An Israel in the
Balkans?<http://www.balkanalysis.com/2007/05/31/an-israel-in-the-balkans/>
5/31/2007
(Balkanalysis.com)
*By David Binder*
Could Kosovo, as a newly independent state in the middle of the Balkan
Peninsula, become a second Israel? A thorny question: Merely linking Kosovo
and Israel in the same sentence could invite accusations of anti-Zionism on
the one hand or anti Illyrianism on the other. Yet there are some historic
parallels.
I do not propose to evaluate the parallels in terms of good or bad, but
rather to explore the question of what happens when great powers try to
resolve ethnic and territorial disputes by authorizing a new national state.
A basic question poses itself: whether the creation of an Israel or a Kosovo
is a factor fostering stability in its region, or fostering strife.
Since its birth Israel has fought five wars as well as engaging in numerous
lesser combat actions. In modern times, Kosovo has been the scene of major
battles at the end of World War II and again in 1999. The foundation of the
State of Israel began with the partition 60 years ago of what had been the
British Mandate of Palestine into separate homelands for Jews and for
Palestinians.
The UN General Assembly approved the United Nations Partition Plan with a
two-thirds majority. In May 1948, a provisional government announced the
creation of the State of Israel. US President Harry Truman, who had
previously been skeptical about the viability of an independent Jewish
entity, swiftly declared de facto recognition of Israel (de jure recognition
followed in 1949).
While American political support for Israel was strong and steady,
substantial financial assistance was slower in coming. It started with a
$100 million loan in 1949, but now amounts to nearly $3 billion in annual
grants.
Kosovo became a ward of the United States in a similarly stumbling fashion.
In late December 1992 - eight months into the Bosnian civil war - President
George H.W. Bush sent a letter to President Slobodan Milosevic declaring:
"in the event of conflict in Kosovo caused by Serbian action, the United
States will be prepared to employ military force against the Serbs in Kosovo
and in Serbia proper."
At that time there was no physical conflict whatsoever in Kosovo. So the
Bush message struck the Serbian leadership like a bolt out of the blue. But
the marker was set and the warning was repeated later by the Clinton
Administration. The US finally implemented it in March 1999 with heavy air
attacks.
Then, as soon as Serbian forces withdrew, President Clinton dumped Kosovo
into the hands of the United Nations. Since it was taken over by the UN,
Kosovo, the eternal economic basket case, has received more than $500
million from the United States and $3 billion from the European Union.
In the case of Israel, foreshadowing its creation was the Nazi genocide,
which provided surviving European Jews and their supporters with a powerful
argument for establishment of a Jewish homeland. In addition, from World War
I on there was also a strongly articulated contention that nations had the
right to self-determination. In the case of Jews that was the starting point
of the Zionist cause in the late 19th century. In the argumentation of
Albanians, Kosovo was the scene of genocidal actions by Serbs -although they
do not dare to compare it to the fate of European Jews in World War II.
(Their contentions were also weakened by the Albanians' savage treatment of
Kosovo Serbs).
Rather, the most vehement Albanian demands are framed in terms of the right
of self-determination. For a long time they have been staunchly backed by
the United States. As Condoleezza Rice stated on May 15: "it is important
now to recognize that Kosovo will never again be part of Serbia."
As it enters its seventh decade, Israel appears to be a fairly secure
entity, despite being surrounded by hostile neighbors. The Zionist dream of
Greater Israel (Eretz Yisrael Hashlemah) - including biting off big chunks
of its neighbors - has been reduced to nibbles by militant settlers in West
Bank lands. Yet Israel for all its extraordinary accomplishments remains a
factor of great instability, not only in its immediate vicinity but well
beyond. Now here is Kosovo on the eve of possible independence -no longer as
a ward of the UN, but of the European Union. What are its prospects? Given
the ambitions of the more militant elements among the Albanians – including
fanatical elements in the diaspora - one wonders whether an independent
state of Kosovo will contribute to stability in the region. (Stability, we
must keep in mind, is the declared policy goal of the United States and of
the European Union in the Balkans.)
As with the Zionists of yore harkening back to Biblical times, contemporary
Albanians cultivate myths of Illyrian ancestry which would make them coeval
with classical Greeks, and of an ancient "Dardania," encompassing Kosovo,
southern Serbia, western Macedonia and northern Albania. (Some chauvinistic
elements toy with the idea of renaming the province "Dardania".) Myths are
harmless if they are confined to books and songs. For a dozen years Illyria
Newspaper, published in the Bronx, carried a map of the "Greater Albania"
encompassing pieces of Macedonia, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro. But the
Illyria-Dardania myths have also inspired forays by armed Albanian militants
into places like western Macedonia and southern Serbia, as well as
irredentist threats to southern Montenegro ("Malesia") and northwestern
Greece (to Albanians, "Chameria").
Could a new State of Kosovo with its barely tested government and security
forces, made up in large part by former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters,
cope with such elements? Could the European Union and the remains of KFOR
still posted in the region contain Kosovo?
…………………………
**David Binder (born 1931) was a correspondent for The New York Times from
1961 until 2004. He specialized in coverage of central and eastern Europe,
based in Berlin, Belgrade and Bonn. The current piece was published in
Belgrade's Politika <http://www.politika.co.yu/cyr/default.asp.htm> on May
25, 2007.*
*http://www.balkanalysis.com/2007/05/31/an-israel-in-the-balkans/*
