<nettime> zaginflatch - newsletter about yugoslavia

[fokky <sandra.fauconnier@rug.ac.be>]

       [reformatted for nettime.]

From: "green pepper" <kata@eyfa.org>
To: set@oln.comlink.apc.org
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 10:57:14 +0100
Subject: zaginflatch - newsletter about yugoslavia
Reply-to: kata@eyfa.org
Priority: normal


ZAGINFLATCH #22, 2nd April 1999.
newsletter published by Zagreb Anarchist Movement

ZAP / ARK
GAJEVA 55
10 000 ZAGREB
CROATIA

zap_zg@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3707/


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How you can help:

- forward this message to people who might be interested
- we need translators. especially if you speak soutslavic
  language(s).
- if you can,  print this out and send to people who don't have
  access to email
- if you can, help us send Zaginflatch to people who usually receive
  paper version. We presently can't afford to mail them out via snail 
  mail, and we have an international mailing list of people who 
  regularly received this newsletter since it was founded. Write to 
  us and ask if we have a contact in your country. It'd be great if 
  you could send this newsletter for us...

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what follows are translated extracts from emails posted to
ex-yu-a-lista@zamir.net which is a mailing list for ex-yu anarchists,
and from private emails..

***************************************

note: some material prepared for today's issue got irrecoverably
lost due to computer crash.

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I think that maybe one can influence public oppinion on the west but thathas to
have more realistic background. it is not enough to say: I am afraid of
bombing, hunger, mobilization, repression, because those who are for bombing
would answer: "look, who is talking. aren't you those who were supporting
bombing of vukovar (for example) by throwing flowers on tenks?", or something
connected with hate towards Albanians. that realistic background is a clear
political attitude: for example: for signing of this fucking agreement, for
arriving of ground troops whatever they are called, because even that is better
than this systematic ruining of hope in civilization on Balkan, giving
arguments for opposing the bombing, not with pathetic and pathos, but with real
consequences FROM THEIR perspective. for example: bombing caused more killing
and migration from kosovo in last one week then in last two years, before and
after appearance of OVK.  not just because of juridical (sb un), moral
(violence is always wrong even towards mcdonald's) and political reasons
(montenegro, democracy in serbia), but because of realistic reasons
intervention is wrong, it is even contra productive in every way. Everything
that was planned went wrong and was turned around. only this kind of
argumentation can change public opinion in the west, all the rest: whining,
holiness, sovereignty and the rest, something true, something not, but it is
wrong to use it as arguments for the west. with this kind of argumentation one
just supports regime which caused all this by not wanting to make any kind of
compromises with IT'S citizens (and claims that it is supposed to be part of
Serbia, but doesn't want to equalize rights of this citizens with the rest,
with serbs) nor with international community, but if state interest of some
country is for every citizen to live better, than government is top betrayer,
and those who compromise are top patriots, even today during the war.

...

this state, this system, even this generation of statesmen don't have a chance
to enter the family of nations. new ideas, new values, new way of speaking and
decision making, new generation that has to pass catharsis and to accuse its
parents because of all they have done. I think (because of meaning of the
messages and all this hate on this mailing lists) that neither our generation
can do it and that we have to wait much longer.

...

I have to find hope somewhere around here. I will find it if I find something
else, enough people who will not loose common sense, who will not change their
opinion about who is guilty for the fall of serbia, because of fear or
opportunism, who will have enough human and civil inside themselves to stay
objective and not to generalize things . I don't want to be part of new round
of violence that produces new violence. I am convinced that this is all wrong
and that it is leading us to nothingness,  but I don't want to help it. even,
as sizifus, I will push this wheel back, and if there would be more of you to
help, there is more hope to stop it. to push it forward, I refuse!!!

--
miroslav hristodulo
mailto:malisha@mrvica.opennet.org
http://office.opennet.org/~malisha

***************************************

WRI statement

The War Resisters' International, an international network of more than 70
pacifist groups in more than 30 countries, including the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and Croatia, condemns the NATO bombing and the hypocrisy of NATO
governments in mounting this war.  The original rationale for threatening
military action was to make Milosevic sign a peace agreement. This fatally
misreads Milosevic and the mood of the Serbian people after years of
nationalist propaganda. Far from undermining Milosevic, this allows him to tap
into the Serbian and Yugoslav traditions of heroic military defence.  Now, the
current rationale is that the bombing is to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Already at the time of writing, it is clearly precipitating an even greater
disaster - and with the evacuation of the OSCE verification mission and foreign
relief workers and expulsion of foreign journalists, there are now even fewer
ways to respond. NATO has been using the conflicts in the former-Yugoslavia to
redefine its role, pretending to be the world's police force. To this end, it
pursues its own institutional interests - against those of non-military
intergovernmental bodies, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe and the United Nations - and it decides on military action according
to its own organisational logic.  It is selective about which 'crimes' it seeks
to redress and what counts as a 'humanitarian catastrophe'.  Far from weakening
the Milosevic regime, and protecting Kosov@ Albanians, the NATO bombings are
already having disastrous - and predictable - consequences. In Kosov@ itself,
it is now 'open season' for Serbs - be they police, military, paramilitary or
armed civilians - against the entire Albanian population and its institutions.
In Serbia proper, the Belgrade regime has already moved against anti-war
voices, such as Radio B92.  The governments that make up NATO displayed very
little active interest in supporting nonviolent efforts by Kosov@ Albanians
throughout the nine years in which they refused to take up arms in response to
Serbian repression and violence. Indeed, they consented to the exclusion of
Kosov@ from the Dayton accords. On those occasions when foreign governments did
acknowledge that the wholesale violation of 90 per cent of the population of
Kosov@ was anything other than an 'internal affair' of Serbia, it was to offer
assurances that they did not even try to live up to. For eight years the
Albanians of Kosov@ persisted in their strategy of refraining from violence and
concentrating on maintaining their social cohesion and institutions such as
parallel schools. Their nonviolent struggle using strikes, boycotts, peaceful
demonstrations and alternative institutions was largely ignored by the world.
Instead of a world order based on NATO breaking international law to pursue
military action, War Resisters' International works to strengthen nonviolent
methods of dealing with conflict. We have worked against the militarism of the
Milosevic regime; we have worked through the Balkan Peace Team to promote
dialogue between Serbs and Albanians; and we have worked to increase awareness
of the variety of nonviolent methods of social struggle that can be deployed in
such situations. A more understanding response to the Kosov@ Albanian
population on the part of the governments now  prepared to bomb Serbia, Kosov@,
Vojvodina and Montenegro could have made a decisive difference. Unfortunately,
this was not forthcoming. Their decision-making is dominated by short term
considerations of power-politics and 'military reality'. The 'criminal' they
now want to bomb to the negotiating table is the man they erected into the
'guarantor of the Dayton peace'.  The mission of the OSCE 'verifiers' was too
little, too late. Hastily improvised, poorly prepared, and with a mandate that
was inadequately articulated, the OSCE verifiers succeed in de-fusing some
flashpoints, they were beginning to build some cooperation with civil society
groups, but they could not stem the rising tide of violence. Rather they
increasingly were verifying that an atrocity had been committed. Nevertheless,
their deployment was infinitely preferable to the NATO's bombings.  NATO does
not exist to protect populations condemned to live under criminal regimes. How
can it when its own members include countries like Turkey, whose methods
against the Kurds are equally horrific? NATO's military strategy in Kosov@ is
not designed in the interests of the population, but rather to minimise the
risks to NATO's own soldiers - whatever the consequences for those who are now
hostage to Serbian vengeance. NATO's new strategy seems to be a test for new
weapons systems in a large scale attack against a Central European country,
first use of US Air Force B-2 Bombers, first active battle participation of
German Air Force since Second World War, military integration of new
NATO-members into the military command to European NATO headquarters. NATO's
attack on Yugoslavia is a first precedent of the new NATO strategy, which will
be passed in April. In this strategy NATO explicitly stresses its 'right' to
intervene everywhere in the world on its own right, without the need of being
mandated by the UN or other intergovernmental bodies.  In the immediate
circumstances, WRI calls for a halt of the NATO air strikes and calls on its
members to organise vigils and other demonstrations against NATO at appropriate
embassies or War Ministries or at air bases. We call on the soldiers of all
countries taking part in this attack to refuse to participate in this war.  In
the medium term, we will try to work alongside our friends in the anti-war
groups in Serbia and with people in Kosov@ trying to create a just peace.  In
the longer term, WRI redoubles its commitment to promote civilian responses to
conflict - in particular the development of nonviolence as a means of waging
social struggles and the use of methods of nonviolent conflict resolution and
dialogue.

***************************************

Dear friends,

Info about Zaginflatch is available on request.

Basically, with this newsletter we want to inform the international
community (this is you) on how antiauthoritarians in Yugoslavia and
ex-Yugoslavia feel in these moments. Also, as people who have experienced
air raids and general alerts, we want to support our friends in Yugoslavia
who are experiencing this today. We don't want to prejudice any political
solutions to Kosovo and other ex-yu problems, we just want to help our
friends, and support them in this way. All opinions published in
Zaginflatch will be just personal ones. There is no joint platform.
Zaginflatch will bring you hardly any news in the way mainstream media does
it. For this kind of info we suggest you try cnn, bbc or some other
services. They are available to you anyway.. This is meant to come from
inside... Also, if you're into alternative news sources, we suggest you try
at www.b92.net ...

Zagreb Anarchist Movement (ZAP)

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the end

*** pseudoastronaut klase D ***
*** pseudoastronaut klase D ***

"if i cant dance, i dont want to be part of your revolution"
emma goldman

 -> info over nato/kosovo/servie acties: http://bewoner.dma.be/kosovo/

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