Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---------------------------------------------
'We arrived in the central Serbian city of Kragujevac several hours later
than planned, due to an overly ambitious schedule and the delay caused by
Jaime's injury. Despite our belated arrival at Zastava factory in
Kragujevac, management staff had waited patiently and they were there to
greet us. Zastava was the largest factory in the Balkans, and certainly the
largest I've seen anywhere. Primarily a manufacturer of automobiles and
trucks, Zastava supplied 95 percent of automobiles operating in Yugoslavia.
This diverse factory also produced tools and machinery.
'It was far too tempting a target for NATO. Shortly after the inception of
NATO's war, workers at Zastava organized human shields to protect the
plants. Zastava workers sent an open letter to the public of NATO countries
and email messages to Western leaders and NATO, notifying them of their
action. Their letter proclaimed that "we, the employees of Zastava and
citizens of freedom-loving Kragujevac, made a live shield," and that workers
would remain in the factory "to protect with their bodies what provides for
their and their families' living." In the early hours of April 9, NATO sent
its reply to the workers' letter, in the form of bombs and missiles.
Miraculously, no one was killed, but 120 workers were wounded, 30 of them
seriously. One woman lying on a stretcher, her head bandaged, said, "I can
only tell Clinton, we will build a new factory. He cannot destroy
everything." Three days later, Zastava endured another onslaught, and 20
more workers were wounded. The six largest plants at Zastava lay in ruins.
Interestingly, NATO ignored the plant that manufactured AK-47 automatic
rifles. Their intention was to cripple industry.
'According to Dragan Stankovic, export director for Zastava, the factory
complex in Kragujevac employed 28,000, and an additional 8,000 in associated
Zastava factories throughout Yugoslavia, most of which were also bombed.
Stankovic pointed out, "Of all the catastrophes that befell us, we consider
the humanitarian catastrophe to be the biggest." One of the components of
this catastrophe, he felt, was that workers in many factories depended on
Zastava, and with its destruction they and their families, 200,000 people in
all, were left without a means of livelihood. Zastava's director, Milosav
Djordjevic, ruefully concluded, "On the nights of the 9th and 12th of April,
all our dreams were destroyed in a mere 15 minutes of bombing." It was
difficult for him to understand the mentality that could inflict death and
destruction. "We couldn't believe that some people exist who would kill
other people." It was all too easy for me to believe, after months of
exposure to the ranting of Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and
Jamie Shea. Stankovic personally witnessed the attacks on April 9th. He was
in his apartment during the first detonations at 1:40 AM, which felt "like
an earthquake." Approximately eight hours later, he was on the grounds of
Zastava when the second assault came. "I saw a series of mushroom clouds,"
he said, "a series of mushroom clouds, strong light and fire, like an atomic
bomb." Strangely, he could hear neither the aircraft nor the explosions.
"You could see the explosions and big fires only. You couldn't hear
anything." '
Greg Elich, "Yugoslavia Amid the Maelstrom,"
http://www.spintechmag.com/0104/ge0401.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 1:58 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Zastava Workers Protest in Kragujevac [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---------------------------------------------
As far as I remember Kragujevac and the Zastava plant workers resisted NATO
vociferously. Including an anti-NATO letter during the bombings and the
destruction of their factory. I find it hard to believe that these same
people cheered NATO on, but I could be wrong...
cheers!
Kole
In a message dated 31/07/01 06:29:29 Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Subj: Re: Zastava Workers Protest in Kragujevac [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Date: 31/07/01 06:29:29 Eastern Daylight Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rick Rozoff)
Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]";>[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Visit our website: <A HREF=" HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ">
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK</A>
---------------------------------------------
Good job all of you. The word SCAB seems to work, too.
>>
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