Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Kosmet: Dal Figaro Magazine di metà mese

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http://www.serbia-info.com/
Le Figaro Magazine: Serbian tragedy hidden from the world public
October 17, 1999
 
 Paris, October 16 (Mira Popovic) - The ill-treatment and ouster of Serbs 
in Kosovo, the land of their forefathers in the presence of KFOR forces, 
the systematic devastation of the Orthodox sacred places in the "Serbian 
Jerusalem", but also the grave aftermaths of NATO bombing across Serbia - 
these are the main themes of the dossier published by the Paris weekly "Le 
Figaro Magazine" on several richly illustrated pages. 
"The Serbian tragedy hidden from you" is the cautioning common title of 
several articles, documentedly speaking about the different aspects of the 
moving story about the sufferings of the Kosovo and Metohija Serbs, "the 
martyred nation" and the uncertainties awaiting ten millions of Serbia's 
citizens with the forthcoming winter.
The author of one of the articles never forgot to remind his readers that 
Kosovo and Metohija are "the sacred Serbian, Orthodox land". However, in 
spite of the 40 000 KFOR members' presence "the devastation of the Serbian 
religious symbols in Kosovo and Metohija is spreading" and according to 
"the present rhythm of devastating the sacred Orthodox places in Kosovo and 
Metohija, the Serbian Jerusalem will soon become a historical memory only", 
warns "Le Figaro Magazine" in the article bitterly titled "Here lies the 
soul of a sacred land". 
There is no dilemma for the author on why the Albanians have chosen the 
Orthodox churches and monasteries as the targets of their destruction: "By 
attacking the Orthodox churches and monasteries - more than 60 were 
destroyed since the war was over - the Kosovo Albanians have the right 
target: they are aiming at the very soul of the Serbian nation", says he 
and adds: "If the West has never understood the essential ties of the Serbs 
to this land, the Albanians-Moslems know for sure what this is about. For 
the Serbs, Kosovo is the epicenter of their religion, culture and memory". 
Why? To the uninformed or to the ones that tend to ignore the irrefutable 
historical facts, matters could become more clear if they learn that the 
Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate was for two centuries situated in Pec (1557-
1758) and Pec is still its honorary residence and also that in Kosovo and 
Metohija there are one thousand and four hundred Orthodox sacred places out 
of which "three quarters are dated from the Middle Age". Another thing: 
"From the Pec Patriarchate to the Decani monastery, with the Virgin Mary 
Church with five vaults in Gracanica, there are several jewels of the 
Byzantine architecture. By some miracle, these have survived five centuries 
of Ottoman occupation. The others were less lucky: the Prizren Mosque, 
raised upon the ruins of the Church of the Holy Archangel ". This was the 
"undertaking" of the Turkish Grand Vizier, an Albanian by origin, Sinnan 
Pasha, the same one who dug up the relics of Saint Sava, the founder of the 
Serbian Church and the father of the nation, to burn them down on the 
stake. 
After the five centuries long thralldom, during which the Serbs were 
treated " as live-stock", there were wars in which the Serbs-natives were 
"massacred and deported". Finally, "this tormented nation of Orthodox 
religion", although presenting the majority, was underrated and disfavored 
during the 50 years of Tito's ruling as well, says the author of the 
article published in the "Le Figaro Magazine". 
As regards that period, Tito "who was a Croat, did everything to weaken the 
Serbian influence in the Yugoslav Federation", explains the author, 
illustrating this with the example that one of the Broz's means was "to 
weaken the Orthodox Church by systematically favoring the Kosovo and 
Metohija Moslems." 
The example is very eloquent: "between the years of 1945 and 1980 (the year 
Tito died), Belgrade allowed the construction of about 700 mosques - 
opposite to only 300 Orthodox churches."
The author Jean-Louis Turenne finally asks himself whether the so-called 
KLA will achieve - under the auspices of the United Nations - in what the 
Turkish Sultan janitors and the Tito's regime failed? 
"Pristina: a suitcase or a coffin", is the title of one in the series of 
articles in the this week "Le Figaro Magazine" about the tragic sufferings 
of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and the ethnic cleansing they have been 
exposed to since the arrival of KFOR to the southern Serbian province in 
June this year.
"Already 180 000 Serbs have left Kosovo and Metohija", states Jean-
Christophe Buisson in his article, describing all kinds of intimidations of 
the Serbs, "physical and psychological pressure", to make them leave "the 
land of their forefathers". To illustrate the situation, the author quotes 
the Croatian writer Dubravka Ugljesic on the suffering of the Serbs in 
Krajina: "To be a Serb in Krajina is the same as being Black in a place 
ruled by the Ku-Klux Klan!"
He thinks that what was applied to Krajina in 1994 corresponds to what is 
"today happening in Pristina." 
"Twenty years ago there were 40 000 Serbs living in Pristina, a year ago 
there were 20 00 and today there are only 400", living "in fear and 
poverty", says the author of the article. 
Depicting the life of Serbs who stayed in Pristina, he says: " Racist 
graffiti and bullet holes are decorating the outer walls and doors of the 
(Serbian) homes… Without the KFOR protection, they (the Serbs) are forced 
to organize by themselves the guarding of their roofs from the attacks of 
the ones instigated by the former KLA. Out of two days, one day they must 
become plumbers or electricians to repair the plumbing or the power 
facilities destroyed by the Albanians".
"In Pristina and its surroundings where nearly 400 Serbs were abducted 
since the arrival of KFOR, nobody believes in the eventual multiethnic 
Kosovo anymore", concludes the author of the article in "Le Figaro 
Magazine", putting the essential questions of who, in such a situation, 
"could take seriously the nice statements delivered by Javier Solana or 
Hashim Thaqi", on preserving the multiethnic Kosovo and Metohija. 
The winter is nearing. For around ten millions of Serbia's citizens, this 
means danger of cold and famine, warns the "Le Figaro Magazine" journalist, 
Jean- Louis Turenne in a special issue about the aftermaths of the NATO 
bombing of Serbia last spring.
"Having survived the bombing, the Serbs are now preparing themselves to 
face two other dangers, not less terrifying: famine and cold. For, NATO has 
devastated the country", causing damage estimated by the independent 
experts to thirty billions of dollars. 
The average income per person in Serbia should be, following the NATO 
destruction, less that the one in Albania which was, before the war in 
Kosovo and Metohija, the most poverty stricken country in Europe. There are 
other details given, as the one provided by UNICEF that during the NATO 
bombing 242 school buildings were either ruined or damaged in central 
Serbia, so that now the children can not go to schools, that there is a 
shortage of medicaments, that the hospitals are overcrowded or 
insufficiently equipped… 
"The catalogue" of the NATO bombing afthermaths upon the Serbian people is 
long and incriminating. Deciding to bring out to the French public the 
facts about the suffering of the Kosovo and Metohija Serbs and the Serbian 
people in general, "Le Figaro Magazine" by the thematic issue of articles 
titled "The Serbian tragedy hidden from you" has certainly helped to an 
unbiased and all-inclusive perception of all the seriousness and difficulty 
of the situation the Serbian people have found themselves in.
In its own way, the dossier is also a lesson to the ones still inclined to 
name a dangerous military adventure and the devastation of a sovereign 
country, "a humanitarian action." 

country, "a humanitarian action."
Non insegna proprio niente. Non saranno le sofferenze del popolo serbo a
rendere meno "umanitario" il conflitto che c'e' stato nel Kosovo.
La pulizia etnica e' testimoniata dalle Nazioni Unite e dalle principali
organizzazioni internazionali non governative (Amnesty International in
testa). Non e' stata certo una invenzione della NATO.
-Stefano