegro [Petar II Petrovic-Njegos] regular annual financial subsidies - in this way, for a small price, Serbia will have the friendship of a country which can, at the very least, raise an army of 10,000 mountain soldiers.
Finally we must observe that the deferment of this subsidy until the last minute will not produce the desired successful result, since Russia will justifiably be able to point to its own many annual subsidies, and in this way besmirch and arouse suspicion of Serbia's new proposal as the one made out of bare necessity; and the Montenegrins would then say : the Serbs did not help us when we were in need, which is proof to us that they are not our friends, but only wish to make a one-time use of us.
Srem, Backa, and Banat
At first glance it may be thought that Serbia must be on most friendly terms with those areas, since in origin, language, religion, law, and custom they are one and the same with the Serbs of Serbia. If this is not the case then the blame falls, in part at least, upon Serbia herself, because she has not tried enough to win the friendship of these Serbs. But it is to be hoped that despite all hostile influence of Austria this improper attitude will be changed in time and improved insomuch as the Principality of Serbia shall keep proving itself to be well organized, strong, just and enlightened state. - For the present, if nothing else, at least an effort should be made to become acquainted with the most important figures in these provinces, and to establish one important newspaper there which could, abiding by the Hungarian Constitution, act usefully in the interest of the Serbian cause and which should be edited by a very sincere man such as, for example, Mr. Hadzic or someone of the same calibre.
On tbe Alliance with the Czech Slavs
/Concerning these Slavs we will not say very much at this time not only because they do not fall within the scope of this plan but also because to the many it would seem at first to be impractical. Therefore, passing over this briefly and leaving the benefits of such an alliance to be derived from the very realization of this plan, we limit ourselves only to make the recommendation that we must begin making Serbia aware of the Slavs of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, and do this very cautiously and sagely so as not to arouse Austria's suspicions./
Previously published in: Balkanica, vol. XXV-1, Belgrade 1994, pp. 157-183.
Dusan T. Batakovic
dtbatak [at] eunet.yu
(translated from Serbian by D.T. Batakovic)
Serbia must place herself in the ranks of other European states, creating a plan for her future or composing, so to speak, a long-term domestic policy to the principles of which she should firmly adhere, and according to which she should conduct herself and decide steadily all her affairs.
Movement and agitation among the Slavs has already begun and will, indeed, never cease. Serbia must well understand this movement along with the role or the assignment which she will have in it.
If Serbia ponders well enough what she is, and what her position is, and what are the peoples that surround her, she will realize that she is still very small, that she must not remain in such position, and that only through alliance with other neighbouring peoples can she fulfil the tasks for her future.
From this knowledge the plan and the foundation originate of Serbia's policy /which does not limit Serbia to her present borders, but endeavours to attach to her all the neighbouring Serbian peoples./
If Serbia does not vividly pursue this policy /and, worse still, if she rejects it/ failing to prepare a well-made plan fit for this assignment, she will be buffetted to and fro like a small vessel by the alien tempests until finally she will be broken into pieces on some huge reef.
What we wish and attempt to do here is to contribute somewhat and prepare the plan of Serbian policy abiding by its natural demands.
The Policy of Serbia
The Ottoman Empire /must/ disintegrate and this disintegration can only occur in two possible ways:
1. either it will be partitioned, or
2. it will be rebuilt anew by its Christian inhabitants.
Observations on tbe Partition of tbe (Ottoman) Empire/
We do not wish to comment extensively on this subject, but shall limit ourselves merely to observe that Austria and Russia must play the principal roles in this event since they are neighbouring and contiguous powers.
These two powers could easily agree and decide who is to receive certain lands and regions and where their borders shall lie. Austria can only aspire to rule over the western provinces, while Russia can only aspire to conquer the eastern ones. /Therefore, if/ a straight line were to be drawn from Vidin to Salonika, this question might be solved to the satisfaction of both parties.
Thus, in the event of a partition all the Serbs would fall into the Austrian portion.
Austria and Russia know well enough that the Ottoman Empire as such will not enjoy a long future. Therefore, both states are making use of this opportunity to extend their borders as quickly as possible. Both also work in every way to forestall and prevent the emergence of another Christian empire in place of the Ottoman Empire; for then, the fond hope and pleasant prospect would disappear for Russia of seizing and holding Constantinople, which has been her most cherished plan since Peter the Great; and Austria would then be in terrifying danger of losing her South Slavs.
Thus, Austria must, under all circumstances, keep being the enemy of a Serbian state. For the Serbs, then, agreement and understanding with Austria is a political impossibility; for thus she would tight the rope around her neck herself.
Only Austria and Russia are able to foster the collapse and partition of the Ottoman Empire. They are seeing to that. For many years, Russia has been preparing the ground for that situation. Austria cannot now do otherwise than to assist her and seek something for herself, as she did at the partition of Poland. Naturally, all the other powers, under the leadership of France and England, are opposed to the expansion and enlargement of Russia and Austria. They would probably consider as the most suitable means for forestalling such partition, the conversion of the Ottoman Empire into a new and independent /Christian/ state which would occupy the vacuum left by the Turkish collapse, offering the sole means to maintain the balance of Europe in its entirety. Other way out cannot be expected.
The Serbian state which has already seen its good start, but must strive to expand and become stronger, has its roots and firm foundation in the Serbian Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries and in the glorious and rich Serbian history. /It is known from this history/ that the Serbian rulers began to assume the position held by the Greek [Byzantine] Empire and almost succeeded in making an end of it in order to replace the collapsed Eastern Roman Empire with a Serbian-Slavic Empire. Emperor Dusan the Mighty had even adopted the coat-of-arms of the Greek Empire. The arrival of the Turks in the Balkans interrupted this enterprise, and prevented it from taking place for a long time; but now, since the Turkish power is broken and almost destroyed, the same spirit should act again, claim its rights anew, and continue the enterprise interrupted.
These foundations and walls of the Serbian Empire, therefore, must be cleared of all ruins and debris, and brought to light, so that a new edifice may be constructed on this solid and durable historical foundation. Such an enterprise will be endowed with inestimable importance and great prestige among all the nations and their cabinets; for then we Serbs shall appear before the world as the true heirs of our illustrious forefathers, doing nothing new but restoring their legacy. Hence, our present will not be without a link to the past, but they will make an interdependent, integrated, and well-ordered whole; thus, the Serbdom, its nationality and the life of its state stand under the protection of the sacred historical right. Our aspirations cannot be reproached as something novel and unfounded, as revolution and coup; but all must acknowledge that they are politically necessary, grounded in ancient ages, and embedded in the state and national life of the Serbian people whose roots continually send forth branches to blossom anew.
If we consider the revival of the Serbian Empire from this standpoint, then other South Slavs will easily understand this idea and accept it with joy; for probably in no European country is the memory of the historical past so vivid as among the Slavs of Turkey, for whom the recollection is intense and faithful of the celebrated figures and events of their history. Therefore, it may be counted as certain that this enterprise will be readily accepted among the people, making unnecessary decades of activity among them, just in order to prepare them to understand utility and value of an independent administration.
The Serbs were the first, of all the Slavs of Turkey, to struggle for their freedom with their own resources and strength; therefore, they have the first and foremost right to further direct this endeavour. Even now in many places, and in certain cabinets, it is anticipated and expected that a great future is imminent for the Serbs, and it is this fact which has attracted the attention of entire Europe. If we thought of Serbia as merely a principality, which she is now, and if this principality were not the nucleus of a future Serbian Empire, then the world would concern itself no more with Serbia than it did with the Moldavian and Wallachian principalities where there is no principle of independent life and which it considers only as Russian pendants.
A new Serbian state in the south could give Europe every guarantee that it would be distinguished and vital, capable of maintaining itself between Austria and Russia. The geographic position of the country, its topography, abundance of natural resources, the combative spirit of its inhabitants, their sublime and ardent national feeling, their common origin and the same language - all indicates its stability and promising future.
On the Means By Which Serbian Goal May Be Attained
When the goal is firmly determined, and steadfastly and vividly pursued, then /a capable government/ can easily and quickly find the means neccessary for its attainment, /for the Serbian people are so good that with them everything may be reasonably achieved./
1. Initial Means
In order to determine what can be accomplished, and how to proceed, the government must know the conditions and circumstances /of the peoples residing in the surrounding provinces./ This is the first prerequisite for exactly determining the means. Accordingly, it will be necessary, above all, to send sharp and unprejudiced people, loyal to the government, as investigators of the conditions of those lands and peoples, and the former /would be required/ to give exact written reports upon their return. /It is especially necessary to be informed/ on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and northern Albania. /At the same time the exact situation in Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia must be learned and, of course, this includes the peoples in Srem, Banat, and the Backa as well./
These agents must be provided with instructions on how to circulate and pass through these lands. They must be informed, /among other things,/ which places and persons they should pay particular attention to. Besides these factual instructions, they should be given a general instruction that would contain the following points which they will be required to carry out:
1. They should judge the political situation of the designated country, especially its political currents; gather data which will enable better aquaintance with the people, their feelings and their innermost desires; but above all, they should indicate what must be considered as an already recognized and publicly expressed popular demand.
2. Special scrutiny must be attached to the military condition of the country and people, such as its martial spirit, armament, the size and disposition of the regular army; the location of military stores and arsenals; the location of industries for wartime demands, such as food and armament; or where they come from and enter the country etc.
3. They should compose description or evaluation, and the list of the most important and influential men in the country, not excluding potential opponents /of Serbia/.
4. The attitude of people in every province toward Serbia and their expectations from her must be observed, along with what they want from her or fear of.
These instructions, naturally, must seek to learn what every agent has to say so far about the ongoing Serbian policy, as well as what hopes may be awaken and how the attention and regard, particularly of Serbia's friends, should be centered.
First of All to Define our Relations to Bulgaria
Bulgaria is the closest of all the Slavic countries to the glorious capital of the Ottoman Empire [Constantinople], and the greatest part of this country is easily accessible; most of the important military positions of the Turks, and more than half of their army are located here. In no other European country does the Turk feel so secure and more a master than in this one; the Bulgarians are deprived of all weapons; they have learned to submit and work - submissiveness and diligence have become their second nature. However, this observation must not prevent us from recognizing their true value, or lead us, which is worse still, to become contemptuous of them. It is an unfortunate fact that the Bulgarians, though they are the largest branch of the Slavic peoples living in Turkey, possess almost no confidence in their own strength, but it is only upon the stimulus coming from foreign countries [Russia] that they would dare attempt to liberate themselves. It is Russia that they look upon as the power which wishes and can do the most for their liberation. (Apart from the fact that Russia would only act in her own interests and would certainly replace the Turkish yoke with an even more oppressive one of her own), she would not venture, as we have already seen, on direct military aid of the Bulgarians, because Europe is aware of the true purpose of these allegedly benevolent Russian intentions toward Turkey; indeed, a general European war would ensue if Russia would want to cross the Danube once more. For this reason, Russia acts through others to accomplish what she is unable to attain directly. Prince Michael was, in this respect, her involuntary instrument, and she will, beyond any doubt, wish to return to her former plan which she has already started to effect through Prince Michael.
Since the government of Prince Alexander [Karadjordjevic] does not possess the confidence of Russia, for it does not permit itself to be used as a blind tool, Russia is forced to work for the overthrow of the present government in order to establish another government which would enable her to achieve her goals.
All attempts to deceive Russia and to convince her that the present government will follow her plan, would be foredoomed to failure. /Once Russia sees for herself/ that in Serbia an independent national spirit is awakening, she will not believe any proposals, because /Russia is much too clever to allow herself into a trap which is opposed to her designs/. Furthermore, it may well be thought that any attempts by Serbia to establish a close alliance and agreement with the other Slavs in Turkey, would be betrayed by Russia, if she only learnt about them, to Turkey, Austria and others, with the sole purpose to convince Europe that it is not Russia but rebellious and opposing Serbia who is encouraging such revolts. But, in spite of it all, Russia would be glad to receive information about these agreements in order to learn their trace and evolvement, and little by little, to gain control of them for her own aims.
The more independent Serbia becomes the less confidence Russia will have in her, and if Russia is not able /to change the situation in Serbia and destroy her independent policy/, then she will certainly endeavour to turn all the Slavs of Turkey away from Serbia, to divide them and keep them in disagreement so that she may deal with and enter into agreement with each (Slavic) branch separately. If, then, Serbia does not prove to be more active and enterprising than Russia, she will be defeated and left behind by the latter.
In this enterprise we must guard against illusion. Russia will never demean herself before Serbia, and if she sees that Serbia will not serve her devotedly and unconditionally, then she will reject every condition proudly and contemptuously. Even the sage advice of her own diplomats - men such as (Russian envoyé baron) Lieven - has been fiercly rejected precisely because they suggested only temporary concessions; is it feasible, then, to believe that she will appear to be more yielding to foreigners than to her own faithful servants? - Finally, if Russia does not find in Serbia anyone who would unconditionally serve her wishes, then, she will not hesitate to ally and work with those who would be willing to serve her only under certain conditions /for, after all, she could never give up Serbia completely/; but as long as she can find people in Serbia that would obey and serve her unconditionally, she will prefer such Serbs to true patriots.
Russia will not allow such a small state like Serbia to set conditions; she demands her advice to be obeyed unconditionally as commands, and those who wish to carry out her will must submit to her completely. It is true that sometimes she appeares to accept all who agree to serve her, but she does not employ them in anything, as some of them do not possess her confidence, so that such conduct of hers removes any possibility of deceiving her.
If Serbia wishes to come out from her present subordinate position and become a true state, she must endeavour, on her way towards independence, to take over the political power of Turkey by destroying it little by little; for this is the point upon which Serbian and Russian policies clash, because Russia also seeks to weaken the political power of the Ottoman Empire. However, despite this correspondence between the two policies, it does not necessarily follow that the aims and intentions of both are the same, or that their policies must be in harmony.
/In brief/: Serbia must endeavour to break down, but only stone by stone, the edifice of the Ottoman state, preserving its good material in order to erect, upon the solid foundation of the old Serbian Empire, a great new Serbian state. Even now while Serbia is yet under the Turkish rule, the work of preparation and modification can be carried out, because such enterprise cannot be undertaken and finished at the last moment.
We have spoken here in detail about the nature of Russian and Serbian policies, precisely because Bulgaria is the country in which Serbian and Russian influences primarily and largely are to come into contact.
We have discussed and demonstrated here why Serbian policy is not able to agree with Russian; however, it must be said that with no other could Serbia attain her aim easier than through an agreement with Russia; but this can occur only when Russia would agree to accept completely and absolutely the conditions of Serbia through which the aforermentioned intention, that is, her future in a broad sense, would be assured. An alliance between Serbia and Russia would, indeed, be the most natural one, but its conclusion would depend upon Russia herself, while Serbia should accept it with open arms, but only when it has been clearly established that Russia's proposals are sincere and open-hearted; this can only come about when Russia abandons her present policy, that is, when she decides that an alliance with Serbia, no matter how small she may be, is more natural than the one with Austria for whose sake she keeps the Western Slavs. Although I do not hope that Russia will ever be sincerely inclined towards Serbia, it is, nevertheless, necessary to mention here of what benefit such an occurrence might be for Serbia, who should immediately make use of it, for whatever has been said against Russia, it was not out of hate, but out of neccessity into which Russia herself has forced us by so many of her actions.
/A few more words about Bulgaria and then we will proceed further./ If we have learnt well the disposition of people's spirit in Bulgaria, and if our respect for her patriotic means is not too low, then we must conclude that a greater effort for its liberation from Turkish yoke is still far away. And again, that is where Russia's primary aspirations are directed to, because this country lies directly before the gates of Constantinople and in her road toward it; but Bulgaria has the same location and importance for Serbia that it has for Russia. If Russia keeps acting in Bulgaria for only a few years more the way she has been acting lately, and if Serbia let her act without doing anything herself, then Russia will indeed achieve such success that Serbian influence in Bulgaria will become useless. Let this be a warning and sign for Serbia, and never let her forget that a political friendship may be expected only if we have already showed and proved our love for the friends. Serbia must do something for Bulgaria because love and help need to be mutual.
After we have briefly indicated our attitide towards present Bulgaria and her great importance for Serbia, and after few words about the Russian influence that dominates there, we shall proceed to give an outline of some initial means for establishing the Serbian influence.
1. The Bulgarians do not possess educational and pedagogical institutions, therefore, Serbia should open her schools to the Bulgarians and grant scholarships to some of young Bulgarians who are studying in Serbia.
2. The Bulgarian clergy is mainly Greek, and not of Bulgarian nationality; therefore, it would be desirable and useful if a certain number of young Bulgars were trained in theology in Serbia and then returned as priests to their people and homeland.
3. Bulgarian liturgic and other religious books, together with other Bulgarian works, should be printed in Serbia; this important means has long been used by Russia, and Serbia must see to surpass her in that respect.
4. Reliable and capable people must be sent to travel through Bulgaria, who would draw the attention of the Bulgarian people to Serbia, awakening in them the feelings of friendship toward Serbia and the Serbian government, as well as hopes that Serbia will truely aid their liberation and provide for their welfare.
On tbe Policy of Serbia Towards Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Northern Albania
When we take into closer consideration the topography and geographical position of these lands, togehter with the military traditions of their inhabitants, their mentality and ways of thinking, we will easily come to the conclusion that this is the part of Turkey upon which Serbia can exert the greatest influence. The continuous determination and organization of this infuence seems to us to be the main task of Serbian policy in Turkey for the moment [1844].
1. When two neighbouring peoples wish to conclude a close and intimate alliance their borders must be opened as much as possible so that continuous communication is most facilitated and stimulated. But Serbia seems to be separating herself from her co-nationals in Turkey as if by a Chinese wall, opening communications points in so few places that there are houses in bigger towns that have more doors for entry than the entire Principality of Serbia. Therefore, without reducing the border guard, we are to increase the number of points of contact, entry, and departure along the Serbian border with Bosnia. /And why not with Bulgaria as well ?/
The established system of separation might have been purposeful at the time; but to further maintain it, would be the same as shutting Serbia in and isolating her, which is in utter opposition to her future and prosperity.
2. We should act in such a manner that the two peoples, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, could reach mutual understanding and an agreement about their national policy, for only then can this policy be successfully brought into effect.
It is the duty of Serbia to propose the basic points of this policy to both parts of the people residing there, because she is able to act in this enterprise, and obliged to, owing to the years of experience and the diplomatically recognized rights. - One of the main points is: the principle of complete freedom of religion. This principle will satisfy all Christians, and who knows, in time it may become acceptable to some Muslims as well. But the most important and fundamental law of the state must be determined as follows: that the princedom must be instituted as hereditary. Without this principle which is the very embodiment of state unity, an enduring and permanent state union between Serbia and her neighbours is unthinkable.
If the Bosnians do not accept this solution the unevitable consequence would be the fragmentation of Serbdom into small provincial principalities under separate ruling families who would doubtless soon fall under the sway of foreign influences, because there would arise rivalry and envy between them. These families could never be led to sacrifice their personal interests for another family, even when the advancement of all these peoples would depend upon such a sacrifice.
/From these basic points it follows that if an attempt were made to effect any change in Bosnia prior to this general unification of Serbdom, such a change should be effected only in such a manner as to serve as a preparation for the general unification of all Serbs and their provinces into one whole; and this would be the only way in which the aims and interests common to all Serbs may be realized. - Therefore, I here emphasize Serbia merely because she alone is able to prepare that change, and being obliged to constantly work on it until the time will come to bring this plan to completion, Serbia will keep trying to make that time come./ - Thus, whoever is solicitious for the welfare of this people must not propose a hereditary princedom to the Bosnians. /In that case/, the most important figures should be elected among all the people, and not for life, but only for a certain time during which they would function as a sort of council. Even with such a separate and provincial authority the road would be open for advancement; it would then be an easy matter for Serbia eventually to bring about a closer union with Bosnia, which would be both possible and likely.
The third basic principle of this policy is that of unity of nationalities, whose diplomatic representative is to be the government of the Principality of Serbia. Whenever the validity of this principle is in question, it is to the governement that the Bosnians and other Slavs should turn to for protection and every assistance. Serbia, in this respect, must realize that she is the natural protector of all the Slavs living in Turkey, and that other Slavs will only concede her that right when she takes upon herself the duty of doing and saying something in their name. If Serbia sets to her neighbours bad and unfortunate example that she thinks only of herself without caring about the troubles or advancement of others, but being indifferent to them, then they would certainly follow such an example, and would not listen to her; thus, harmony and unity would be replaced by distrust, envy and misfortune.
3. Not only that all fundamental laws, the Constitution and all major institutions of the Principality of Serbia should be promoted among the people in Bosnia /and Herzegovina/, but a number of young Bosnians should be accepted into the Serbian officialdom to be operatively trained for political and financial profession, for law and public education, so that later these officials could apply in their own homeland what they have learned in Serbia. /Here it must be particularly observed that these young people should be specially supervised and educated in such a manner that their work becomes completely imbued by the redeeming idea of a general unification and great advancement. This obligation cannot be sufficiently emphasized./
4. /Special attention must be paid to diverting the peoples of the Roman Catholic faith from Austria and her influence, and their greater inclination towards Serbia should be fostered. This goal could be best achieved through the Franciscans there; the most important among them must be won over to the idea of the union of Bosnia and Serbia. To this end/, publishing of some prayer books and hymnals in the printing office of Belgrade should be ordered; also, liturgical books for Orthodox Christians and anthologies of popular poems which would be paralelly printed in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets; as a third step, a short and comprehensive history of Bosnia could be printed, in which the names and glory must not be omitted of several Bosnians who had converted to Muslim faith. It goes without saying that this history should be written in the spirit of the Slavic nationality and entirely in the spirit of the national unity of Serbs and Bosnians. Through the printing of these and similar patriotic works, /as well as through other necessary actions which should be reasonably determined and supervised/ Bosnia would be liberated from the influence of Austria and incline more to Serbia. In this way Croatia and Dalmatia would also procure books which cannot be printed in Austria, and this would naturally result in a closer relationship of these lands with Bosnia and Serbia. /Special attention should be given to this enterprise by entrusting the writing of the aforementioned history to a capable and deeply discerning person./
5. The entire foreign trade of Serbia is in the hands of Austria. /This is a misfortune whose exact consequences I shall leave the financial experts to determine, while I shall merely cite those facts that add to the importance of this plan./
Direct trade contact with foreign states through Zemun [Semlin] will always be a distressing affair. Consequently, Serbia must secure a new trade route which will connect her with the sea and provide her with a port. For the present, the only route possible is the one which leads through Skadar [Scutari] to Ulcinj. Here the Serbian merchant with his natural products would recognize natural Dalmatian seamen and traders as his nationals, but also as clever and capable people who would give him a hand honestly and efficiently when purchasing foreign wares. It is necessary therefore to establish a Serbian trade agency there to protect the selling of Serbian products and the buying of French and English goods.
For this work the government would have to take the first step providing for and appointing a commercial agent to Ulcinj who would instruct the Serbian merchant, as if pointing with his forefinger, where he should direct his attention. /This agent, entering into contact with our country's traders, would have to thouroghly explore a way to direct our trade towards favorable avenues abroad, and once the government makes certain of their benefit, it may publish such information through the newspapers, indicating to our traders the areas with lucrative prospects./ Even if only a few traders succeed in conducting good business at the outset, others would quickly follow their example, and /little by little this avenue of trade would be opened without the government having to forever concern itself about the matter; for merchants would themselves open routes of business, leaving the government's agents with their only concern to keep our merchants safe from any kind of oppression/. - From the foregoing it would follow that the price of Serbian products exported to the south would rise in the north, while the price of the products introduced into Serbia from the north would fall because of the competition with the products from the south. In a word, the Serb would in this way sell high and buy cheap.
This measure would be of no less importance in a political sense, since the new Serbian agent would find himself among a Serbian population, which situation would result in a stronger influence of Serbia upon the northern Albanians and Montenegro, and these are the peoples who actually hold the keys to the gates of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the Adriatic Sea. We are assured that the institution and establishment of such Serbian agency there would be understood by these poples as a political act of inestimable importance on the part of Serbia, so that a closer union of the people of those provinces with Serbia would be an easy matter.
Not only that France and England would not be opposed to this, but they would even support it, whereas the Porte also would not be opposed to it because its only harbour would prosper as a result.
6. Gaining a greater influence over the Eastern Orthodox Bosnians will not be a difficult task for Serbia. However, more caution and attention must be exercised if the Bosnian Catholics are to be won over. At their head are the Franciscans. - Therefore, would it not be advisable if, in addition to the printing of books hitherto mentioned, one of these Bosnian friars were to be appointed to the Belgrade Lycée as professor of Latin or some other science. This professor could serve as an intermediary between Serbia and the Catholics of Bosnia, because such a step would be our first reassuring gesture and a proof of tolerance. Could not this same Franciscan establish a Catholic chapel for Catholics residing here, /thereby Austrian influence upon the erection of such a chapel, which will have to be built sooner or later, would be obviated. The chapel could be placed under the protection of the French consul residing here/.
This would give the French government reason and occasion to participate actively in this affair, and would at the same time free Serbia from the danger of having in Belgrade a Catholic church which would be under the influence of Austria.
7. Karadjordje was a naturally gifted military leader of very great experience; he was not able to foresee the predominant military importance which Montenegro has for Serbia, and which it will always have whenever the issue arises of Bosnia and Herzegovina breaking away from Turkey and joining Serbia. The campaign of this vojvoda at Sjenica and Novi Pazar is still well remembered by all Serbs, hence, it is not necessary that we marshal new arguments to support the following proposal : Let Serbia follow the example of Russia in Montenegro, and give the Metropolitan of Montenegro [Petar II Petrovic-Njegos] regular annual financial subsidies - in this way, for a small price, Serbia will have the friendship of a country which can, at the very least, raise an army of 10,000 mountain soldiers.
Finally we must observe that the deferment of this subsidy until the last minute will not produce the desired successful result, since Russia will justifiably be able to point to its own many annual subsidies, and in this way besmirch and arouse suspicion of Serbia's new proposal as the one made out of bare necessity; and the Montenegrins would then say : the Serbs did not help us when we were in need, which is proof to us that they are not our friends, but only wish to make a one-time use of us.
Srem, Backa, and Banat
At first glance it may be thought that Serbia must be on most friendly terms with those areas, since in origin, language, religion, law, and custom they are one and the same with the Serbs of Serbia. If this is not the case then the blame falls, in part at least, upon Serbia herself, because she has not tried enough to win the friendship of these Serbs. But it is to be hoped that despite all hostile influence of Austria this improper attitude will be changed in time and improved insomuch as the Principality of Serbia shall keep proving itself to be well organized, strong, just and enlightened state. - For the present, if nothing else, at least an effort should be made to become acquainted with the most important figures in these provinces, and to establish one important newspaper there which could, abiding by the Hungarian Constitution, act usefully in the interest of the Serbian cause and which should be edited by a very sincere man such as, for example, Mr. Hadzic or someone of the same calibre.
On tbe Alliance with the Czech Slavs
/Concerning these Slavs we will not say very much at this time not only because they do not fall within the scope of this plan but also because to the many it would seem at first to be impractical. Therefore, passing over this briefly and leaving the benefits of such an alliance to be derived from the very realization of this plan, we limit ourselves only to make the recommendation that we must begin making Serbia aware of the Slavs of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, and do this very cautiously and sagely so as not to arouse Austria's suspicions./
Previously published in: Balkanica, vol. XXV-1, Belgrade 1994, pp. 157-183.
Dusan T. Batakovic
dtbatak [at] eunet.yu
THE EXPULSION OF THE ALBANIANS
Dr. V. CUBRILOVIC
Memorandum presented on March 7, 1937 in Belgrade
V. Cubrilovic and his memorandum "The Expulsion of the Arnauts"
Dr. Vaso Cubrilovic, academician of Yugoslavia, former political
adviser in the monarchic regime, was born in 1897. In 1914 he became
member of the "New Bosna" Serbian nationalist organization.He
graduated from the University of Belgrade, in which, since 1930, he
has been assistant, docent and then professor in the Faculty of
Philosophy.
After the Second World War, V. Cubrilovic was minister in various
departments of the government of the FSRY, member of the Academy of
Sciences and Art of Serbia, secretary of the sciences branch of this
academy. He is member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. In
1970 he held the post of director of the Institute of Balkanology in
Belgrade. On March 7, 1937, in Belgrade, he presented the royal
government of Stoyadinovic with his memorandum of "The Expulsion of
the Arnauts" [Albanians].
The expulsion of the Albanians
The problem of the Albanians in our national and state life did not
arise yesterday. It played a major role in our life in the Middle
Ages, but its importance became decisive by the end of the 17th
century, at the time when the masses of the Serbian people were
displaced northwards from their former ancestral territories of Raska
and were supplanted by the Albanian highlanders. Gradually the latter
came down from their mountains to the fertile plains of Metohija and
Kosovo. Penetrating to the north, they spread in the direction of
Southern and Western Morava and, crossing the Sar Mountain descended
toward Polog and, thence, in the direction of the Vardar. In this
way, by the 19th century, the Albanian triangle was formed, a wedge
which, based on its Debar- Rogozna axis in its ethnic rear,
penetrated as far into our territories as Nis and separated our
ancient territories of Raska from Macedonia and the Vardar Valley.
This Albanian wedge inhabited by the anarchist Albanian element
hampered any strong cultural, educational and economic connection
between our northern and southern territories in the 19th century.
This was the main reason why Serbia was unable, until 1878, when it
managed to establish and maintain continuous links with Macedonia,
through Vranje and the Black Mountain of Skopje, to exercise the
cultural and political influence on the Vardar Valley that was
anticipated because of the favorable geographical and road links and
the historical traditions in those regions. Although the Bulgarians
began their state life later than the Serbs, at first they had
greater success. This explains why there are permanent settlements of
southern Slavs from Vidin in the north to Ohrid In the south. Serbia
began to cut pieces off this Albanian wedge as early as the first
uprising, by expelling the northernmost Albanian inhabitants from
Jagodina. Thanks to the broad state concepts of Jovan Ristic, Serbia
cut another part off this wedge after the annexation of Toplica and
Kosanica. At that time, the regions between Jastrebac and Southern
Morava were radically cleared of the Albanians.
From 1918 onwards it was the task of our present state to destroy the
remainder of the Albanian triangle. It did not do this. There are
several reasons for this, but we shall mention only the most
important of them:
1. The fundamental mistake of the authorities in charge at that time
is that, forgetting where they were, they wanted to solve all the
major ethnic problems of the troubled and bleeding Balkans by Western
methods. Turkey brought to the Balkans the customs of the Sheriat,
according to which victory in war and the occupation of a country
confers the right to the lives and property of the subject
inhabitants. Even the Balkan Christians learned from the Turks that
not only state power and domination, but also home and property are
won and lost by the sword. This concept of the relations of private
ownership of land in the Balkans was to be softened to some extent
through laws, ordinances and international agreements issued under
pressure from Europe, but this concept has been to some degree the
main lever of the Turkish state and the Balkan states right to this
day. We do not need to refer to the distant past. We shall mention
only a few cases of recent times: the removal of Greeks from Asia
Minor to Greece and of Turks from Greece to Asia Minor, the recent
removal of Turks from Bulgaria and Rumania to Turkey. While all the
Balkan states, since 1912, have solved or are on the way to solving
the problems of national minorities through mass removals, we have
stuck to slow and sluggish methods of gradual colonization. The
results of this have been negative. That this is so is best shown in
the statistics from the 18 districts which comprise the Albanian
triangle. From these figures it emerges that in those regions the
natural growth of the Albanian population is greater than the total
increase in our population from natural growth plus new settlers
(from 1921 to 1931 the Albanian population increased by 68,060, while
the Serbs show an increase of 58,745 -- a difference of 9,315 in
favor of the Albanians). Taking into account the intractable
character of the Albanians, the pronounced increase in their numbers
and the ever-increasing difficulties of colonization by the old
methods, with the passage of time this disproportion will become even
greater and eventually put in question even those few successes we
have achieved in our colonization from 1918 onwards.
2. Even the method of gradual colonization was not properly applied.
Worse still, in a problem of such importance, there was no definite
state plan which every government and regime would have to adhere to
and implement. Work was intermittent, in fits and starts, each new
minister undid what his predecessor had done, while himself created
nothing solid. The laws and regulations were amended, but even weak
as they were, were not implemented. Some people, deputies especially
from other regions, when they could not manage to secure the mandate
in their own region, would go to the south and butter-up non-national
elements to gain the mandate, thus sacrificing the major national and
state interests. The colonization apparatus was extremely costly,
inflated and loaded with people who were not only incompetent but
also without scruple, so that their work truly constitutes a separate
problem. Finally, one need only total up the huge sums this state has
invested in colonization and divide them by the number of families
settled, to prove how costly every new household established since
the war has been, regardless of whether or not this expenditure was
met by the settlers themselves or by the state. Likewise, it would be
interesting to compare the amounts paid out for personal expenditure
and those for the materials used for our colonization. Serbia went
about this question quite differently in the past. Karageorge during
the first uprising, as well as Milos, Mihailo and Jovan Ristic had no
special ministry of land reform, general land inspectors, or costly
apparatus, and still they purged Serbia of foreign element,
populating it with its own people, who felled the endless forests of
Sumadija, which was transformed from its former rough state into the
fertile Sumadija of today.
3. Even those few thousand families that were settled after the war
did not establish themselves where they were placed. There was more
success in Kosovo, especially in the Lab Valley, where the Toplicans
penetrated of their own accord, from north to south. Our oldest and
most stable settlements, with elements from our different regions,
were established there. In Drenica and Metohija we had no success.
Colonization should never be done with Montenegrins alone. We do not
think that they are unsuitable as colonists, because of their
pastoral indolence. This applies only to first generation. The second
generation is quite different, more active and more practical.
Petrovo village in Miroc, above the Danube, the most advanced village
in Krajina is inhabitated exclusively by Montenegrins. In Serbia
today there are thousands of advanced economies, especially in
Toplica and Kosanica, which have been established by Montenegrins of
the first generation, who have mixed with more advanced elements.
This is especially valid for Metohija, where, being based directly on
their ancestral ground, the old customs managed to survive. A visit
to the coffee- houses of Pec is sufficient to convince one of this.
This is why our colonization has had so little success all over
Metohija. It must be admitted, on the other hand, that these colonies
have been poorly situated, on unfertile, scrub-covered land, and
almost totally lacking in the most essential agricultural implements.
But these should have been given more assistance than the others,
because they are made up of the poorest Montenegrin elements.
4. Without doubt, the main cause for the lack of success of our
colonization in those regions was that the best land remained in the
hands of the Albanians. The only possible way for our mass
colonization of those regions was to take the land from the
Albanians. After the war, at the time of the rebellion and actions of
the insurgents, this could have been achieved easy by expelling part
of the Albanian population to Albania, by not legalizing their
usurpations and by buying their pastures. Here we must return again
to the gross error of our post-war concept about the right to
possession of the land. Instead of taking advantage of the concept of
the Albanians themselves about their ownership of the land they had
usurped -- scarcely any of them had title-deeds issued by the Turks,
and those only for land purchased, to the detriment of our nation and
state, we not only legalized all these usurpations, but worse still,
accustomed the Albanians to West-European ideas about private
property. Prior to that, they could never have had these ideas. In
this way we ourselves handed them a weapon to defend themselves, to
keep the best land for themselves and make the nationalization of one
of the regions most important to us impossible.
From all this it is apparent that the methods of our colonization
policy in the south to date have not yielded the results which we
ought to have achieved and which now impose themselves on us as a
major state necessity. We have not criticized these methods merely
for the sake of criticism, but so that, on the basis of experience,
we can find the right ways to solve this problem.
The problem of the colonization of the southern regions
Reading the first part of this paper, one immediately observes that,
in examining the problem of the colonization of the southern regions,
the issue is mainly about the regions to the north and south of the
Sar Mountain. This is not accidental. This block of Albanians around
the Sar Mountain has great national, state and strategic importance
for our state. We have already mentioned the way it came into
existence and the importance of this region for linking the regions
around the Vardar Valley firmly with our ancient territories. The
greatest force of the Serbian expansion ever since the beginnings of
the first Serb state in the 9th century has always been based on the
continuity of this expansion, as well as on the expansion of the
ancient territories of Raska in all directions, hence including its
expansion towards the south. This continuity has been interrupted by
the Albanians and, until the ancient uninterrupted connection of
Serbia and Montenegro with Macedonia along the whole of its extent
from the Drin River to Southern Morava is re-established, we will not
be secure in our possession of this territory. From the ethnic
standpoint the Macedonians will fully unite with us only when they
enjoy true ethnic support from the Serbian motherland, which they
have lacked to this day. This they will achieve only through the
destruction of the Albanian block. From the military-strategic
standpoint, the Albanian block occupies one of the most important
positions in our country -- the starting point from which the Balkan
rivers flow to the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the Aegean. The
holding of this strategic position, to a large degree, determines the
fate of the Central Balkans, especially the fate of the main Balkan
communication line from Morava to Vardar. It is no accident that many
battles of decisive importance for the destiny of the Balkans
(Nemanja against the Greeks, the Serbs against the Turks in 1389,
Hunyadi against the Turks in 1446) have been fought here. In the 20th
century, only that country which is inhabited by its own people can
be sure of its security; therefore it is an imperative duty for all
of us that we should not allow these positions of such strategic
importance to be in the hands of the hostile and alien element. The
more so since this element has the support of a national state of the
same race. Today this state is powerless, but even in this condition,
it has become a base of Italian imperialism, which aims to use it to
penetrate into the heart of our state. Our clement, which will be
willing and able to defend its own land and its state, is the most
reliable means against this penetration.
Besides this block of 18 districts, the Albanians and other national
minorities in the other parts of the southern regions are dispersed
and, therefore, not so dangerous to our national and state life. To
nationalize the regions around the Sar Mountain means to bury any
irredentism for ever. to ensure our power in these territories for
ever.
The colonization from the north should be reduced in the regions
inhabited by Macedonians. In these regions land is scarce, they are
passive regions and, for this reason, the Macedonians resist the flow
of settlers from the north, the more so because in these actions they
see our distrust towards them. The truth is that even that small
degree of colonization does us more harm than good. If people are to
be sent down there, south of the Black Mountain of Skopje, they
should be people from Vranje, Leskovac, who are closer to the
Macedonians in mentality and culture, and by no means people of the
Dinaric region with their irritable, uncontrolled temperament,
because such elements arouse the hatred of the local people. We
repeat that this problem will be solved only when our colonies,
advancing from the north, through Kosovo and Metohija, towards the
Sar Mountain, Polog, meet the Macedonian settlements.
The problem of the Sandjak of Novi Pazar is solving itself and is no
longer playing the role it played in our state life until 1912. We
shall only mention that with the removal of the Albanians, the last
link between our Moslems in Bosna and Novi Pazar and the rest of the
Moslem world is cut. They are becoming religious minorities, the only
Moslem minority in the Balkans, and this fact will accelerate their
nationalization. Recently Montenegro has become a very grave problem.
The poor land cannot sustain the population, but despite the removal,
this increased by 16 per cent from 1912 to 1931. Through the
centuries, this turbulent pastoral element has contributed essential
features to our race. Channelled in the right directions, their
energies will not be destructive, but can be employed to the general
benefit of the state, if they are directed to the southeast.
Summing-up:
The Albanians cannot be repulsed by means of gradual colonization
alone; they are the only people who, during the last millennium,
managed not only to resist the nucleus of our state -- Raska and
Zeta, but also to harm us, by pushing our ethnic borders northwards
and eastwards. Whereas in the last millennium our ethnic borders were
shifted to Subotica in the north and Kupa in the northwest, the
Albanians drove us from the Skadar and its region, the former capital
city of Bodin, from Metohija and Kosovo. The only way and the only
means to cope with them is the brute force of an organized state, in
which we have always been superior to them. If since 1912 we have had
no success in the struggle against them, we are to blame for this, as
we have not used this power as we should have done. It is not
possible to speak of any national assimilation of the Albanians in
our favor. On the contrary, because they base themselves on Albania,
their national awareness is awakened and if we do not settle accounts
with them at the proper time, within 20-30 years we shall have to
cope with a terrible irredentism, the signs of which are already
apparent and which will inevitably put all our southern territories
in jeopardy.
The international problem of colonization
If we proceed from the assumption that to gradual displacement of the
Albanians through our gradual colonization is ineffective, then we
are left with only one course -- that of their mass resettlement. In
this case we must consider two states -- Albania and Turkey.
With its sparse population, its many undrained swamps and
uncultivated river valleys Albania would be in a position to admit
some hundred thousand Albanians from our country. With its large and
uninhabited and uncultivated territories in Asia Minor and Kurdistan,
modern Turkey has almost boundless possibilities for internal
colonization. However, despite all the efforts of Kemal Ataturk, the
Turks have not yet filled the vacuum created as a result of the
removal of the Greeks from Asia Minor to Greece and some of the Kurds
to Persia. Hence the greatest possibilities are that the bulk of our
displaced Albanians might be sent there.
First we stress that we should not limit ourselves to diplomatic
steps with the Ankara Government only, but should employ all means to
convince Tirana to accept some of our displaced people. I believe
that this will come up against difficulties in Tirana, because Italy
will try to hinder this process. However, money plays a great role in
Tirana. In the talks about this question, the Albanian Government
should be informed that we shall stop at nothing to achieve the final
solution to this question, while at the same time, we should tell
them about the subsidies for colonization, over which no control will
be exercised: eventually, through secret channels, the notables in
Tirana may be persuaded by material gain to raise no opposition to
this whole business.
As we have heard, Turkey has agreed to accept about 200.000 of our
displaced people initially, on condition that they are Albanians,
something which is most advantageous to us. We must comply with this
desire of Turkey readily and sign a convention about the resettlement
of the Albanian population as soon as possible. In connection with
the resettlement of the Albanian population we must study the
conventions which Turkey has signed recently on these questions with
Greece, Rumania and Bulgaria, paying attention to two things: that
Turkey should accept the largest possible contingent, while from the
financial aspect it should be given the maximum assistance,
especially in the matter of organizing their transportation as
quickly as possible. Undoubtedly this problem will give rise to some
international concern, which is inevitable in such cases. Over the
last hundred years, whenever such actions have taken place in the
Balkans, there has always been some power which has protested because
such an action did not conform to its interests. In the present
instance, Albania and Italy may make some protest. As to Albania, we
have already pointed out that attempts should be made to conclude a
convention with it over this problem and if we do not achieve this,
we should at least secure its silence over the question of the
removal of the Albanians to Turkey. We repeat that skilful action and
money properly used in Tirana may be decisive in this matter. World
opinion -- especially that financed by Italy, will be upset a little.
Nevertheless, the world today has grown used to things much worse
than this and is so preoccupied with day-today problems that this
aspect should not be a cause for concern. At a time when Germany can
expel tens of thousands of Jews and Russia can shift millions of
people from one part of the continent to another, the shifting of a
few hundred thousand Albanians will not lead to the outbreak of a
world war. However, those who decide should know what they want and
persist in achieving this, regardless of the possible international
obstacles.
Italy, no doubt, will raise more difficulties, but at present it is
extremely occupied with its own problems in connection with Abyssinia
and Austria and will not dare go very far in its opposition. To tell
the truth. the greatest danger lies in the possibility that our great
allies, France and Britain, might interfere. They must be given the
cool and resolute answer that the security of the Morava-Vardar line
is in their interests, a thing which was confirmed during the last
great war, and it will be made more secure, both for them and for us,
only when we completely dominate the regions around the Sar Mountain
and Kosovo from the ethnic aspect.
The mode of removal
As we have already stressed, the mass removal of the Albanians from
their triangle is the only effective course for us. To bring about
the relocation of a whole population the first prerequisite is the
creation of a suitable psychosis. It can be created in many ways.
As is known, the Moslem masses, in general, are very readily
influenced, especially by religion, are superstitious and fanatical.
Therefore, first of all we must win over their clergy and men of
influence, through money or threats, to support the relocation of the
Albanians. Agitators to advocate this removal must be found, as
quickly as possible, especially from Turkey, if it will provide them
for us. They must describe the beauties in the new territories in
Turkey, the easy and pleasant life there, kindle religious fanaticism
and awaken pride in the Turkish state among the masses. Our press can
be of colossal help by describing the gentle removal of Turks from
Dobruja and how well they have settled down in the new regions. These
descriptions would create the necessary predisposition to shift among
the mass of Albanians here.
Another means would be coercion by the state apparatus. The law must
be enforced to the letter so as to make staying intolerable for the
Albanians: fines, imprisonments, the ruthless application of all
police dispositions, such as on the prohibition of smuggling, cutting
forests, damaging agriculture, leaving dogs unchained, compulsory
labor and any other measure that an experienced police force can
contrive. From the economic aspect: the refusal to recognize the old
land deeds, the work with the land register should immediately
include the ruthless collection of taxes and the payment of all
private and public debts, the requisitioning of all state and
communal pastures, the cancellation of concessions, the withdrawal of
permits to exercise a profession, dismissal from state, private, and
communal offices etc will hasten the process of their removal. Health
measures: the brutal application of all the dispositions even in the
homes, the pulling down of encircling walls and high hedges around
the houses, the rigorous application of veterinary measures, which
will result in impeding the sale of livestock on the market etc also
can be applied in an effective and practical way. When it comes to
religion the Albanians are very touchy, therefore, they must be
harassed on this score, too. This can be achieved through ill-
treatment of their clergy, the destruction of their cemeteries, the
prohibition of polygamy, and especially the inflexible application of
the law compelling girls to attend elementary schools, wherever they
are.
Private initiative, too, can assist greatly in this direction. We
should distribute weapons to our colonists, as need be. The old forms
of Chetnik action should be organized and secretly assisted. In
particular, a tide of Montenegrins should be launched from the
mountain pastures, in order to create the large-scale conflict with
the Albanians in Metohija. This conflict should be prepared by means
of our trusted people. It should be encouraged, and this can be done
more easily since, in fact, the Albanians have revolted, while the
whole affair should be presented as a conflict between clans and, if
need be, ascribed to economic reasons. Finally, local riots can be
incited. These will be bloodily suppressed with the most effective
means, but by colonists from the Montenegrin clans and the Chetniks,
rather than by means of the army.
There remains one more means, which Serbia employed with great
practical effect after 1878, that is, by secretly burning down
Albanian villages and city quarters.
The organization of the removal
From the attached map(1) it is apparent what regions must be cleared.
They are: Upper Debar, Lower Polog, Upper Polog. Sar Mountain,
Drenica, Pec, Istok, Vucitrin, Stavica, Lab, Gracanica, Nerodimje,
Dakovica, Podgor, Gora, Podrinje, Gilan, and Kacanik. Among these
regions, which, together comprise the Albanian wedge, the most
important for us at present are: Pec, Dakovica, Podrinja, Gora(2),
Podgor, Sar, Istok and Drenica -- north of the Sar Mountain, as well
as Upper Debar and the two Pologs in the south and the Sar Mountain.
These are border-regions which must be cleared of Albanians at any
cost. The internal regions such as Kacanik, Gilan, Nerodimje,
Gracanica, Lab, Vucitrin etc must be weakened if possible, especially
that of Kacanik and Lab, while the others should be gradually and
systematically colonized over a period of decades.
The above-mentioned means should be used in the first place in the
border regions, if we wish to clear them of Albanians.
During the resettlement the following must be kept in mind: In the
first place, resettlement should begin in the villages and then in
towns. Being more compact, the villages are more dangerous. Then, the
mistake of removing only the poor should be avoided: the middle and
rich strata make up the backbone of every nation, therefore they,
too, must be persecuted and driven out. Lacking the support which
their economically independent compatriots have, the poor submit more
quickly.
1. The author of the memorandum attaches to the document a concrete
map of the regions which should be cleared.
2. Dragash
This question has great importance, and I emphasize this because one
of the main causes for the lack of success of our colonization in the
south is that the poor were expelled while the rich remained, thus we
were no further forward, because we gained very little land for the
settlement of our colonists. During the creation of the psychosis for
the resettlement, everything possible must be done to send off whole
villages, or at least whole families. The situation that part of the
family is shifted while others remain behind, must be prevented at
all cost. Our state is not going to spend millions to make life
easier for the Albanians, but to get rid of as many of them as
possible. For this reason the purchase of the land of the Albanians
who shift by those who remain behind must be absolutely prohibited.
The shifting of individuals and whole villages must be linked with
this question, if they want things made easy for them during the
process of the relocation.
Once they agree to shift, all-round aid should be given them. The
administrative procedure should be simplified, their property should
be paid for on the spot, travel documents should be issued without
the least formality, and they should be assisted to get to the
nearest railway station; trains should be made available for them, as
far as Salonica, and thence they should be immediately shipped to
Asia. It is very important that the journey should be easy,
comfortable and cheap. Possibly, the travel by train should be free
and they should be assisted with food because whether or not large
masses will shift, depends largely on this. The fear of difficulties
on the journey will be a major obstacle to their moving. Therefore
this must be combated by solving all the problems connected with the
journey, quickly and energetically. Particular care must be taken to
ensure that they have the fewest possible difficulties over the
journey, because simple folk orientate themselves with difficulty,
therefore it would be advisable to study the system of workers'
transport by the big travel agencies and use that. The displaced
person must pass from hand to hand without feeling the burden of this
movement. Only in this way is it possible to create that flow of
displaced Albanians which will empty our south of them.
Populating the depopulated regions
The problem of the establishment of colonies in the depopulated
regions is not less important than the removal of the Albanians.
The first question emerges: Who should be settled there? The most
natural thing is to people them with our element from the passive
regions, in the first place Montenegrins, Hercegovinians, Licanas and
Krajsniks. The Montenegrins are the most appropriate for several
reasons, because Metohija, Drenica, and Kosovo are the most natural
places into which they flow from their impoverished mountains. The
increase of population in Montenegro has brought about poverty, which
in recent times has given rise to continual socio-political unrest
unfavorable to our state power and very dangerous to law and order in
the future. Giving them maize and pensions is useless. The only
solution is to send them to the fertile regions of Metohija, Drenica
and Kosovo. Then, since they are akin to the Albanians in mentality
and temperament, the Montenegrins are the most appropriate as
instruments to overcome them. In the first place, they must be used
in the regions north of the Sar Mountain: however, along with them,
some people from Lican, Krajsnica, Serbia, Cacak, Uzice, and Toplica
should be used as colonists. This is necessary in order in create
better habits of work and organization among the Montenegrins, to
break down their nomadic-group psychology, the spirit of collectivity
which characterizes the highlanders, by means of mixing and
intermarriage with people from various Dinaric regions; in this way a
new type of Montenegrin, with a less local but broader, more Serbian
outlook, will be formed.
Suitable conditions should be created for the Southern Serb emigrants
living in the regions south of the Sar Mountain so that they can take
possession of the fertile lands. They are honest, hardworking people,
who will be grateful to this state all their lives if pleasant
conditions for life in the countryside are created for them. The
rural Southern Serbs in general have a right to expect more care and
attention than we are giving them today. The colonization of Polog
(Upper and Lower) and Debar with these paupers, as well as allocating
pastures to them instead of to Albanians, will make them feel that
this is their state, and they will know to defend its borders.
Apart from them, the colonization south of the Sar Mountain and the
Black Mountain of Skopje can be done with Serbs from Vranje,
Leskovac, Pirot, and Vlasenica, especially those from passive
mountain villages. We repeat that the Dinarics should not be allowed
to extend south of the line formed by the Black Mountain of Skopje
and the Sar Mountain. During the colonization of the villages emptied
of Albanians, it is essential to avoid bureaucratic delays and petty
formalities. The first immediate action is to give the colonists
title to the land on which they are settled. One of the main reasons
for the lack of success of the colonization so far has been that the
colonist has not felt secure on the land on which he has been
settled, because he did not receive title to it immediately and thus
was exposed to ill- treatment at the hands of unscrupulous clerks and
politicians. The peasant feels secure in his possession of land only
when he knows that no one can shift him from it. Therefore, this
guarantee should be given immediately. At the same time however, it
is dangerous to give the colonizers full rights of land ownership. In
principle, the colonists' economies have their state and national
mission, and he that receives such an economy must carry out this
mission. Therefore he cannot have unrestricted ownership of this
property. Because there are many different people among them, such as
village proletarians who have lost their feeling for the land, or
herdsman who have to adopt themselves to agriculture, they must be
linked with the land by the force of law. This is because they must
begin to love their new region and home, and if they, themselves, do
not succeed in this, at least their children should. For this season,
the colonists should be prevented by law from gaining full ownership
of the land for not less than 30 years, even though they are given
title to the land immediately. According to our law, in our country
the woman does not enjoy the right of inheritance to land. In order
to avoid fragmentation of the land into small parcels, women must be
excluded from inheritance to colonized lands, except in cases when
the colonist has no male descendants and plans to bring a bridegroom
into the household. The properties which have been given to the
colonists up till now have been small. Bearing in mind the extensive
method of farming, the fall of prices for agricultural products, as
well as the large families of the colonists, 5-10 hectares of land is
insufficient to ensure the conditions for the economic development of
the colonists. It is better to settle a region with a smaller number
of colonists with better conditions for development, rather than a
large number of rural semi-proletarians. This, too, has been another
major cause of our lack of success to date in the colonization of the
south and the north. Elements so suitable for colonization in such
difficult conditions as we have are rare among other peoples. Those
few successes we have achieved in the policy of colonization are the
result of these colonizing qualities of our race. Only our peasant,
up against scrubland and ground that had never been worked, shifted
from one environment to another, was capable of surviving in such
difficult circumstances. What wouldn't he be able to do if the state
were to give him the things it has the duty to provide. On February
10, 1865, the Government of Prince Mihailo promulgated the law on
the "Settlement of Foreigners in Serbia." Under this law, the Serbian
Government granted poor colonists from neighboring regions 3 jutra*
of arable land and 3 jutra of non-arable land, a house, a yoke of
oxen, a cart, two goats or sheep, a sow, the necessary work tools and
120 grosh in cash. Apart from this, obviously, maize for food to last
them till the first harvest. One plough was provided for every two
families. These fixed and movable assets were given to the colonizers
for use, without the right to sell them for a term of 15 years. At
the end of this teem they became their property. For the first 5
years the settlers were exempt from all kinds of state taxes, for 10
years they were exempt from the universal compulsory military service
in the regular army and exempt * Jutro = 0.6 hectares
from service in the people's militia for 5 years. The response from
all sides was such that within a few months all the places were
filled and more territory was colonized than we have been able to do
in several years since the war. If the state had created these
favorable conditions for the colonists after 1918, our situation both
in Vojvodina and in Southern Serbia would not be as it is. This is
how we must act in the future, if we want success.
The method of the colonization of Toplica and Kosanica after 1878,
when the Albanians were expelled from these regions, is also full of
lessons. The method for the colonization of these regions was laid
down in the law of January 3, 1880. On February 3 of the same year,
the People's Council approved the law on the amendment of agrarian
relations according to the principle "the land to the peasants."
Without hesitation, Serbia sought its first foreign loan in order to
pay Turkey for the lands taken. It did not set up any ministry of the
agrarian reform or costly apparatus for the problem of colonization,
but everything was done in a simple and practical manner. The police
organs distributed the land to all those who wanted to till it.
People came from Montenegro, Sjenica, Vranje, Kosovo, Pec etc and 30
years after 1878, Toplica and Kosanica, once Albanian regions of ill-
repute, gave Serbia the finest regiment in the wars of 1912-1918, the
Iron Second Regiment. In those wars, Toplica and Kosanica paid and
repaid, with the blood of their sons, those tens of millions of
dinars which Serbia had spent for their resettlement.
Only by following this example and knowing what is required, sparing
neither money nor blood, can our state create a new Toplica in Kosovo
and Metohija.
Hence, if we want the colonists to remain where they are, they must
be assured of acquiring all the means of livelihood within a few
years. We must ruthlessly prohibit any speculation with the houses
and properties of displaced Albanians. The state must reserve for
itself the unlimited right to dispose of the fixed and movable assets
of the people transferred and must settle its own colonists there
immediately after the departure of the Albanians. This must be done,
because it will rarely happen that a whole village departs at once.
The first to be settled in these villages should be the Montenegrins,
as arrogant, irascible and merciless people, who will drive the
remaining Albanians away with their behavior, and then colonists from
other regions can be brought in.
This paper deals with the problem of the colonization of Southern
Serbia only. The problem of Vojvodina, especially the Hungarian
triangle in Backa, Senta-Kula-Backa Topola, is not less important for
us. To destroy this triangle in Vojvodina is tantamount to destroying
the Albanian block around the Sar Mountain. Following the division of
the big estates, there remain tens of thousands of Hungarian farm-
hands, who today are a great burden on the Serbian and German middle
peasant of Vojvodina. Some of these Hungarian and even German farm
laborers and small proprietors must be sent to the south, because in
Backa, on the border with Hungary, they represent a danger, the more
so since the Serbs in Backa comprise only 15 per cent of the
population. In Southern Serbia, by defending their properties against
Albania, they will become good citizens, who will integrate
themselves with our masses and, what is more important, being more
progressive and of a higher cultural level than our peasants, they
will provide an example of advanced methods of the cultivation of the
land. We emphasize in particular that the Serbs of Vojvodina should
not be sent to the south for colonization. In Vojvodina there is
still land for colonization, therefore they must be given land there.
We stress also, that during the period 1928-1929 there was a
widespread movement among the Hungarians and Germans of Vojvodina to
move to Southern Serbia, but, not knowing the problems, our unclear
opinion opposed this movement and nipped it in the bud. Another such
attempt in this direction should be encouraged and our public must be
instructed to support the movement of the Hungarians and Germans from
Vojvodina, and especially from Backa, to the south.
The colonization apparatus
Of special importance for the solution of the question under
discussion is the existence of an apparatus to direct the whole
business. The poor work of the apparatus which has implemented our
policy of colonization so far is the reason for a good part of our
lack of success to date. To avoid this in the future, a
reorganization must be carried out.
No other question demands such continuity in its implementation as
colonization does. We have pointed out that one of the main reasons
for the lack of success of our colonization in the north and in the
south is the inconsistent work and changing policy with each change
of government. If this is to be avoided in the future, the
colonization should be entrusted to the General Staff. Why? Simply
for reason of defence. Our army is interested in settling our own
element along the borders, especially in the most delicate sectors.
To this end, it will do its utmost to secure the borders with the
firmest possible colonization. The General Staff, as the prime
institution for the defence of our national interests, can contribute
a great deal to our whole policy of colonization. The General Staff
will know very well how to protect the implementation of the policy
of colonization from private interference by those who want to use it
for their personal interests and from any external influence. Another
important fact is that it would be easier for the General Staff to
convince the responsible bodies of the importance of the issue and
make them take effective decisions. The People's Council will have
more faith in it and will grant the necessary credits to it more
readily than to others.
The General Staff would guide all the work through a State Council
for colonization. This council would be quite independent, but
directly under the control of the Chief of the General Staff, and
would have all the organs of our colonization under its control.
Representatives of several interested ministries, the national
associations, technical organisms and scientific institutions, should
be brought into this council. The greatest mistake of our
colonization policy lay in the fact that the untrained and
incompetent bureaucracy had the main say in it, and it dealt with the
problems a bit at a time, without going into them thoroughly. Let us
only recall the colonization of our volunteers from Hungary at Ovce
Polje, Kadrifikovo or the emigrants from Istra and Gorica who settled
around Demir Kapija. This requires the close linking of the state
power, private initiative and scientific institutions with our
colonization policy. Private initiative can operate in many
directions. The People's Defence, the Sokolasas, the Chetnik
Associations etc could undertake actions against the Albanians, in
which it is inappropriate for the state to be involved. The
associations of agronomists, doctors, engineers, the cooperatives etc
can assist very well through their technical councils to solve many
problems which arise during the process of our colonization. The
cultural associations too, such as Prosveta in Sarajevo, Matica
Srpska in Novi Sad, the Sv. Sava associations in Belgrade etc also
have their tasks in connection with this question.
Undoubtedly, our higher scientific institutions have begun to lose
their former prestige. The main reason for this is that the
University and the Academy of Sciences are becoming more and more
removed from real life and neglecting the chief task they have in a
relatively backward country, such as ours -- opening the ways for the
application of the scientific achievements of the 20th century. Many
billions would have been saved in this country, many mistakes would
have been avoided in our state policy, including our colonization
policy, had the problems been studied seriously and objectively in
advance by our competent scientific workers before they were taken up
for solution. Our policy of colonization, likewise, would have
acquired a more serious approach, greater continuity and effective
application, had the opinions of experts and scientific workers been
sought in advance. In the first place, the Royal Serbian Academy of
Sciences and the University of Belgrade ought to take the initiative
to organize a thorough scientific study of the whole problem of
colonization in our country. This would be possible for many seasons.
At the University we have experts on every question connected with
colonization. The teachers and academicians at the university are
independent workers, less subject to external political influence.
They already have good experience in such work and their scientific
activity is a guarantee of objectivity. Therefore they should take
the initiative to set up a colonization institute, the task of which
would be to engage in the study of colonization. The state for its
part, should detach from several ministries all the institutions
which have been engaged with this problem so far, and create a
special institution, "The Colonization Inspection Office."
The Colonization Inspection Office would be headed by the Inspector
General, appointed by decree on the proposal of the Minister of War,
the Chief of the General Staff and the Prime Minister. All the work
in the colonization institute and the Colonization Inspection Office
would be carried out on orders from and under the supervision of the
State Council, while the Inspector General would be answerable to the
Chief of the General Staff.
The colonization institute would be divided into the following
sections: 1) organization, 2) education and culture, 3) finance, 4)
agriculture, 5) construction, 6) hygiene etc. In agreement with the
scientific, cultural-educational associations and institutions, as
well as with the national associations, the sections would study
problems of colonization and prepare directives, thus supplying our
colonization policy with a solid, scientifically worked out material
from which to make decisions. At the head of this institute would be
people from the State Council, made up of representatives of the
ministries mentioned, the University, the Academy of Sciences and
those of private, national and educational- cultural organizations
who would be elected or appointed to this council. In this case care
must be taken not to bring in people just for honor's sake, but men
who love and are dedicated to this great work.
The heads and employees of the institute should be selected through
competition. The institute would supply the Colonization Inspection
Office with scientifically worked out materials for the
implementation of the colonization policy. In cases of differences of
opinion between the Colonization Inspection Office and the institute
over some fundamental question, the Chief of the General Staff would
have the decisive say. The Colonization Inspection Office must have
its executive organs in the territory, made up of people selected for
their enthusiasm and readiness for this work, whether or not they are
employed by the state. Therefore they should possibly be selected
through competition and be appointed upon proposal by the Chief of
the General Staff, while as to the compromised or incompetent cadres,
they must be dismissed. During its work, the Colonization Inspection
Office and its organs must avoid the bureaucratic formalities as much
as possible, while keeping in mind only one thing --the removal of
the Albanians as quickly as possible and the settlement of our
colonists.
The police apparatus will play a very important role in this matter.
Therefore it is necessary to select the most energetic and honest
officers and send them there. Their transfer should be done with the
approval of the Chief of the General Staff, and for such a difficult
job they should be paid from secret credits. Stern measures must be
taken against any of them who commits the slightest infringement. A
special commissar, who would execute the orders of the state
colonization inspector must be appointed for the whole territory of
the 18 districts mentioned. Prefects of districts must be given
special wide powers for the work and the respective instructions. Our
political parties should be told curtly that rivalry between parties
in elections is categorically prohibited in those districts, and that
any interference by the deputies in favor of the Albanians is
categorically forbidden.
The State Institute and the inspection office for colonization will
work out the technical details of organizing the removal of the
Albanians and the establishment of our settlers. It would not be bad,
perhaps, if another private organization were created, besides these
two official institutions, which would be based on the existing
associations and have the task of assisting the implementation of our
colonization policy through private initiative. It would be best if
the League of our cultural- educational associations were to
undertake this work. It would concern itself with coordinating the
work of the private associations with the state policy for
colonization and would assist liaison between them and the
Colonization Institute.
Financial means
Whenever our colonization policy has been criticized for its lack of
success, its defenders have always excused themselves with the
inadequate financial means the state has allocated for this work. We
do not deny that it is so up to a point, although it must be admitted
that more has been spent in our country on the maintenance of this
apparatus and its irrational work than on the colonization itself.
Nevertheless, if the state has not provided as much as it should, it
must be understood that every state has its primary and secondary
interests. Without doubt, the duty of the state to ensure the holding
of the insecure national regions, by colonizing these regions with
its own national element, must be included among its primary
interests. All other commitments rank inferior to this task and this
commitment. For this problem, the money can and must be found. We
have already mentioned the instance of Serbia during the colonization
of Toplica and Kosanica and the benefits it had from this. When the
small Serbian Kingdom did not hesitate to make great financial
sacrifices, indeed did not hesitate, as a free and independent
Kingdom, to seek its first loan for the colonization, can it be said
that our present-day Yugoslavia is unable to do such a thing? It can
and must do it, and it is not true that it lacks the means to do it.
Let us reckon approximately how much it would cost our state to
transplant 200,000 Albanians and establish as great a number of our
settlers.
The resettlement of 40,000 Albanian families -- taking an average
family as 5 members and an average of 15,000 dinars per each family,
would cost a total of 600 million dinars. The colonization
expenditure for the settling of our 40,000 families may reach a total
of 200 million dinars. In any case, the whole thing will not cost
more than 800 million dinars. This is why:
1.The transplanted Albanians will leave not only the land but also
their houses and implements. Thus, not only will the overwhelming
majority of our settlers be established in the houses of the
Albanians, but, with a little assistance with livestock and food,
they will recover themselves economically and become independent. For
this reason, we emphasize here, too, that private speculation with
the possessions left by the Albanians must not be permitted in any
way, but the state must take them and give them to the settlers.
2.During the setting up of new colonies, military forces should be
employed, where required, as was the case with the construction of
Sremska Raca and the reconstruction of the villages destroyed by the
1931 earthquake in the south. To this end, the army should be given
the right and possibility to create a kind of obligatory labor
service for public projects, just as Stambolisky in Bulgaria created
the "Trudova Pronist" and Hitler created the "Arbeitsdienst" in
Germany, by calling up reservists or extending the term of the
military service. It would be especially good that our trained youth,
after their graduation from the University are charged with these
tasks. In this case, by taking part in constructive work in the
general interest, many of them would become more conscious and look
at things more realistically. This can be easily applied by giving
priority in entering state employment, to those youth who spend a
definite period in work for our colonization policy. This would also
reduce the unemployment among our young intelligentsia, which is
becoming an increasingly difficult social problem in our country.
3.In agreement with the specialized organizations and associations,
the least costly ways must be sought for clearing land of scrub,
irrigation, draining swamps etc as well as for building houses.
Private enterprises should be informed that during their work to
secure the necessary materials, the state helps them with reduced
customs and railway tariffs, credits and other means, so that for
such an important work the state has the right to demand from them
supplies of materials at the lowest possible prices. The question of
securing materials should be solved directly through cartels and
then, in agreement with them, the state will define both the
quantity, quality and the price of the materials without fictitious
deals. The state enterprises, the railways and especially forest
enterprises, such as Sipad etc should be placed totally at the
disposal of the State Council for Colonization.
4.During the colonization the state may grant the settlers property
on credit or for cash. Many of them will buy land in the new regions,
selling their properties in their birthplaces. From this the state
will regain a good part of the money it has laid out. However, we
stress that the land must be sold only to persons who provide proof
that they will settle on it permanently and work it. The land given
on credit must not be very dear. The rate of interest must be minimal
and repayment should be deferred for several years to give the
settler time to establish himself, i.e. until he has gained strength
from the economic aspect.
Taking this as a basis, the state can find the means from two
sources. The state must undertake all the expenditure for the
administration of this work and cover it from its normal income. This
it can do by pruning unnecessary expenditure or expenditure from
other spheres which are not so immediately urgent. The other possible
financial source would be loans, which would be provided by the state
banks, alone or jointly with our private capital through a compulsory
internal loan. This would be based on securities issued by the state
as well as on the contributions of the settlers, when they become
independent.
It might not be a bad idea if the financing and purchase of lands
were done by the agricultural banks in collaboration with the
cooperativist unions, under the direct supervision and on the basis
of the directives of the State Council for Colonization. However, it
is still early to give any definite opinion on this problem, because
the conditions on which Turkey will accept the population displaced
from our territories are not known. Altogether, a sum of a few
hundred million dinars is a small expenditure for the state, in
comparison with the real benefits it will gain from such a move. By
securing our most sensitive point in the south through the settlement
of our national element, we save several divisions in case of war. By
settling several tens of thousands of families from our passive
regions, especially Montenegro, as colonists, the intolerable
economic crisis in those regions will be eased, and on the other
hand, as a result of the great amount of work that will be opened
during the colonization, it will be possible to find employment for
10,000 workers, thus giving an impulse to our sluggish economy.
For such an important national, military, strategic and economic
task, it is the duty of the state to sacrifice a few hundred million
dinars. At a time when it can spend one billion dinars for the
construction of the international highway from Subotica to Caribrod,
any possible benefit from which we shall enjoy only in the distant
future, it can and must find a few hundred million dinars, which will
put us back in possession in the cradle of our state.
Conclusions
In view of all that has been said above, it is no accident that in
our examination of the question of colonization in the south, we
proceed from the view that the only effective method for solving this
problem is the mass resettlement of the Albanians. Just as in other
countries, gradual colonization has had no success in our country.
When the state wants to intervene in favor of its own element, in
struggle for the land, it can be successful only if it acts brutally.
Otherwise, the native, with his roots in his birthplace and
acclimatized there, is always stronger than the colonist. In our
case, this must be kept especially in mind, mind, because we have to
do with a rugged, resistant and prolific race, which the late Cvijic
described as the most expansive in the Balkans. From 1870 to 1914
Germany put billions of marks for the gradual colonization of its
eastern regions by purchasing land from the Poles, but the fecundity
of the Polish mothers defeated German organization and money. Thus,
Poland regained its Poznan in 1918. Our statistics of the 1921-1931
period, which we have already mentioned, show that the fecundity of
the Albanian women defeated our colonization policy, too. From this
we must draw conclusions, and do so quickly while there is still time
to correct matters.
All Europe is in a state of turmoil. We do not know what each day and
night may bring. Albanian nationalism is mounting in our territories,
too. To leave the situation as it is would mean, in case of any world
conflict or social revolution, both of which are possible in the near
future, to jeopardize all our territories in the south. The purpose
of this paper is to avert such a thing.
Dr. Vaso Cubrilovic
(signed)
Dr. V. CUBRILOVIC
Memorandum presented on March 7, 1937 in Belgrade
V. Cubrilovic and his memorandum "The Expulsion of the Arnauts"
Dr. Vaso Cubrilovic, academician of Yugoslavia, former political
adviser in the monarchic regime, was born in 1897. In 1914 he became
member of the "New Bosna" Serbian nationalist organization.He
graduated from the University of Belgrade, in which, since 1930, he
has been assistant, docent and then professor in the Faculty of
Philosophy.
After the Second World War, V. Cubrilovic was minister in various
departments of the government of the FSRY, member of the Academy of
Sciences and Art of Serbia, secretary of the sciences branch of this
academy. He is member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. In
1970 he held the post of director of the Institute of Balkanology in
Belgrade. On March 7, 1937, in Belgrade, he presented the royal
government of Stoyadinovic with his memorandum of "The Expulsion of
the Arnauts" [Albanians].
The expulsion of the Albanians
The problem of the Albanians in our national and state life did not
arise yesterday. It played a major role in our life in the Middle
Ages, but its importance became decisive by the end of the 17th
century, at the time when the masses of the Serbian people were
displaced northwards from their former ancestral territories of Raska
and were supplanted by the Albanian highlanders. Gradually the latter
came down from their mountains to the fertile plains of Metohija and
Kosovo. Penetrating to the north, they spread in the direction of
Southern and Western Morava and, crossing the Sar Mountain descended
toward Polog and, thence, in the direction of the Vardar. In this
way, by the 19th century, the Albanian triangle was formed, a wedge
which, based on its Debar- Rogozna axis in its ethnic rear,
penetrated as far into our territories as Nis and separated our
ancient territories of Raska from Macedonia and the Vardar Valley.
This Albanian wedge inhabited by the anarchist Albanian element
hampered any strong cultural, educational and economic connection
between our northern and southern territories in the 19th century.
This was the main reason why Serbia was unable, until 1878, when it
managed to establish and maintain continuous links with Macedonia,
through Vranje and the Black Mountain of Skopje, to exercise the
cultural and political influence on the Vardar Valley that was
anticipated because of the favorable geographical and road links and
the historical traditions in those regions. Although the Bulgarians
began their state life later than the Serbs, at first they had
greater success. This explains why there are permanent settlements of
southern Slavs from Vidin in the north to Ohrid In the south. Serbia
began to cut pieces off this Albanian wedge as early as the first
uprising, by expelling the northernmost Albanian inhabitants from
Jagodina. Thanks to the broad state concepts of Jovan Ristic, Serbia
cut another part off this wedge after the annexation of Toplica and
Kosanica. At that time, the regions between Jastrebac and Southern
Morava were radically cleared of the Albanians.
From 1918 onwards it was the task of our present state to destroy the
remainder of the Albanian triangle. It did not do this. There are
several reasons for this, but we shall mention only the most
important of them:
1. The fundamental mistake of the authorities in charge at that time
is that, forgetting where they were, they wanted to solve all the
major ethnic problems of the troubled and bleeding Balkans by Western
methods. Turkey brought to the Balkans the customs of the Sheriat,
according to which victory in war and the occupation of a country
confers the right to the lives and property of the subject
inhabitants. Even the Balkan Christians learned from the Turks that
not only state power and domination, but also home and property are
won and lost by the sword. This concept of the relations of private
ownership of land in the Balkans was to be softened to some extent
through laws, ordinances and international agreements issued under
pressure from Europe, but this concept has been to some degree the
main lever of the Turkish state and the Balkan states right to this
day. We do not need to refer to the distant past. We shall mention
only a few cases of recent times: the removal of Greeks from Asia
Minor to Greece and of Turks from Greece to Asia Minor, the recent
removal of Turks from Bulgaria and Rumania to Turkey. While all the
Balkan states, since 1912, have solved or are on the way to solving
the problems of national minorities through mass removals, we have
stuck to slow and sluggish methods of gradual colonization. The
results of this have been negative. That this is so is best shown in
the statistics from the 18 districts which comprise the Albanian
triangle. From these figures it emerges that in those regions the
natural growth of the Albanian population is greater than the total
increase in our population from natural growth plus new settlers
(from 1921 to 1931 the Albanian population increased by 68,060, while
the Serbs show an increase of 58,745 -- a difference of 9,315 in
favor of the Albanians). Taking into account the intractable
character of the Albanians, the pronounced increase in their numbers
and the ever-increasing difficulties of colonization by the old
methods, with the passage of time this disproportion will become even
greater and eventually put in question even those few successes we
have achieved in our colonization from 1918 onwards.
2. Even the method of gradual colonization was not properly applied.
Worse still, in a problem of such importance, there was no definite
state plan which every government and regime would have to adhere to
and implement. Work was intermittent, in fits and starts, each new
minister undid what his predecessor had done, while himself created
nothing solid. The laws and regulations were amended, but even weak
as they were, were not implemented. Some people, deputies especially
from other regions, when they could not manage to secure the mandate
in their own region, would go to the south and butter-up non-national
elements to gain the mandate, thus sacrificing the major national and
state interests. The colonization apparatus was extremely costly,
inflated and loaded with people who were not only incompetent but
also without scruple, so that their work truly constitutes a separate
problem. Finally, one need only total up the huge sums this state has
invested in colonization and divide them by the number of families
settled, to prove how costly every new household established since
the war has been, regardless of whether or not this expenditure was
met by the settlers themselves or by the state. Likewise, it would be
interesting to compare the amounts paid out for personal expenditure
and those for the materials used for our colonization. Serbia went
about this question quite differently in the past. Karageorge during
the first uprising, as well as Milos, Mihailo and Jovan Ristic had no
special ministry of land reform, general land inspectors, or costly
apparatus, and still they purged Serbia of foreign element,
populating it with its own people, who felled the endless forests of
Sumadija, which was transformed from its former rough state into the
fertile Sumadija of today.
3. Even those few thousand families that were settled after the war
did not establish themselves where they were placed. There was more
success in Kosovo, especially in the Lab Valley, where the Toplicans
penetrated of their own accord, from north to south. Our oldest and
most stable settlements, with elements from our different regions,
were established there. In Drenica and Metohija we had no success.
Colonization should never be done with Montenegrins alone. We do not
think that they are unsuitable as colonists, because of their
pastoral indolence. This applies only to first generation. The second
generation is quite different, more active and more practical.
Petrovo village in Miroc, above the Danube, the most advanced village
in Krajina is inhabitated exclusively by Montenegrins. In Serbia
today there are thousands of advanced economies, especially in
Toplica and Kosanica, which have been established by Montenegrins of
the first generation, who have mixed with more advanced elements.
This is especially valid for Metohija, where, being based directly on
their ancestral ground, the old customs managed to survive. A visit
to the coffee- houses of Pec is sufficient to convince one of this.
This is why our colonization has had so little success all over
Metohija. It must be admitted, on the other hand, that these colonies
have been poorly situated, on unfertile, scrub-covered land, and
almost totally lacking in the most essential agricultural implements.
But these should have been given more assistance than the others,
because they are made up of the poorest Montenegrin elements.
4. Without doubt, the main cause for the lack of success of our
colonization in those regions was that the best land remained in the
hands of the Albanians. The only possible way for our mass
colonization of those regions was to take the land from the
Albanians. After the war, at the time of the rebellion and actions of
the insurgents, this could have been achieved easy by expelling part
of the Albanian population to Albania, by not legalizing their
usurpations and by buying their pastures. Here we must return again
to the gross error of our post-war concept about the right to
possession of the land. Instead of taking advantage of the concept of
the Albanians themselves about their ownership of the land they had
usurped -- scarcely any of them had title-deeds issued by the Turks,
and those only for land purchased, to the detriment of our nation and
state, we not only legalized all these usurpations, but worse still,
accustomed the Albanians to West-European ideas about private
property. Prior to that, they could never have had these ideas. In
this way we ourselves handed them a weapon to defend themselves, to
keep the best land for themselves and make the nationalization of one
of the regions most important to us impossible.
From all this it is apparent that the methods of our colonization
policy in the south to date have not yielded the results which we
ought to have achieved and which now impose themselves on us as a
major state necessity. We have not criticized these methods merely
for the sake of criticism, but so that, on the basis of experience,
we can find the right ways to solve this problem.
The problem of the colonization of the southern regions
Reading the first part of this paper, one immediately observes that,
in examining the problem of the colonization of the southern regions,
the issue is mainly about the regions to the north and south of the
Sar Mountain. This is not accidental. This block of Albanians around
the Sar Mountain has great national, state and strategic importance
for our state. We have already mentioned the way it came into
existence and the importance of this region for linking the regions
around the Vardar Valley firmly with our ancient territories. The
greatest force of the Serbian expansion ever since the beginnings of
the first Serb state in the 9th century has always been based on the
continuity of this expansion, as well as on the expansion of the
ancient territories of Raska in all directions, hence including its
expansion towards the south. This continuity has been interrupted by
the Albanians and, until the ancient uninterrupted connection of
Serbia and Montenegro with Macedonia along the whole of its extent
from the Drin River to Southern Morava is re-established, we will not
be secure in our possession of this territory. From the ethnic
standpoint the Macedonians will fully unite with us only when they
enjoy true ethnic support from the Serbian motherland, which they
have lacked to this day. This they will achieve only through the
destruction of the Albanian block. From the military-strategic
standpoint, the Albanian block occupies one of the most important
positions in our country -- the starting point from which the Balkan
rivers flow to the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the Aegean. The
holding of this strategic position, to a large degree, determines the
fate of the Central Balkans, especially the fate of the main Balkan
communication line from Morava to Vardar. It is no accident that many
battles of decisive importance for the destiny of the Balkans
(Nemanja against the Greeks, the Serbs against the Turks in 1389,
Hunyadi against the Turks in 1446) have been fought here. In the 20th
century, only that country which is inhabited by its own people can
be sure of its security; therefore it is an imperative duty for all
of us that we should not allow these positions of such strategic
importance to be in the hands of the hostile and alien element. The
more so since this element has the support of a national state of the
same race. Today this state is powerless, but even in this condition,
it has become a base of Italian imperialism, which aims to use it to
penetrate into the heart of our state. Our clement, which will be
willing and able to defend its own land and its state, is the most
reliable means against this penetration.
Besides this block of 18 districts, the Albanians and other national
minorities in the other parts of the southern regions are dispersed
and, therefore, not so dangerous to our national and state life. To
nationalize the regions around the Sar Mountain means to bury any
irredentism for ever. to ensure our power in these territories for
ever.
The colonization from the north should be reduced in the regions
inhabited by Macedonians. In these regions land is scarce, they are
passive regions and, for this reason, the Macedonians resist the flow
of settlers from the north, the more so because in these actions they
see our distrust towards them. The truth is that even that small
degree of colonization does us more harm than good. If people are to
be sent down there, south of the Black Mountain of Skopje, they
should be people from Vranje, Leskovac, who are closer to the
Macedonians in mentality and culture, and by no means people of the
Dinaric region with their irritable, uncontrolled temperament,
because such elements arouse the hatred of the local people. We
repeat that this problem will be solved only when our colonies,
advancing from the north, through Kosovo and Metohija, towards the
Sar Mountain, Polog, meet the Macedonian settlements.
The problem of the Sandjak of Novi Pazar is solving itself and is no
longer playing the role it played in our state life until 1912. We
shall only mention that with the removal of the Albanians, the last
link between our Moslems in Bosna and Novi Pazar and the rest of the
Moslem world is cut. They are becoming religious minorities, the only
Moslem minority in the Balkans, and this fact will accelerate their
nationalization. Recently Montenegro has become a very grave problem.
The poor land cannot sustain the population, but despite the removal,
this increased by 16 per cent from 1912 to 1931. Through the
centuries, this turbulent pastoral element has contributed essential
features to our race. Channelled in the right directions, their
energies will not be destructive, but can be employed to the general
benefit of the state, if they are directed to the southeast.
Summing-up:
The Albanians cannot be repulsed by means of gradual colonization
alone; they are the only people who, during the last millennium,
managed not only to resist the nucleus of our state -- Raska and
Zeta, but also to harm us, by pushing our ethnic borders northwards
and eastwards. Whereas in the last millennium our ethnic borders were
shifted to Subotica in the north and Kupa in the northwest, the
Albanians drove us from the Skadar and its region, the former capital
city of Bodin, from Metohija and Kosovo. The only way and the only
means to cope with them is the brute force of an organized state, in
which we have always been superior to them. If since 1912 we have had
no success in the struggle against them, we are to blame for this, as
we have not used this power as we should have done. It is not
possible to speak of any national assimilation of the Albanians in
our favor. On the contrary, because they base themselves on Albania,
their national awareness is awakened and if we do not settle accounts
with them at the proper time, within 20-30 years we shall have to
cope with a terrible irredentism, the signs of which are already
apparent and which will inevitably put all our southern territories
in jeopardy.
The international problem of colonization
If we proceed from the assumption that to gradual displacement of the
Albanians through our gradual colonization is ineffective, then we
are left with only one course -- that of their mass resettlement. In
this case we must consider two states -- Albania and Turkey.
With its sparse population, its many undrained swamps and
uncultivated river valleys Albania would be in a position to admit
some hundred thousand Albanians from our country. With its large and
uninhabited and uncultivated territories in Asia Minor and Kurdistan,
modern Turkey has almost boundless possibilities for internal
colonization. However, despite all the efforts of Kemal Ataturk, the
Turks have not yet filled the vacuum created as a result of the
removal of the Greeks from Asia Minor to Greece and some of the Kurds
to Persia. Hence the greatest possibilities are that the bulk of our
displaced Albanians might be sent there.
First we stress that we should not limit ourselves to diplomatic
steps with the Ankara Government only, but should employ all means to
convince Tirana to accept some of our displaced people. I believe
that this will come up against difficulties in Tirana, because Italy
will try to hinder this process. However, money plays a great role in
Tirana. In the talks about this question, the Albanian Government
should be informed that we shall stop at nothing to achieve the final
solution to this question, while at the same time, we should tell
them about the subsidies for colonization, over which no control will
be exercised: eventually, through secret channels, the notables in
Tirana may be persuaded by material gain to raise no opposition to
this whole business.
As we have heard, Turkey has agreed to accept about 200.000 of our
displaced people initially, on condition that they are Albanians,
something which is most advantageous to us. We must comply with this
desire of Turkey readily and sign a convention about the resettlement
of the Albanian population as soon as possible. In connection with
the resettlement of the Albanian population we must study the
conventions which Turkey has signed recently on these questions with
Greece, Rumania and Bulgaria, paying attention to two things: that
Turkey should accept the largest possible contingent, while from the
financial aspect it should be given the maximum assistance,
especially in the matter of organizing their transportation as
quickly as possible. Undoubtedly this problem will give rise to some
international concern, which is inevitable in such cases. Over the
last hundred years, whenever such actions have taken place in the
Balkans, there has always been some power which has protested because
such an action did not conform to its interests. In the present
instance, Albania and Italy may make some protest. As to Albania, we
have already pointed out that attempts should be made to conclude a
convention with it over this problem and if we do not achieve this,
we should at least secure its silence over the question of the
removal of the Albanians to Turkey. We repeat that skilful action and
money properly used in Tirana may be decisive in this matter. World
opinion -- especially that financed by Italy, will be upset a little.
Nevertheless, the world today has grown used to things much worse
than this and is so preoccupied with day-today problems that this
aspect should not be a cause for concern. At a time when Germany can
expel tens of thousands of Jews and Russia can shift millions of
people from one part of the continent to another, the shifting of a
few hundred thousand Albanians will not lead to the outbreak of a
world war. However, those who decide should know what they want and
persist in achieving this, regardless of the possible international
obstacles.
Italy, no doubt, will raise more difficulties, but at present it is
extremely occupied with its own problems in connection with Abyssinia
and Austria and will not dare go very far in its opposition. To tell
the truth. the greatest danger lies in the possibility that our great
allies, France and Britain, might interfere. They must be given the
cool and resolute answer that the security of the Morava-Vardar line
is in their interests, a thing which was confirmed during the last
great war, and it will be made more secure, both for them and for us,
only when we completely dominate the regions around the Sar Mountain
and Kosovo from the ethnic aspect.
The mode of removal
As we have already stressed, the mass removal of the Albanians from
their triangle is the only effective course for us. To bring about
the relocation of a whole population the first prerequisite is the
creation of a suitable psychosis. It can be created in many ways.
As is known, the Moslem masses, in general, are very readily
influenced, especially by religion, are superstitious and fanatical.
Therefore, first of all we must win over their clergy and men of
influence, through money or threats, to support the relocation of the
Albanians. Agitators to advocate this removal must be found, as
quickly as possible, especially from Turkey, if it will provide them
for us. They must describe the beauties in the new territories in
Turkey, the easy and pleasant life there, kindle religious fanaticism
and awaken pride in the Turkish state among the masses. Our press can
be of colossal help by describing the gentle removal of Turks from
Dobruja and how well they have settled down in the new regions. These
descriptions would create the necessary predisposition to shift among
the mass of Albanians here.
Another means would be coercion by the state apparatus. The law must
be enforced to the letter so as to make staying intolerable for the
Albanians: fines, imprisonments, the ruthless application of all
police dispositions, such as on the prohibition of smuggling, cutting
forests, damaging agriculture, leaving dogs unchained, compulsory
labor and any other measure that an experienced police force can
contrive. From the economic aspect: the refusal to recognize the old
land deeds, the work with the land register should immediately
include the ruthless collection of taxes and the payment of all
private and public debts, the requisitioning of all state and
communal pastures, the cancellation of concessions, the withdrawal of
permits to exercise a profession, dismissal from state, private, and
communal offices etc will hasten the process of their removal. Health
measures: the brutal application of all the dispositions even in the
homes, the pulling down of encircling walls and high hedges around
the houses, the rigorous application of veterinary measures, which
will result in impeding the sale of livestock on the market etc also
can be applied in an effective and practical way. When it comes to
religion the Albanians are very touchy, therefore, they must be
harassed on this score, too. This can be achieved through ill-
treatment of their clergy, the destruction of their cemeteries, the
prohibition of polygamy, and especially the inflexible application of
the law compelling girls to attend elementary schools, wherever they
are.
Private initiative, too, can assist greatly in this direction. We
should distribute weapons to our colonists, as need be. The old forms
of Chetnik action should be organized and secretly assisted. In
particular, a tide of Montenegrins should be launched from the
mountain pastures, in order to create the large-scale conflict with
the Albanians in Metohija. This conflict should be prepared by means
of our trusted people. It should be encouraged, and this can be done
more easily since, in fact, the Albanians have revolted, while the
whole affair should be presented as a conflict between clans and, if
need be, ascribed to economic reasons. Finally, local riots can be
incited. These will be bloodily suppressed with the most effective
means, but by colonists from the Montenegrin clans and the Chetniks,
rather than by means of the army.
There remains one more means, which Serbia employed with great
practical effect after 1878, that is, by secretly burning down
Albanian villages and city quarters.
The organization of the removal
From the attached map(1) it is apparent what regions must be cleared.
They are: Upper Debar, Lower Polog, Upper Polog. Sar Mountain,
Drenica, Pec, Istok, Vucitrin, Stavica, Lab, Gracanica, Nerodimje,
Dakovica, Podgor, Gora, Podrinje, Gilan, and Kacanik. Among these
regions, which, together comprise the Albanian wedge, the most
important for us at present are: Pec, Dakovica, Podrinja, Gora(2),
Podgor, Sar, Istok and Drenica -- north of the Sar Mountain, as well
as Upper Debar and the two Pologs in the south and the Sar Mountain.
These are border-regions which must be cleared of Albanians at any
cost. The internal regions such as Kacanik, Gilan, Nerodimje,
Gracanica, Lab, Vucitrin etc must be weakened if possible, especially
that of Kacanik and Lab, while the others should be gradually and
systematically colonized over a period of decades.
The above-mentioned means should be used in the first place in the
border regions, if we wish to clear them of Albanians.
During the resettlement the following must be kept in mind: In the
first place, resettlement should begin in the villages and then in
towns. Being more compact, the villages are more dangerous. Then, the
mistake of removing only the poor should be avoided: the middle and
rich strata make up the backbone of every nation, therefore they,
too, must be persecuted and driven out. Lacking the support which
their economically independent compatriots have, the poor submit more
quickly.
1. The author of the memorandum attaches to the document a concrete
map of the regions which should be cleared.
2. Dragash
This question has great importance, and I emphasize this because one
of the main causes for the lack of success of our colonization in the
south is that the poor were expelled while the rich remained, thus we
were no further forward, because we gained very little land for the
settlement of our colonists. During the creation of the psychosis for
the resettlement, everything possible must be done to send off whole
villages, or at least whole families. The situation that part of the
family is shifted while others remain behind, must be prevented at
all cost. Our state is not going to spend millions to make life
easier for the Albanians, but to get rid of as many of them as
possible. For this reason the purchase of the land of the Albanians
who shift by those who remain behind must be absolutely prohibited.
The shifting of individuals and whole villages must be linked with
this question, if they want things made easy for them during the
process of the relocation.
Once they agree to shift, all-round aid should be given them. The
administrative procedure should be simplified, their property should
be paid for on the spot, travel documents should be issued without
the least formality, and they should be assisted to get to the
nearest railway station; trains should be made available for them, as
far as Salonica, and thence they should be immediately shipped to
Asia. It is very important that the journey should be easy,
comfortable and cheap. Possibly, the travel by train should be free
and they should be assisted with food because whether or not large
masses will shift, depends largely on this. The fear of difficulties
on the journey will be a major obstacle to their moving. Therefore
this must be combated by solving all the problems connected with the
journey, quickly and energetically. Particular care must be taken to
ensure that they have the fewest possible difficulties over the
journey, because simple folk orientate themselves with difficulty,
therefore it would be advisable to study the system of workers'
transport by the big travel agencies and use that. The displaced
person must pass from hand to hand without feeling the burden of this
movement. Only in this way is it possible to create that flow of
displaced Albanians which will empty our south of them.
Populating the depopulated regions
The problem of the establishment of colonies in the depopulated
regions is not less important than the removal of the Albanians.
The first question emerges: Who should be settled there? The most
natural thing is to people them with our element from the passive
regions, in the first place Montenegrins, Hercegovinians, Licanas and
Krajsniks. The Montenegrins are the most appropriate for several
reasons, because Metohija, Drenica, and Kosovo are the most natural
places into which they flow from their impoverished mountains. The
increase of population in Montenegro has brought about poverty, which
in recent times has given rise to continual socio-political unrest
unfavorable to our state power and very dangerous to law and order in
the future. Giving them maize and pensions is useless. The only
solution is to send them to the fertile regions of Metohija, Drenica
and Kosovo. Then, since they are akin to the Albanians in mentality
and temperament, the Montenegrins are the most appropriate as
instruments to overcome them. In the first place, they must be used
in the regions north of the Sar Mountain: however, along with them,
some people from Lican, Krajsnica, Serbia, Cacak, Uzice, and Toplica
should be used as colonists. This is necessary in order in create
better habits of work and organization among the Montenegrins, to
break down their nomadic-group psychology, the spirit of collectivity
which characterizes the highlanders, by means of mixing and
intermarriage with people from various Dinaric regions; in this way a
new type of Montenegrin, with a less local but broader, more Serbian
outlook, will be formed.
Suitable conditions should be created for the Southern Serb emigrants
living in the regions south of the Sar Mountain so that they can take
possession of the fertile lands. They are honest, hardworking people,
who will be grateful to this state all their lives if pleasant
conditions for life in the countryside are created for them. The
rural Southern Serbs in general have a right to expect more care and
attention than we are giving them today. The colonization of Polog
(Upper and Lower) and Debar with these paupers, as well as allocating
pastures to them instead of to Albanians, will make them feel that
this is their state, and they will know to defend its borders.
Apart from them, the colonization south of the Sar Mountain and the
Black Mountain of Skopje can be done with Serbs from Vranje,
Leskovac, Pirot, and Vlasenica, especially those from passive
mountain villages. We repeat that the Dinarics should not be allowed
to extend south of the line formed by the Black Mountain of Skopje
and the Sar Mountain. During the colonization of the villages emptied
of Albanians, it is essential to avoid bureaucratic delays and petty
formalities. The first immediate action is to give the colonists
title to the land on which they are settled. One of the main reasons
for the lack of success of the colonization so far has been that the
colonist has not felt secure on the land on which he has been
settled, because he did not receive title to it immediately and thus
was exposed to ill- treatment at the hands of unscrupulous clerks and
politicians. The peasant feels secure in his possession of land only
when he knows that no one can shift him from it. Therefore, this
guarantee should be given immediately. At the same time however, it
is dangerous to give the colonizers full rights of land ownership. In
principle, the colonists' economies have their state and national
mission, and he that receives such an economy must carry out this
mission. Therefore he cannot have unrestricted ownership of this
property. Because there are many different people among them, such as
village proletarians who have lost their feeling for the land, or
herdsman who have to adopt themselves to agriculture, they must be
linked with the land by the force of law. This is because they must
begin to love their new region and home, and if they, themselves, do
not succeed in this, at least their children should. For this season,
the colonists should be prevented by law from gaining full ownership
of the land for not less than 30 years, even though they are given
title to the land immediately. According to our law, in our country
the woman does not enjoy the right of inheritance to land. In order
to avoid fragmentation of the land into small parcels, women must be
excluded from inheritance to colonized lands, except in cases when
the colonist has no male descendants and plans to bring a bridegroom
into the household. The properties which have been given to the
colonists up till now have been small. Bearing in mind the extensive
method of farming, the fall of prices for agricultural products, as
well as the large families of the colonists, 5-10 hectares of land is
insufficient to ensure the conditions for the economic development of
the colonists. It is better to settle a region with a smaller number
of colonists with better conditions for development, rather than a
large number of rural semi-proletarians. This, too, has been another
major cause of our lack of success to date in the colonization of the
south and the north. Elements so suitable for colonization in such
difficult conditions as we have are rare among other peoples. Those
few successes we have achieved in the policy of colonization are the
result of these colonizing qualities of our race. Only our peasant,
up against scrubland and ground that had never been worked, shifted
from one environment to another, was capable of surviving in such
difficult circumstances. What wouldn't he be able to do if the state
were to give him the things it has the duty to provide. On February
10, 1865, the Government of Prince Mihailo promulgated the law on
the "Settlement of Foreigners in Serbia." Under this law, the Serbian
Government granted poor colonists from neighboring regions 3 jutra*
of arable land and 3 jutra of non-arable land, a house, a yoke of
oxen, a cart, two goats or sheep, a sow, the necessary work tools and
120 grosh in cash. Apart from this, obviously, maize for food to last
them till the first harvest. One plough was provided for every two
families. These fixed and movable assets were given to the colonizers
for use, without the right to sell them for a term of 15 years. At
the end of this teem they became their property. For the first 5
years the settlers were exempt from all kinds of state taxes, for 10
years they were exempt from the universal compulsory military service
in the regular army and exempt * Jutro = 0.6 hectares
from service in the people's militia for 5 years. The response from
all sides was such that within a few months all the places were
filled and more territory was colonized than we have been able to do
in several years since the war. If the state had created these
favorable conditions for the colonists after 1918, our situation both
in Vojvodina and in Southern Serbia would not be as it is. This is
how we must act in the future, if we want success.
The method of the colonization of Toplica and Kosanica after 1878,
when the Albanians were expelled from these regions, is also full of
lessons. The method for the colonization of these regions was laid
down in the law of January 3, 1880. On February 3 of the same year,
the People's Council approved the law on the amendment of agrarian
relations according to the principle "the land to the peasants."
Without hesitation, Serbia sought its first foreign loan in order to
pay Turkey for the lands taken. It did not set up any ministry of the
agrarian reform or costly apparatus for the problem of colonization,
but everything was done in a simple and practical manner. The police
organs distributed the land to all those who wanted to till it.
People came from Montenegro, Sjenica, Vranje, Kosovo, Pec etc and 30
years after 1878, Toplica and Kosanica, once Albanian regions of ill-
repute, gave Serbia the finest regiment in the wars of 1912-1918, the
Iron Second Regiment. In those wars, Toplica and Kosanica paid and
repaid, with the blood of their sons, those tens of millions of
dinars which Serbia had spent for their resettlement.
Only by following this example and knowing what is required, sparing
neither money nor blood, can our state create a new Toplica in Kosovo
and Metohija.
Hence, if we want the colonists to remain where they are, they must
be assured of acquiring all the means of livelihood within a few
years. We must ruthlessly prohibit any speculation with the houses
and properties of displaced Albanians. The state must reserve for
itself the unlimited right to dispose of the fixed and movable assets
of the people transferred and must settle its own colonists there
immediately after the departure of the Albanians. This must be done,
because it will rarely happen that a whole village departs at once.
The first to be settled in these villages should be the Montenegrins,
as arrogant, irascible and merciless people, who will drive the
remaining Albanians away with their behavior, and then colonists from
other regions can be brought in.
This paper deals with the problem of the colonization of Southern
Serbia only. The problem of Vojvodina, especially the Hungarian
triangle in Backa, Senta-Kula-Backa Topola, is not less important for
us. To destroy this triangle in Vojvodina is tantamount to destroying
the Albanian block around the Sar Mountain. Following the division of
the big estates, there remain tens of thousands of Hungarian farm-
hands, who today are a great burden on the Serbian and German middle
peasant of Vojvodina. Some of these Hungarian and even German farm
laborers and small proprietors must be sent to the south, because in
Backa, on the border with Hungary, they represent a danger, the more
so since the Serbs in Backa comprise only 15 per cent of the
population. In Southern Serbia, by defending their properties against
Albania, they will become good citizens, who will integrate
themselves with our masses and, what is more important, being more
progressive and of a higher cultural level than our peasants, they
will provide an example of advanced methods of the cultivation of the
land. We emphasize in particular that the Serbs of Vojvodina should
not be sent to the south for colonization. In Vojvodina there is
still land for colonization, therefore they must be given land there.
We stress also, that during the period 1928-1929 there was a
widespread movement among the Hungarians and Germans of Vojvodina to
move to Southern Serbia, but, not knowing the problems, our unclear
opinion opposed this movement and nipped it in the bud. Another such
attempt in this direction should be encouraged and our public must be
instructed to support the movement of the Hungarians and Germans from
Vojvodina, and especially from Backa, to the south.
The colonization apparatus
Of special importance for the solution of the question under
discussion is the existence of an apparatus to direct the whole
business. The poor work of the apparatus which has implemented our
policy of colonization so far is the reason for a good part of our
lack of success to date. To avoid this in the future, a
reorganization must be carried out.
No other question demands such continuity in its implementation as
colonization does. We have pointed out that one of the main reasons
for the lack of success of our colonization in the north and in the
south is the inconsistent work and changing policy with each change
of government. If this is to be avoided in the future, the
colonization should be entrusted to the General Staff. Why? Simply
for reason of defence. Our army is interested in settling our own
element along the borders, especially in the most delicate sectors.
To this end, it will do its utmost to secure the borders with the
firmest possible colonization. The General Staff, as the prime
institution for the defence of our national interests, can contribute
a great deal to our whole policy of colonization. The General Staff
will know very well how to protect the implementation of the policy
of colonization from private interference by those who want to use it
for their personal interests and from any external influence. Another
important fact is that it would be easier for the General Staff to
convince the responsible bodies of the importance of the issue and
make them take effective decisions. The People's Council will have
more faith in it and will grant the necessary credits to it more
readily than to others.
The General Staff would guide all the work through a State Council
for colonization. This council would be quite independent, but
directly under the control of the Chief of the General Staff, and
would have all the organs of our colonization under its control.
Representatives of several interested ministries, the national
associations, technical organisms and scientific institutions, should
be brought into this council. The greatest mistake of our
colonization policy lay in the fact that the untrained and
incompetent bureaucracy had the main say in it, and it dealt with the
problems a bit at a time, without going into them thoroughly. Let us
only recall the colonization of our volunteers from Hungary at Ovce
Polje, Kadrifikovo or the emigrants from Istra and Gorica who settled
around Demir Kapija. This requires the close linking of the state
power, private initiative and scientific institutions with our
colonization policy. Private initiative can operate in many
directions. The People's Defence, the Sokolasas, the Chetnik
Associations etc could undertake actions against the Albanians, in
which it is inappropriate for the state to be involved. The
associations of agronomists, doctors, engineers, the cooperatives etc
can assist very well through their technical councils to solve many
problems which arise during the process of our colonization. The
cultural associations too, such as Prosveta in Sarajevo, Matica
Srpska in Novi Sad, the Sv. Sava associations in Belgrade etc also
have their tasks in connection with this question.
Undoubtedly, our higher scientific institutions have begun to lose
their former prestige. The main reason for this is that the
University and the Academy of Sciences are becoming more and more
removed from real life and neglecting the chief task they have in a
relatively backward country, such as ours -- opening the ways for the
application of the scientific achievements of the 20th century. Many
billions would have been saved in this country, many mistakes would
have been avoided in our state policy, including our colonization
policy, had the problems been studied seriously and objectively in
advance by our competent scientific workers before they were taken up
for solution. Our policy of colonization, likewise, would have
acquired a more serious approach, greater continuity and effective
application, had the opinions of experts and scientific workers been
sought in advance. In the first place, the Royal Serbian Academy of
Sciences and the University of Belgrade ought to take the initiative
to organize a thorough scientific study of the whole problem of
colonization in our country. This would be possible for many seasons.
At the University we have experts on every question connected with
colonization. The teachers and academicians at the university are
independent workers, less subject to external political influence.
They already have good experience in such work and their scientific
activity is a guarantee of objectivity. Therefore they should take
the initiative to set up a colonization institute, the task of which
would be to engage in the study of colonization. The state for its
part, should detach from several ministries all the institutions
which have been engaged with this problem so far, and create a
special institution, "The Colonization Inspection Office."
The Colonization Inspection Office would be headed by the Inspector
General, appointed by decree on the proposal of the Minister of War,
the Chief of the General Staff and the Prime Minister. All the work
in the colonization institute and the Colonization Inspection Office
would be carried out on orders from and under the supervision of the
State Council, while the Inspector General would be answerable to the
Chief of the General Staff.
The colonization institute would be divided into the following
sections: 1) organization, 2) education and culture, 3) finance, 4)
agriculture, 5) construction, 6) hygiene etc. In agreement with the
scientific, cultural-educational associations and institutions, as
well as with the national associations, the sections would study
problems of colonization and prepare directives, thus supplying our
colonization policy with a solid, scientifically worked out material
from which to make decisions. At the head of this institute would be
people from the State Council, made up of representatives of the
ministries mentioned, the University, the Academy of Sciences and
those of private, national and educational- cultural organizations
who would be elected or appointed to this council. In this case care
must be taken not to bring in people just for honor's sake, but men
who love and are dedicated to this great work.
The heads and employees of the institute should be selected through
competition. The institute would supply the Colonization Inspection
Office with scientifically worked out materials for the
implementation of the colonization policy. In cases of differences of
opinion between the Colonization Inspection Office and the institute
over some fundamental question, the Chief of the General Staff would
have the decisive say. The Colonization Inspection Office must have
its executive organs in the territory, made up of people selected for
their enthusiasm and readiness for this work, whether or not they are
employed by the state. Therefore they should possibly be selected
through competition and be appointed upon proposal by the Chief of
the General Staff, while as to the compromised or incompetent cadres,
they must be dismissed. During its work, the Colonization Inspection
Office and its organs must avoid the bureaucratic formalities as much
as possible, while keeping in mind only one thing --the removal of
the Albanians as quickly as possible and the settlement of our
colonists.
The police apparatus will play a very important role in this matter.
Therefore it is necessary to select the most energetic and honest
officers and send them there. Their transfer should be done with the
approval of the Chief of the General Staff, and for such a difficult
job they should be paid from secret credits. Stern measures must be
taken against any of them who commits the slightest infringement. A
special commissar, who would execute the orders of the state
colonization inspector must be appointed for the whole territory of
the 18 districts mentioned. Prefects of districts must be given
special wide powers for the work and the respective instructions. Our
political parties should be told curtly that rivalry between parties
in elections is categorically prohibited in those districts, and that
any interference by the deputies in favor of the Albanians is
categorically forbidden.
The State Institute and the inspection office for colonization will
work out the technical details of organizing the removal of the
Albanians and the establishment of our settlers. It would not be bad,
perhaps, if another private organization were created, besides these
two official institutions, which would be based on the existing
associations and have the task of assisting the implementation of our
colonization policy through private initiative. It would be best if
the League of our cultural- educational associations were to
undertake this work. It would concern itself with coordinating the
work of the private associations with the state policy for
colonization and would assist liaison between them and the
Colonization Institute.
Financial means
Whenever our colonization policy has been criticized for its lack of
success, its defenders have always excused themselves with the
inadequate financial means the state has allocated for this work. We
do not deny that it is so up to a point, although it must be admitted
that more has been spent in our country on the maintenance of this
apparatus and its irrational work than on the colonization itself.
Nevertheless, if the state has not provided as much as it should, it
must be understood that every state has its primary and secondary
interests. Without doubt, the duty of the state to ensure the holding
of the insecure national regions, by colonizing these regions with
its own national element, must be included among its primary
interests. All other commitments rank inferior to this task and this
commitment. For this problem, the money can and must be found. We
have already mentioned the instance of Serbia during the colonization
of Toplica and Kosanica and the benefits it had from this. When the
small Serbian Kingdom did not hesitate to make great financial
sacrifices, indeed did not hesitate, as a free and independent
Kingdom, to seek its first loan for the colonization, can it be said
that our present-day Yugoslavia is unable to do such a thing? It can
and must do it, and it is not true that it lacks the means to do it.
Let us reckon approximately how much it would cost our state to
transplant 200,000 Albanians and establish as great a number of our
settlers.
The resettlement of 40,000 Albanian families -- taking an average
family as 5 members and an average of 15,000 dinars per each family,
would cost a total of 600 million dinars. The colonization
expenditure for the settling of our 40,000 families may reach a total
of 200 million dinars. In any case, the whole thing will not cost
more than 800 million dinars. This is why:
1.The transplanted Albanians will leave not only the land but also
their houses and implements. Thus, not only will the overwhelming
majority of our settlers be established in the houses of the
Albanians, but, with a little assistance with livestock and food,
they will recover themselves economically and become independent. For
this reason, we emphasize here, too, that private speculation with
the possessions left by the Albanians must not be permitted in any
way, but the state must take them and give them to the settlers.
2.During the setting up of new colonies, military forces should be
employed, where required, as was the case with the construction of
Sremska Raca and the reconstruction of the villages destroyed by the
1931 earthquake in the south. To this end, the army should be given
the right and possibility to create a kind of obligatory labor
service for public projects, just as Stambolisky in Bulgaria created
the "Trudova Pronist" and Hitler created the "Arbeitsdienst" in
Germany, by calling up reservists or extending the term of the
military service. It would be especially good that our trained youth,
after their graduation from the University are charged with these
tasks. In this case, by taking part in constructive work in the
general interest, many of them would become more conscious and look
at things more realistically. This can be easily applied by giving
priority in entering state employment, to those youth who spend a
definite period in work for our colonization policy. This would also
reduce the unemployment among our young intelligentsia, which is
becoming an increasingly difficult social problem in our country.
3.In agreement with the specialized organizations and associations,
the least costly ways must be sought for clearing land of scrub,
irrigation, draining swamps etc as well as for building houses.
Private enterprises should be informed that during their work to
secure the necessary materials, the state helps them with reduced
customs and railway tariffs, credits and other means, so that for
such an important work the state has the right to demand from them
supplies of materials at the lowest possible prices. The question of
securing materials should be solved directly through cartels and
then, in agreement with them, the state will define both the
quantity, quality and the price of the materials without fictitious
deals. The state enterprises, the railways and especially forest
enterprises, such as Sipad etc should be placed totally at the
disposal of the State Council for Colonization.
4.During the colonization the state may grant the settlers property
on credit or for cash. Many of them will buy land in the new regions,
selling their properties in their birthplaces. From this the state
will regain a good part of the money it has laid out. However, we
stress that the land must be sold only to persons who provide proof
that they will settle on it permanently and work it. The land given
on credit must not be very dear. The rate of interest must be minimal
and repayment should be deferred for several years to give the
settler time to establish himself, i.e. until he has gained strength
from the economic aspect.
Taking this as a basis, the state can find the means from two
sources. The state must undertake all the expenditure for the
administration of this work and cover it from its normal income. This
it can do by pruning unnecessary expenditure or expenditure from
other spheres which are not so immediately urgent. The other possible
financial source would be loans, which would be provided by the state
banks, alone or jointly with our private capital through a compulsory
internal loan. This would be based on securities issued by the state
as well as on the contributions of the settlers, when they become
independent.
It might not be a bad idea if the financing and purchase of lands
were done by the agricultural banks in collaboration with the
cooperativist unions, under the direct supervision and on the basis
of the directives of the State Council for Colonization. However, it
is still early to give any definite opinion on this problem, because
the conditions on which Turkey will accept the population displaced
from our territories are not known. Altogether, a sum of a few
hundred million dinars is a small expenditure for the state, in
comparison with the real benefits it will gain from such a move. By
securing our most sensitive point in the south through the settlement
of our national element, we save several divisions in case of war. By
settling several tens of thousands of families from our passive
regions, especially Montenegro, as colonists, the intolerable
economic crisis in those regions will be eased, and on the other
hand, as a result of the great amount of work that will be opened
during the colonization, it will be possible to find employment for
10,000 workers, thus giving an impulse to our sluggish economy.
For such an important national, military, strategic and economic
task, it is the duty of the state to sacrifice a few hundred million
dinars. At a time when it can spend one billion dinars for the
construction of the international highway from Subotica to Caribrod,
any possible benefit from which we shall enjoy only in the distant
future, it can and must find a few hundred million dinars, which will
put us back in possession in the cradle of our state.
Conclusions
In view of all that has been said above, it is no accident that in
our examination of the question of colonization in the south, we
proceed from the view that the only effective method for solving this
problem is the mass resettlement of the Albanians. Just as in other
countries, gradual colonization has had no success in our country.
When the state wants to intervene in favor of its own element, in
struggle for the land, it can be successful only if it acts brutally.
Otherwise, the native, with his roots in his birthplace and
acclimatized there, is always stronger than the colonist. In our
case, this must be kept especially in mind, mind, because we have to
do with a rugged, resistant and prolific race, which the late Cvijic
described as the most expansive in the Balkans. From 1870 to 1914
Germany put billions of marks for the gradual colonization of its
eastern regions by purchasing land from the Poles, but the fecundity
of the Polish mothers defeated German organization and money. Thus,
Poland regained its Poznan in 1918. Our statistics of the 1921-1931
period, which we have already mentioned, show that the fecundity of
the Albanian women defeated our colonization policy, too. From this
we must draw conclusions, and do so quickly while there is still time
to correct matters.
All Europe is in a state of turmoil. We do not know what each day and
night may bring. Albanian nationalism is mounting in our territories,
too. To leave the situation as it is would mean, in case of any world
conflict or social revolution, both of which are possible in the near
future, to jeopardize all our territories in the south. The purpose
of this paper is to avert such a thing.
Dr. Vaso Cubrilovic
(signed)
Zionists are not just to Jews what Nazis are to Germans. They are also what Chetniks are to Serbs.
A racist is a racist is a racist. A German racist is a racist. A Serb racist is a racist. A Jewish racist is a racist. They're all racists. They have more in comon with each other than any of them have with anti-racists among their respective peoples.
A racist is a racist is a racist. A German racist is a racist. A Serb racist is a racist. A Jewish racist is a racist. They're all racists. They have more in comon with each other than any of them have with anti-racists among their respective peoples.
"Zionists are not just to Jews what Nazis are to Germans"
LOL!!! A better equivelant:
Zionists are to Jews, what Nazis are to Palestinians.
LOL!!! A better equivelant:
Zionists are to Jews, what Nazis are to Palestinians.
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