>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [PEN-L:13050] Kosovo update >Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 19:51:51 -0500 > >I thought the list might be interested in this. > >Paul Phillips, >Economics, >University of Manitoba > >Listing cultural genocide that KLA under KFOR protection is doing. > >Are NATO leaders, in particular Sir Michael Jackson and Kushner, >engaged again in WAR CRIMES. Is the ICTY, (Hague Tribunal) going to >indict them? > > > > >Original Message--- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 1:18 PM >Subject: EMPERORS CLOTHES - HOLLAND REPORT (FROM >AMSTERDAM) > > > >From Jared Israel at Emperors-clothes.com ** PLEASE FORWARD > >My dear friends, > >Many people have expressed concern over the shutting down of >emperors-clothes.com, so I'm writing you all this note. First let me tell >you what I personally have been up to the past few days. > >I am writing you from the offices of Global Relfexion in Amsterdam. In >Holland there is great and growing concern over the involvement of >Dutch KFOR troops in the imprisonment of a large number of Serbian >residents in the Kosovo town of Orahovac. > >Saturday, Cedda Prlncevic, the leader of Pristina's Jewish community, >who were driven from Kosovo by the KLA (UCK), and I were among the >speakers who addressed a large meeting opposing the on-going attack >on Kosovo Serbs. I cannot tell you how encouraged I am by the passion >of the reserved Dutch when they learn the facts about what Dutch >troops have been doing in Kosovo. > >Cedda spoke before me. Nico Varkevisser from Global Reflexion, which >sponsored Cedda and my trip to the Netherlands, had pressed Cedda to >talk specifically about how KFOR's presence has affected ordinary Serbs. >And he tried; but as he spoke, the pain of what has been done to the >citizens of Serbia, of all nationalities, overwhelmed him, and he broke >down on the stage. He was given a standing ovation. > >I spoke next, about Cedda's experiences and those of the women from >Orahovac, who have been interviewed by Emperors Clothes. We are >currently transcribing those interviews. ) > >The story of their suffering, of the literal imprisonment of the Serbian >population of Orahovac, tremendously affected the hundreds of people >at the meeting, and people are taking action. There is tremendous energy >here. We have scheduled already 5 or 6 radio, newspaper and TV >interviews - the Dutch media has been calling Global Reflexion to invite >me to speak about hat the Dutch troops have done to the Serbs in >Orahovac. It seems the media in Holland has not been fully consolidated >into the US/German Empire. > >This is a country where Nazi occupation was once greeted with a General >Strike. This is a country whose government has shamefully lied - >claiming the Dutch troops are bringing multi-ethnic life to Kosovo. This >is a blot on the honor and decency of the Dutch. There is a great >potential here for resistance to the horrific policies of NATO. > >Global Reflexion is demanding the women whom we interviewed, all of >whom are from Orahovac but who presently live in Belgrade, be brought >to Holland, at the expense of the Dutch government to testify before the >Dutch Parliament. > >Global Reflexion has called for a delegation of leading Dutch citizens to >go to Orahovac and bring out the Serbs who want to leave. The >Statement posted below describes how Dutch NATO forces have >FORCIBLY PREVENTED Serbs from fleeing Orahovac. This includes >children, turned back when the women whom we interviewed managed to >get to the city to bring them out. The Dutch troops said: "Nein" which is >not a word customarily used in Holland. > >The Dutch movement is demanding: Save the Children of Orahovac! The >Dutch delegation will go to Kosovo, to Orahovac, and bring out the >Serbs. Let us see how the people here respond if the liars in the Dutch >government try to stop them. > >I spoke at the meeting Saturday afternoon. Saturday night the emperors- >clothes.com website was shut down. Repeated email to the people at >Internet Web Designs, our "service" provider, has been fruitless. First >they did not answer until Monday night (making it too late for us to find >an alternate provider on Monday). And when they did answer, their >reply was absurd - they claimed a small payment, which we had sent >days ago, was never received. They had no explanation why we were >not contacted BEFORE the site was shut down (though they managed >to shut it down, apparently late Saturday night!) or why they failed to >respond to our email. I think it is reasonable to speculate that there has >been US government pressure to silence the site. Anyone wishing to >protest this may send email to emperors-clothes through me at >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Hopefully we will have emperors-clothes up and running >by Tuesday night, Eastern US time. > >I will try to arrange to publish the Orahovac interviews on >www.antiwar.com as soon as they are transcribed, so you can read them >there, hopefully, by Tuesday night or Wed morning, Eastern US time. > >Below is a statement in English and Serbo-Croatian, written by Cedda >Prlncevic, Niko Varkevisser from Global Reflexion and me. > >STATEMENT - ENGLISH > > >I ACCUSE: KFOR OF TERROR IN KOSOVO > >Statement by Cedomir Prlincevic, edited by Nico Varkevisser of Global >Reflexion and Jared Israel of Emperors-clothes.com > >I appreciate very much the invitations from Global Reflexion to address >the meeting on "Terror in Kosovo" held last night in Amsterdam, and the >invitation from "Association Dialogue" to address the Conference >tomorrow on "NATO's Humanitarian War and the New World Order". I >was very much moved by the reception of the large, and more important, >motivated group whom I addressed in Amsterdam. I very much regret, >due to the breakdown of our automobile, that I cannot address the >Conference in Paris. I have therefore written this statement, with the >participation of Mr. Israel and Mr. Varkevisser. > >For months people in the West, and also, through satellite transmission, >those of us in Yugoslavia, have been bombarded with Western media >claims that NATO, that is the US and Germany, want to create, in >Kosovo, a multiethnic, democratic society. The disadvantage of citizens >of Serbia in dealing with NATO is that we tend to believe that other >people mean what they say. And therefore I and others in Pristina >believed that when KFOR, that is NATO, marched into Kosovo, they >would protect the rights of Serbs and other non-Albanians. > >The KFOR troops and the UCK crossed the border into Kosovo >together; they came down the roads together; they entered Pristina >together. Immediately the UCK and gangster elements under their >leadership took over government institutions and fanned out, going after >the homes of non-Albanians and pro-Yugoslav Albanians. I lived in a >large complex of apartments inhabited by doctors, lawyers, university >professors, >managers of various institutions, the intellectual core of Pristina >society. >Right after >KFOR arrived, the gangster elements attacked this section, called Milana. >They moved up and down through the buildings, banging on doors, >breaking down doors, throwing tear gas into people's apartments, forcing >them out on pain of death. > >The Western media claims that KFOR has been "unable" to control the >action of "mysterious gangs" who unfortunately have targeted Serbs, >nor have they the manpower needed to prevent ethnic Albanians from >Kosovo from exacting revenge. > >This is simply untrue. For one thing, the Albanians who attacked our >apartment complex spoke a dialect that made it clear they were from >Albania, not from Kosovo. >When the Albanians attacked, one of my neighbors (a doctor) called >KFOR. An English Major arrived with his squad. But the Albanians did >not flee. I spoke to this Major. I asked him why the didn't do anything. >He said "This is a job for the Civil Authorities." But you see, by then >there were no civil authorities other than the UCK. > >He said KFOR was only interested in cases of murder. I showed him >documents, confirming that I was the President of the Jewish community >in Pristina. He replied: "Later." He didn't have time to examine these >papers. While the Major and his squad were there - before their eyes - >the gangsters continued their work. In some cases, when residents >appealed to these British KFOR troops, the KFOR people took the part of >modern day Solomons. The Albanians explained their plight: "We have >no place to stay tonight." You see they felt themselves to be victims of a >housing shortage. So the KFOR people said, "Why don't you share this >apartment amongst yourselves!" - in other words, the gangsters were to >move in with the prey. > >SO KFOR left, the Albanians moved in, and then the Albanians said, >"Now leave or we will slaughter you." Under these circumstances, who >would stay? We lost everything, years of our lives - our lives, and our >community, the only place we can ever be at home - gone. Stolen. > >About 30,000 people were driven from this huge complex in Milana in a >matter of days. I have had to flee to tiny quarters in Belgrade, I and my >family, including my 81 year old mother. The Jewish community in >Pristina existed by fortuitous accident. During World War II the ethnic >Albanian fascists in alliance with Italian and then German forces shot >some local Jews. Then they arrested the rest and shipped them, in >stages, to death camps. One large trainload of Jews took a wrong turn >and got stalled several days at a train station, and was liberated by the >Russian Army. My family thus exists only by virtue of error; but my 81- >year-old mother, alive through this accident of fate, now has to face the >destruction of her life, of all our lives. I personally was Chief >Archivist in >Pristina, and now at 61 years of age, what am I to do? What are any of >us to do? > >The behavior of a large part of the Albanian population was terrible.They >lied to support the NATO campaign of lies, inventing tales of harassment >and mass executions. Secretly, and then openly, they supported the >UCK. These people would never have done such terrible things were it >not for years of encouragement from two centers - the United States and >Germany. Albanian culture unfortunately includes a strong strain of >intolerance; it also has a powerful Clan structure which puts Clan leaders >in a dictatorial position. > >These two cultural traits have been utilized by NATO to provide foot >soldiers for modern-day fascism, complete with a liberal rhetorical cover. >Emperors-Clothes.com recently interviewed some women from Orahovac. >This town is well- known in the West because Albanian blockades kept >out Russian KFOR troops. These interviews are partly transcribed and >will be published this week (before Nov. 1) at Emperors-Clothes.com. I >find them most instructive regarding KFOR's claims. Keep in mind, this >sector is controlled by Dutch and German troops under German >command. > >The women interviewed are Orahovac natives who had previously >moved to >Belgrade or who escaped from Orahovac after the arrival of KFOR. Their >phone lines were destroyed by NATO bombing. Then Yugoslav radio >and TV facilities were bombed, so the population in Orahovac was >effectively cut off from Yugoslav information sources. But Western >media, especially Voice of America, got through. VOA broadcast a clear >message: "We are fighting to guarantee a multiethnic, democratic >Kosovo. When we come in, we will disarm the UCK. And we will protect >all groups." > >So the Serbs and Roma and other minorities in Orahovac felt reassured. >They felt that perhaps there would be problems, but basically, the West >only wanted military bases, apart from that they would prefer Orahovac >to have a normal life. The minority population of Serbs and Roma would >naturally be protected. Why wouldn't KFOR want to protect them? It's >only normal. > >Now, say the women that we interviewed, they realize their error. They >made the same mistake I and the other Pristina Jews made. That is, they >miscalculated what was Natural for NATO. > >On the morning of the day KFOR came into Orahovac, their >representatives met with leading Serbs, including the Mayor. They told >the leaders: the UCK will be disarmed and everyone will be protected. > >That day KFOR marched in - and with them in marched the UCK. >Realizing that they had been betrayed many Serbs and Roma living >among ethnic Albanians fled, moving into the Serbian part of town. >Those who remained in the mixed part were kidnapped; their fates are >unknown. Immediately, the UCK forces started to take over and loot and >burn the homes of Serbs living in the mixed neighborhoods. Did KFOR >do the normal thing for an army of occupation in a town under Martial >Law? Did they send trucks with loudspeakers warning that looters and >arsonists would be shot? Did they create some examples, arresting and >jailing arsonists? Did they track down kidnappers and arrest them? Did >they establish a massive presence on the streets, shooting looters and >arsonists? > >No. They occupied strategic parts of the town. They did nothing to >stop the attacks on Serbs and their property. When Serbs saw KFOR >troops patrolling they would ask: "What are you going to do to help >us?" They were told: "We don't have the men to guard every house or >every Serb." No, they had the forces to do nothing. > >One of the interviewed women saw an Albanian starting to torch a Serb's >home and stopped a Dutch KFOR soldier. "Please! Do something." The >man was a decent person - he was visibly distressed. "I have to call >headquarters for instruction," he said, or words to that effect. He >checked with his superiors and then told our correspondent: "I was >ordered to do nothing." but even his limited concern was too much for >the Dutch commanders - he was never seen again patrolling the Serbian >area. He had been corrupted: he questioned existing orders. The women >whom Emperors-Clothes interviewed did notice that KFOR forces were >constantly shuffled lest these politically naive people become infected >with human decency, a dangerous contact disease. > >The women report that shortly after occupation, the Serbs, who had >guns because of the old Yugoslav strategy of arming the population >against foreign invasion, were forcibly disarmed by Dutch and German >KFOR troops. The Mayor of Orahovac, who happened to be a Serb, the >local Serbian doctor and 4 others were arrested for "War Crimes" and >taken to jail. And then the torture of an entire population began. > >There are two levels of containment in Orahovac. There is the inner >control, manned by Dutch and German troops, with a roadblock that >controls entry to the Serbian part of town. And then there is the outer >control, with Albanian -manned roadblocks and roving bands of >terrorists. If a Serb tries to slip out of the city, he simply disappears, >and >God help him. > >The Western media has written about the Albanian roadblocks. >Albanians who supposedly suffered abuses at the hands of Serbian >forces supposedly set them up. These Albanians supposedly heard >about the imminent Russian takeover in Orahovac and, fearful that the >Russians would protect Serbian war criminals, they spontaneously set >up the roadblocks. > >In fact, the Albanian roadblocks can only operate with the connivance >and participation of the Dutch and German KFOR troops that control the >city. The roadblocks have tents with weapons - in violation of the UN so- >called Peace agreement, under which UCK forces were to have turned in >their weapons.They have electric lines running to these tents; the lines >require KFOR approval. > >KFOR is simply creating a smokescreen: the UCK blockades are really >KFOR blockades to keep out the Russians. After all, the Russians might >challenge the ghettoization of the Serbs and Roma. >If Serbs try to get into Orahovac to visit their relatives, as our >correspondents tried, they are subjected to humiliation and risk. > >The Yugoslav government, pressed by relatives of the Serbian residents >of Orahovac, has organized two trips to Orahovac. Let me briefly relate >some of what the interviewed women experienced on these trips. The >second trip was a few weeks ago. A group of Serbian women were, by >agreement between the Yugoslav government and KFOR, escorted to the >KFOR roadblock. There they were questioned, photographed and >searched for three hours. They were forced to submit to extreme >indignities, including body searches which decency prevents me from >describing. They told Emperors-clothes that nobody ever heard of such >things in undemocratic Yugoslavia; they only witnessed such measures >in US gangster movies. But you see, life is imitating American art. > >After being strip-searched they were allowed into the Ghetto. They were >allowed to stay only three hours to visit their relatives. Before the trip >they had been permitted to phone these relatives for only one minute per >week. 1 minute. > >The three hours were paid for by the treatment they had received at the >roadblocks. They were told: you will be permitted to bring NO ONE out. >Nevertheless, a large number of children appeared at the church where >the women were to be picked up by KFOR and returned to the >checkpoint. The children were sent by parents desperate to save them >from this horrid situation. Life in the Ghetto had deteriorated. Food was >scarce. Water was occasional. Electric power was unreliable or >nonexistent. There were no regular phones. It was dangerous - literally >risking death - to step out of the house onto the street and you never >knew when the knock would come at the door. > >In desperation the parents sent a large number of children. KFOR did >not, apparently, want a scene at the church. They want desperately to >avoid KFOR casualties so they have to be careful, even with disarmed >people. They could scratch and bite. So they allowed the children to go >with the women back to the checkpoint. > >At the checkpoint the Dutch Major was in charge. He said: "Only those >who came in may leave!" The women told Emperors-Clothes that their >identification papers had been photographed when they were searched, >so KFOR knew exactly who was a proper visitor and who was not, >making it impossible for any of the women to change places with >relatives. > >"Only those who came in may leave! The children must go home." Home! > >It was, the women say, a scene from hell: the children, terrified, crying, >the women yelling and protesting to the Dutch troops…You see, that is >the problem with these Serbs. They will not simply lie down and die. >They are disobedient Jews! > >Albanians were milling around. You see, while the Serbs were detained >and searched for 3 hours, Albanians could simply drive past the >checkpoint without stopping. They waved to the KFOR troops and >sailed by, sometimes chanting "NA-TO! NA-TO! NA-TO!" > >The Dutch Major became increasingly impatient. Finally he said: "You >may leave with these children but we will not guarantee your protection. >No armed escort." > >No armed escort. What could this mean? Only that an unfortunate >incident was to occur and these women and children would disappear. >Then perhaps after witnessing the death of their elders the children >would be brought back to Orahovac. They would tell people about the >terrible deaths of the adults. The idea would be to terrify and therefore >paralyze Serbs and Roma. Moreover, the children would provide, by their >very presence, a guarantee against rebellion by the adults. > >Or perhaps all would simply disappear. > >Still, the women protested. What IS wrong with these Serbs? The >Major's patience had its limits. >"Enough!" he roared. "The children will go back and you will leave!" >And so the women and children were separated, and the children were >forced to go home. > >Recently I was interviewed for the second time by Emperors-clothes.com >and during that interview I tried to communicate to the interviewers why >the Albanians left for Macedonia and Albania during the war. I told the >interviewers they didn't understand the significance of certain features of >modern Albanian culture. It is very closed off, very self-oriented, and >very much under the control of the leaders of Clans. The word 'clans' is >not used here simply to describe a formal structural feature of Albanian >society. Quite the contrary, clans are the actual, functioning social unit >of vast numbers of Albanians. > >During the bombing, my neighbor, an ethnic Albanian, left. And I said to >him why are you leaving? We're not getting killed in this housing >development, we're all helping each other, and we're all together in the >air >raid shelter - why are you leaving? And he just looked at me, and he >said, "I have to. I've been told to leave now. Everyone will be leaving >now." > >And that was that. This man and his wife, who were sophisticated >intellectuals, whose children played with the Serbian children, whom I >had considered to be friends - they were leaving. > >Many opponents of the war thought the UCK was making a big mistake >by terrorizing Albanians. But it wasn't making a mistake. It was making a >point to the clan leaders: we have the backing of NATO and we will kill >Albanians who buck us. Given the existence of anti-Serb racism among >Albanians, this we're-the-winning-team argument brought the leaders >into line. > >Huge numbers of Albanians left Kosovo during the bombing. They did >not leave because Serbs were slaughtering them, which was a made-up >story. They did not leave because they were getting bombed; though >they were getting bombed. They left because they were told to leave by >their clan leaders. > >Vast numbers of people from all over the world have protested the >bombing of Yugoslavia. In doing so they have created a movement out >of the political shambles of our world. And yet it is now, after the >cessation of bombing, that we have entered the worst hell. This terrible >fascist-like invasion has created far worse suffering than the bombing. >Some are driven out, some disappear, some are murdered and their >murders attributed to forces beyond NATO's control. Some, like the >Serbs and Roma of Orahovac, have been imprisoned in a new Warsaw >Ghetto. > >I urge those who care about Justice not to remain silent. > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
