From: wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: Zagreb Diary
Date: 8 Oct 92 21:32:35 +0100
Article-I.D.: ZAMIR-ZG.4nOKp~BJtC
Distribution: soc


  

Zagreb Diary
07-10-1992

Dobar Dan,

So the telephone problems of course brought a telephone 
controller, which came in unannounced and made Nina nervous 
like hell, so know that we had an illegal fax, an illegal 
modem, an illegal telephone central and about 5 illegal 
telephones. On top of it I said probably also some 20 illegal 
foreigners for that matter. But it was what I thought, our 
line was fine inclusive the wiring I did in the house. And it 
showed that the owner from number 438828 had put his hook of 
the telephone.
 
Nina of course was already thinking about police raids, black 
lists on which her name would be appear. Don't forget the car 
without registration I add on the lists and for that matter a 
lot of others things, which are laying in the house, what to 
think about the transquilizers in Astrid medical boot. Just 
blame it on me I told her, they wouldn't hurt.  
 
In the time that the man was checking out our wondrous lines 
I had time to listing more careful to the tape of the 
demonstration which took place on Saturday in Amsterdam. 
Besides remarks of the chairman of the Dutch refugee council 
that there were proud to announced that 10.000 Dutch people 
were offering a refugee (family) a place in their homes in 
the Netherlands. On such a moment I think about the time just 
a few months ago that Nives had a house full of deserters 
from Serbia and Croatia and those guys had to life in 
squatted houses.

It was in many ways not a very inspiring tape, a clear smash 
between cultures, the culture of the Dutch and the cultures 
and the reality of people (refugee and deserters) from 
different countries of former Yugoslavia. A girl from 
Sarajevo says "The world has do too little and too late", 
which maybe says it all. Mient-Jan Faber, the secretary of 
the Interchurchal Peace Council of the Netherlands formed his 
speech around the formula of free corridors, taking over 
political and other control of the countries involved.

Big brother knows what is good for you. A group of Dutch 
people from all ways of society are planning to walk from 
Skopje to Sarajevo. It looks that a real run of peace 
activists is going to take place. The Dutch Civil action must 
be protected by UNPROFOR troops they say. Every group has so 
it own strategy. And I have given up that all those different 
initiatives should be some how coordinated, let them all do 
what they thing is the right thing.
 
The beginning in November there is this huge Helsinki 
Citizens Assembly Conference and the plans are more or less 
planned after that conference. It is nice to hear all the 
voices from people you know who are in Amsterdam together, 
explaining what we are doing and what others are doing. But 
it is strange to hear the different in their background in 
their experiences when they are talking.


If you hear the optimist of the Dutch speakers, who the war 
has to be stopped and the cynistical reactions of those who 
have lived in former Yugoslavia and those who have been there 
a longer time. The tape to which I am listing should go to 
Sarajevo, together with some more materials and letters who 
has been collected in the box "Post to Sarajevo".

Thinking about Sarajevo I am thinking about the International 
Peace and Relief Team who went there some 10 days ago, we 
haven't heard anything from them since the left Split, what 
has happened with them since then ? I try to feel not 
responsible for them, by I feel responsible, the longer they 
are of without any messages on the net, fax or in newspapers. 

Via the tape from Amsterdam I hear that the Center for Anti 
War Activities in Beograd runs a campaign to get amnesty for 
all draft resisters in and from Serbia. It is strange how 
news has to travel before it is here, hope that my signature 
under this petition is hopefully coming there ones, at least 
they get an electronic signature and I will ask ARK if we 
can't ask for the similar thing in Croatia.

During all those interviews you get a short of feeling that 
refugees are a new type of human being. Maybe a new 
nationality in the already full tree of nationalities in 
former Yugoslavia. It is a race which has the solidarity of 
everybody in the whole world, but they still live under 
absurd conditions. F.e. after we helped Resnik a bit with 
medicines, we are now even called by the Governmental 
Department officially to see if we could help in other 
illegal camps around Zagreb.

Another day went by with shelling on the places which are all 
so known to you. What must I do, must I pick up my stick and 
start walking to Sarajevo or should I just stay here and form 
no real part of the big work, as so many people say it is in 
BiH.

The cloud in the air on the other side of the valley has the 
form of a big bull, with his horns firmly in the southern 
direction. It is a black shadow with an red sunsetting behind 
it. Looking at it the Bull is slowly falling apart in small 
pieces, from which one looks like a boomerang, one like a 
triangle, a trapezium, a small and a big square and some 
smaller piece, the head is drifting away fast and the cloud 
are regrouping itself in the the same shape of map of the 
world. Slowly the clouds are disappearing behind the hill at 
the other side. They are fading away and driven more and more 
apart in smaller parts. The answer my friend is blowing in 
the wind I think and from downstairs I hear the noise from 
the returning volunteers. Tomorrow I must have a talk with an 
older German volunteer, who like to no the real facts of war 
from me and disappointed him that I am pacifists, Dutch, 
against military intervention, against armies at all and on 
top of it Jewish. I think the poor guy gets a heart attack, 
after talking with all the others he put so much faith in me, 
I am the Furher of the whole thing so I must be knowing more 
than all the Pax Christi small talk. I have to disappoint him 

a lot.

With Love from ZA-mir-GREB,

                            Wam :-)
--------------------------------------------------------
Zagreb Diary can be found on a lot of different computer
Networks. If you can port it to another, please do.
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But please if you use something drop me a line.
You can reach me via wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de 
I dedicate Zagreb Diary to Tyche, Pjort and Rik
to know what their father was doing all that time