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The Myth of Albanian Repression
One by one, the myths about Kosovo have been falling. The notion that Yugoslavs were engaged in genocide against Albanians was debunked by the absence of corpses in anything close to the numbers claimed by the NATO countries as justification for their air assault. The idea that the KLA was merely seeking redress of political grievances has died along with the hundreds of post-"peace" victims of the KLA. And, the romantic fiction that the war would lead to a multiethnic paradise was debunked by "Kosova's" incarnation as a mono-ethnic state. In their anniversary reviews of the war's commencement, even NATO and its compliant press have recognized these truths.
However, one lie remains unrebutted, and is repeated to this day. That is the assertion that in 1989, after Slobodan Milosevic "revoked" Kosovo's autonomy, the Albanian population was fired from jobs and otherwise discriminated against. Various sources, including the Washington Post, Human Rights Watch, and NATO's gauleiter Bernard Kouchner, use the word "apartheid" to describe the Yugoslav-Albanian relationship. Various news stories reporting the return of Albanians -- doctors, teachers, miners -- to previous places of employment invariably stated, without any documentation whatever, that these workers had previously been fired solely because they were Albanian.
The truth is otherwise. Albanians were not fired after the modification (not revocation) of autonomy because of their ethnicity, as NATO and its media acolytes claim. In fact, the modification of autonomy resulted in a massive refusal on the part of many Albanians to continue working, particularly in the state-owned enterprises that characterize socialist Yugoslavia. They similarly refused to attend the state schools -- no, they weren't expelled, as they claim -- and boycotted the political process by refusing to exercise their right to suffrage. For example, the Trepca miners occupied the mines in a form of sit-down strike, and subsequently were discharged, not because they were Albanian but because they refused to work. This was the same treatment afforded by Ronald Reagan to the illegally striking air traffic controllers.
This self-defeating work boycott was not a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. Those Albanians who refused to participate in the boycott were the subject of violent reprisals. The KLA's initial list of victims included numerous Albanians employed by the Yugoslav federal or Serbian republic governments. Those in municipal government positions, like Malic Saholi and Ramiz Ljeka, or located in isolated rural areas, particularly forestry workers such as Sadi Morina, Faik Belopolja, Fazil Hassani, and Sejdi Mujha, were common targets. The fact that these Albanians were employed by the state belies the claim of mass firings for ethnic reasons; the fact that they were killed by the KLA proves that common ethnicity was no bar to the KLA's intimidation campaign.
The KLA's victims were not limited to state employees, however. Albanians who maintained political loyalty to Yugoslavia, like Zen Durmisi, were murdered for their political views, as were those such as Ali Raci who worked at private Yugoslav-owned companies. Even entrepreneurs who traded with Yugoslavs were executed after the KLA's ascendancy. As reported by the Albanian Daily News, "Kosovo's Secret Deals" (March 3, 2000): "Throughout the years of political crisis, Serb middlemen provided their Albanian business partners with everything from petrol to flour and milk. Their partnership became very lucrative and close. When war broke out, many Albanian traders were either killed or forced to flee by the Kosovo Liberation Army who regarded them as traitors." The bottom line: cooperating with Yugoslavs could be fatal. No wonder so many Albanians joined the job boycott, when the alternative was death.
In short, the extremist KLA's zeal to establish a minority-free province led to withdrawal from civil society, including mass refusal to work, and to the violent intimidation of fellow citizens into joining this boycott. If there was apartheid in Kosovo, it was self-imposed by the KLA.
Here's another analytical piece from Max, the wonder of Morningside Heights.
1
Posted on 03/23/2000 13:25:20 PST by Gael
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To: Gael
The one thing VERY wrong with this article is that there was no KLA in 1989--it came into existence in the mid-1990s. However, the supposedly "sainted" Rugova and his group did initate a campaign of withdrawal from Yugoslav society and institutions in 1989. (Rugova may be non-violent, but he is--and always has been--for "Kosova" independence as an Albanian state).
And there always were violent Kosovo Shiptars, even before the formation of the KLA by German and US intelligence agenices. It is the constant, usually low-level violence of the Shiptars during the period of "Albanian autonomy" that advanced the work of ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Serbs begun by the Nazis (with Shiptar participation) during World War II.
Of course, once there was a KLA, murder of those Shiptars who were still loyal to their country of citizenship, Yugoslavia, became organized and was greatly increased.
2 Posted on 03/23/2000 14:10:14 PST by Honorary Serb
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To: Honorary Serb
You're quite right that the KLA post-dated 1989, but here were violent KLA predecessor groups around from the very early '90s on, which were lumped together for purposes of this piece under the rubric "KLA". Max didn't want to make it too complex. You know those Columbia guys.
3 Posted on 03/23/2000 14:19:17 PST by Gael
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To: Gael
You know those Columbia guys.
Yeah, sexy, witty, insightful, erudite, knowledgeable, good writers, lady-killers...did I leave anything out?
4 Posted on 03/23/2000 14:35:02 PST by Map Kernow
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To: Gael
Outstanding article.
The Kosovo Albanians themselves chose not to exercise their rights as Yugoslav citizens, unlike the other ethnic groups who live in Serbia and make up 20% of the population (Hungarians, Gypsies, Slav Muslims, etc.).
5 Posted on 03/26/2000 16:19:18 PST by Canuck1
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To: Gael
Just 12 months ago I caught hell from a DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PATRIOT. Seems my position has been thoroughly upheld by all but clintonistas! Score one for the 'trailer-trash'!
6 Posted on 03/26/2000 17:15:30 PST by Chapita
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To: Chapita
Wrong, the Yugoslav Albanians were not allowed by their most extremist brethren ( such as the KLA) to take part in the peaceful, tolerant Yugoslav civil society.
If a Yugoslav Albanian went to vote he would be beaten or shot. Yes, shot, look there were many Albanians shot for simply working for a Yugoslav business, or even selling to Yugoslavs.
7 Posted on 03/27/2000 15:18:13 PST by vooch
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Obviamente, la publicación de este artículo en este website no comercial al igual que el resto de artículos no se debe a ningún interés económico sino al deseo de dar a conocer los hechos aquí expuestos que son negados u ocultados deliberadamente a la opinión pública por quienes por carecer de la menor decencia iniciaron en marzo la guerra contra Yugoslavia, y que desgraciadamente son los que todavía nos gobiernan...