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CENTRE FOR NONVIOLENT ACTION
Office in Sarajevo:
Envera Šehovića 17, 71000Sarajevo, BiH
Tel: +387 33 716 695
Tel/fax: +387 33 618 748
office in Belgrade:
Studentski trg 8, 11000 Beograd, Srbija
Tel: +381 11 2637 603, 2637 661
Fax: +381 11 2637 603
ANNUAL REPORT XI
SEPTEMBER 2007 – SEPTEMBER 2008
Adnan Hasanbegović
Helena Rill
Ivana Franović
Nedžad Horozović
Nenad Porobić
Nenad Vukosavljević
Sanja Deanković
Tamara Šmidling
For the Centre for Nonviolent Action
Belgrade – Sarajevo, December 2007
Design and layout: Ivana Franović
Cover design: Nenad Vukosavljević
Photos: Nenad Vukosavljević, Nedžad Horozović
Translation: Nina Vukosavljević, Nenad Porobić
ABOUT CENTRE FOR NONVIOLENT ACTION
CNA’s mission has been to work on the building of lasting peace in the region f Former Yugoslavia through the promotion of non-violence culture, dialogue and trust building among the individuals, groups and peoples as well as constructive dealing with the past as one of the key elements of the peace building.
We have been striving to work to create a society of lasting peace in which the development of critical thought, taking responsibility for social and communal development, the encouragement to contemplate on one’s own attitudes and the acceptance of the diversity through different ways of activism o most importantly peace education, publishing and video production.
What do we want and what are we striving for?
With our work we want to give an incentive and encouragement to the promotion of peace as a basic value in a society and ridding of the war and violence as a way to solving conflicts. Coming to terms with the past in the region of former Yugoslavia has been the focus of our interests and we are championing the definition of this process as a multilayered and complex process to include also: the work to dispel “the image of enemy” and the building of trust among people in the region of Former Yugoslavia; activities to establish a culture of remembrance; advocacy for promotion and development of public policies aimed at coming to terms with the past; the reexamination and dispelling with nationalism, militarism and patriarchy as the ideological pillars of violence in a society.
With the programmes of peace education and activities in the field of documentary production and publishing we strive to create new and strengthen the current resources for peace work in the region of Former Yugoslavia. Our desire is to create and to support the capacities focused on value-based approach to peace building, led by tenets of protection of human rights and freedoms of all individuals and the values of dialogue, co-operation, social justice and solidarity among the individuals and groups.
In which way do we want to accomplish this?
By respecting the basic tenet “live what you preach” as well as by creating a firm value-based foundation in our work and in the way the organization itself is functioning.
Openness for dialogue with all those who are interested and in readiness for co-operation with those with whom we share the vision and values of nonviolence, culture of dialogue, constructive criticism and struggle against injustice.
The focus on regional collaboration is an important element of the lasting and sustainable peace in the region of formerYugoslavia.
Readiness to change, develop, learn and adjust to the demands of the real needs of the day, not the demands of donors and “real-politik.”.
CONTENTS
foreword -39
news and announcements -40
cna peace education programmes -42
basic training in peacebuilding (xxviii) -42
basic training in peacebuilding (xxix) -43
advanced training in peacebuilding (iii) -45
seminar on dealing with the past -46
training for war veterans -47
work with war veterans -50
visits of veterans and veterans’ associations to atrocity sites from the 1991-1995 wars -50
in cooperation with other organizations -52
workshop with dan bar-on -52
training on historical and collective narratives -53
the workshop on dealing with the past with teachers -54
international exchanfe seminar -55
the first regional peace academy – 56
miramidani -the role of war veterans in peacebuilding -58
miscellaneous -59
round table: truth telling in kosovo. which way now? -59
political and social context -60
croatia -60
the amplitudes in serbia, i.e. radiation -61
on the context of peace work in sarajevo or “better a fascist than a fagot” -64
macedonia -from october 2007 to october 2008 -66
montenegro -68
personal views -70
the words of a new team member -70
filming in macedonia -71
Dear friends,
What you have in front of you is another (or the eleventh) Center for Nonviolent Action Annual Report. In it you can find the information regarding activities we have been working on, our views on the sociopolitical contexts within which we strive to act and some of our plans for the following period.
Like usual, we held the regular “CNA Summit” in September of last year. During it we tried to share dilemmas we had and make important decisions regarding the difficulties we were facing, strategy and the direction in which we were going. We were guided by the freshly completed evaluation of our work, the result of Beatrix Schmelzle’s (BerghofResearchCenterfor Constructive Conflict Management) great effort. We are using this chance to thank her once again.
The important decision making process was additionally impeded by the uncertainty of the CNA’s financial survival, so we started off with making a less ambitious work plan for the following year. Yes, that’s how we started, but we obviously didn’t stick to it all the way through, if we consider the number and extent of activities which are ahead of us. 🙂
Last year has provided us with our first-time experience of very unfair and competitive attitude toward us by a foreign international organization. That was very hard on us since we hadn’t expected it nor had we been prepared for it. We had a big dilemma regarding what was to be done and how to position ourselves. We still have those dilemmas since we refuse to view peacebuilding as «business» and space for competition between different organizations and groups. This situation has confirmed once again how much the peacebuilding ethics was a neglected “discipline,” globally.
Although past year was pretty hard work wise, it was primarily filled with numerous meetings and cases of cooperation with the people who were close and dear to us. That very much energizes and motivates us to keep going, strengthened by another team member, Nenad Porobić, who joined us in September. 🙂
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
New documentary “Not a Bird to be Heard”
The third film in the series “Simulated Dialogue” has been completed this year, entitled “Not a Bird to be Heard.” In it, brave “ordinary people,” Bosniaks and Croats, talk about the war and heavy burdens of the past, hatred and pain, fears and hopes. What does each hold against other, what has the war taught them, how is it in exile, how do they live with the people of another faith and nationality nowadays? Who started the war?
When this Report is published, the film’s promotional viewings will have been organized in Mostar, Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje and Sarajevo. You will be able to read about them in our next Report.
Soon: 4th film in the series “Simulated Dialogue”
The fourth documentary film in the “Simulated Dialogue” series is to be completed soon. Its topic is the relations between Albanians and Macedonians inMacedonia. This Report contains a brief description of its filming, while its premiere is expected in the spring.
Soon: translation into English of the book “I cannot feel good if my neighbour does not”
The “Neighbour” (what we call it shortly) is a collection of interviews with the people from the former Yugoslavian region – what’s their view of reconciliation, the past, responsibility, guilt, nationalism, coexistence, the future… We published it in 2005 in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Macedonian and Albanian languages. Its translation into English will be published by this spring. Just like its previous versions, the English one will also be posted on our website.
The collection of oral histories with the 1991-1999 wartime participants
The new activity to be realized by the CNA will start in March and end in October of 2009. We will work with a mixed group of veterans and activists from the former Yugoslavian region who will be trained to collect oral histories, life stories of ex-combatants and their family members (mothers, sisters, wives, etc.). The planned publication will comprise of up to twenty stories and will be promoted later in different parts of the former Yugoslavia.
External evaluation
External evaluation of CNA will start in March 2009. We will work with a mixed group of veterans and activists from the former Yugoslavian region who will be trained to collect oral histories, life stories of ex-combatants and their family members (mothers, sisters, wives, etc.). The planned publication will comprise of up to twenty stories (it should be published at the beginning of 2010). It will be promoted later in different parts of the former Yugoslavia.
New: Small peace library
We have posted the “Small Peace Library” on our website. It comprises of many links to free books and Internet articles. The main motivation behind the library’s initiation is to support the peace activists in the region, but also anyone else who might be interested. Books and articles are divided into a few sections, like Nonviolence / Nonviolent Action, Peace / Peacebuilding / Activism, Dealing with the Past / Reconciliation, etc. We’ll try to expand it as often as possible. We would also be very glad to receive any help or advice on which book/article/manual you would like to see as a part of our small library. 🙂
Paper : ” Dealing with the Past in the Context of Ethonationalism. The case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia”
Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management has published Ivana Franović’s paper “Dealing with the Past in the Context of Ethnonationalism. The Case ofBosnia-Herzegovina,CroatiaandSerbia.” The text is the modified and expanded version of her Master’s Thesis, and is available on the Internet, both on Berghof’s and our website. Currently, its English version is the only one.
Radio programme Most: “The 1990s Traumas”, Radio Free Europe
The interview with Adnan Hasanbegović and Nenad Vukosavljević hosted by Omer Karabeg in the radio programme Most can be downloaded from our website (only B/C/S language).
Regional Peace Academy (RPA) 2009
After the RPA 2008 was successfully realized, it was decided to proceed with this activity’s organization. The RPA 2009 will have two sessions, each one comprising of three courses. The course leaders are, again, activists and theoreticians from the region and beyond. The next RPA is planned to start on July 16th and end on August 4th, 2009. All of the information about and updates on this activity you can follow at www.mirovna-akademija.org
The Youth Work Manual
The Youth Work Manual should be published in May, 2009. Its authors are fromGermany,Palestine,Macedoniaand Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Manual will comprise of four chapters containing detailed explanations on four different approaches to youth work. It will be published in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, German, Macedonian, Albanian, Arabic and English languages. The Manual is the result of the three-year long “Youth Power” project.
CNA PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
Basic Training in Peace Building (xxviii)
Travnik / BH, 19-29.10. 2007
Centre for Nonviolent Action organized its 28th Basic Training in Peacebuilding, that took place in the “Lipa” Hotel, in the town of Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from October 19 to 29, 2007. The members of the training team were: Sanja Deankovic, Tamara Smidling and Nedzad Horozovic of CNA’sSarajevo office and Ana Bitoljanu, of MIRamiDA Centre, Groznjan/Skopje.
We received considerably smaller number of applications for this training, in comparison to the average number we receive. It might be due to the fact that we had chosen to hold the training in Travnik, which is not particularly attractive in the winter – it gets dark rather early and one cannot enjoy sight-seeing, etc. It’s also the time of year (late autumn/beginning of winter) when people are not so keen on travelling.
Participants came from different regions of former Yugoslavia: Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. One person fromMontenegrocancelled at the last minute while the other had to leave the training after only two days, so eventually there were 18 trainees altogether, 9 male and 9 female. Even though they came from different towns, we still didn’t have members of some ethnic minorities from these regions, like for example: Albanians fromMacedonia, Serbs from Kosovo, as well as people fromBosnia and Herzegovinawho live in communities where their ethnic group is a minority.
Hence, certain themes, however deeply we had covered them, could not have been covered from the minority position of the “other side”. Anyway, perhaps that was exactly why most trainees dealt with the issue of their personal responsibility and the responsibility of the majority group they belong to, and were re-examining their views thoroughly throughout the entire training. It was the most obvious while we were covering dealing with the past. Three workshops were dedicated to dealing with the past, and in the view of both the group and the training team, it was the most important theme of the training. Plenary discussions and emotional personal stories, with reference to the experiences gathered in the period during and after the wars, additionally brought the group together and they bonded.
The other important moment on the training was work on empowering individuals for peacebuilding on everyday level, initiated by the perception of one part of the group that peacebuilding is something that’s done on some “higher level” and that it only means some concrete actions and projects. Therefore, we reached the point of realisation that every reaction to injustice or things that doesn’t seem right, leads to the transformation of society and helps remodel it. That is particularly the case with identifying and reacting to violence that we witness on daily basis. The work on empowering for these issues was done without any open, constructive confrontation within the group or with the training team that would have added up to understanding, accepting and supporting differences. The group tended to adopt the type of attitude that “we are all same/like minded people” and the training team did not especially challenge that, because we estimated that it was necessary and important for them to do so because of the groups’ distinguished heterogeneousness. That’s where the trainees draw strength and encouragement in a certain way to work on reduction of their own prejudices and for future work in their communities.
The work gained an additional quality because of the presence of two former combatants. Active participation of former soldiers/combatants on peace training added some different perspectives and experiences and enriched the group process in many ways and to mutual benefit. Besides, the two trainees who came from the association of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, organized an informal evening gathering where they showed a documentary called «Fantasy» (produced by „XY films“,Sarajevo) about their veterans’ association. The film depicts personal stories of the members of the association, thus thematizing different issues regarding war, conflicts, what to do now, etc., as well as some specific problems that former combatants deal with, while most people know nothing about it. It focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSP) which is a problem that an enormous number of former combatants are facing, while the society is pushing it to the margin, primarily by doing nothing and being indifferent to it, despite the fact that all the available data and findings indicate that the problem is far bigger that we can even grasp.
With respect to the methodology and themes, the training was done within the CNA’s flexible concept which means that the programme was being closely followed and adjusted to the issues and themes that either the group needed or the training team estimated that needed to be covered, despite eventual opposition from the group (or for that reason, exactly). The themes were chosen and/or deepened mostly with respect to the group’s expressed needs and interests. There wasn’t any avoiding difficult and sensitive issues. The work was much easier because everyone respected the working schedule we had agreed on.
The training ended on Sunday, October 28 at about 2:30 PM, which was a little earlier that we had planned, due to the fact that lot of trainees had to leave early. It made us rethink this issue for the future. Perhaps we shall plan to officially end a training at noon, on Sunday, since recently we’ve had more people leaving on Sunday afternoon due to their own busyness.
The remaining trainees and the training team hang out together and visited the Blue Waters vacation point on Sunday afternoon.
Basic Training in PeaceBuilding
Ulcinj / Montenegro, 04-13.04. 2008
The 29th basic training in peace building was held in the Dvori Balšića Hotel inUlcinj,Montenegro, from April 4th to 13th, 2008. The members of the training team were Sanja Deanković and Adnan Hasanbegović (CNA Sarajevo office), Helena Rill (CNA Belgrade office) and Ana Bitoljanu (MIRamiDA Centre, Grožnjan/Skopje).
The training was attended by 18 participants, despite great interest in it. Two persons failed to show up without any prior notice thus preventing us from getting in touch with someone on the waiting list. Therefore, there were two people less then planned.
The participants came from different regions of former Yugoslavia: Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia (including Vojvodina), while most of them were from Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the same, due to their diversity and heterogeneousness that the training was neither „Bosnian-centric“ nor was it primarily focused on Bosnian themes. Unfortunately, no one fromMontenegro attended this training. We received no applications fromMontenegro, which had happened before, especially since the Montenegrin declaration of independence. We usually receive fewer applications fromCroatiaand, also, the person who had been invited did not show up. After some time, three people from Kosovo participated, none of whom, however, were from the Serbian side, since none had applied. The group consisted of political activists former combatants and people who work in the media, education, governmental institutions and NGOs.
The lack of older trainees was evident. Different age groups have different insights into issues like personal memories of the situations and problems our societies were experiencing while being parts of the same country. This vacuum was also noticeable during the introduction to the discussion about all of different age groups which can start working/work on peace building.
The group was active and energetic, therefore most of the exercises took more time than planned. The trainees protested if they didn’t get to speak several times during each exercise.
The first part of the training, which focused on personal development,proved to be hard and demanding. Nevertheless, we thoroughly covered many key issues and mechanisms that help us understand violence. One of the training’s turning points was the workshop on gender during which many conflicts resurfaced. At the same time, the workshop created space for an unequivocal work with the following themes. On and off during the discussions the relativisation of discrimination would be voiced.Overall, the will to apprehend and accept the complexity of gender-based discrimination and all its consequences lacked. Therefore, we returned to those violations of human rights that are not only based on ethnic discrimination but also on discrimination against all groups whose human rights are denied (primarily sexual and gender minorities [N1] ’) several times in the following daysThe violence theme had quite a strong impact on the group so a number of trainees continued the discussion about the themes that were not discussed during the workshop (the exercise called big barometer: „violence – not violence“).
The training’s second part ran more easily. The participants were quite motivated and willing to work on social aspects, differences, “their own group’s” responsibility, the importance and establishment of one’s identity etc. One might think that it was easier to work on certain social issues then to consider one’s own mechanisms and social role.
Dealing with the past was covered generally, as an introduction to some basic concepts and approaches and, chiefly, through the discussion about its importance. Our documentary „Not a Bird to Be Heard“ left the strongest impression on the trainees within this workshop. As a result of it, more profound and concrete work on this theme was done through the discussion which was firstly emotional and then rational, during which space was created to re-examine previous opinions about the (wartime) past, our societies’ current situations, “one’s own side’s” responsibility and empathy for the “others”.
One might say that the training lacked a more apparent connection between personal and social responsibilities. What was missing was a clear recognition of “small/smaller” daily acts of violence, injustice and alike, as well as one’s own role in and responsibility for them and the stronger empowerment of participants for action. That can be said for both the last few workshops and the rest of the training.
Lot of effort was put into gaining insights of regional contexts, that is, into learning about the current situation and problems in other countries. The trainees became aware of these problems and discussed the independence of Kosovo, situations in Macedonia and Vojvodina, etc. Given that the training was attended by several people from the same region/country (for example there were two people from Vojvodina, three from Macedonia, three from Kosovo, etc.) they exchanged their different views. Insight into the regional situation is the first step towards affirmation of the regional work’s importance.
One of the remaining dilemmas is related to the trainees’ early departure. How to deal with the novelty we introduced with respect to the time of departure (Sunday afternoon/Monday morning). Even though it was not the last working day, Saturday felt like it was, not because of the working schedule but because of the energy. Thus, the Sunday morning workshop was finished at a slower pace due to the lapse of concentration at the end of the training, fewer remaining participants (since some had already left) and the Saturday night party (which somehow indicated the end of the training).
Even though we planned to avoid early departures by scheduling the last workshop for Sunday morning, April 13th, some people still left earlier, therefore five were missing from the last workshop.
We should also mention a disquieting event that happened at the training. During the second half of the training a participant lost consciousness during night swimming and had to spend the night at the emergency unit. Luckily, he didn’t suffer any consequences but the event still upset and burdened both the group and the training team, which had to make additional efforts to continue working on difficult.
The work methodology left a strong impression on most trainees and was a „revelation“ in comparison to both the way they had previously worked at other seminars and their expectations of this seminar. It is interesting to notice that they were confused with the trainers’ role and how the trainers participated actively in both the process and exercises from a personal perspective, instead of just facilitating the process from the outside, i.e. „training them“.
It took time for some participants to get accustomed to the methodology. Throughout the training their acceptance of it grew, so much so that in the end several stated that they had gained and had learnt a lot because of this kind of trainers’ participation.
The training team worked a lot. The afternoon and evening evaluations and preparations of the subsequent workshops took hours and required a lot of energy. However, we concluded that we needed them and that we could not really make them any shorter yet efficient.
The evaluation of the training team expressed our general satisfaction with the training’s concept, that is, the set up, the sequence and the way themes were complementing each other with respect to the training’s goal and the group’s specific qualities, with the remark that there should have been more empowerment of the participants.
Ana Bitoljanu
Skopje, May 2008
Advanced training in peacebuilding (iii)
phase 1: Jahorina / BH, 08-18.08.2008.
phase 2: Tivat / Montenegro, 06-13.10.2008.
This year we organized the third Advanced Training in Peacebuilding.
According to our strategy of redudng the number of annual basic training events in order to introduce some other activities and methods of peacebuilding work, we dedded to include this form of peace education into our regular timetable every other year. Besides strategy, the decision was guided by the desire to work within the existing regional capadties and needs.
The advanced training is a specific kind of an upgrade and deepening of our basic training, whose goal is to empower the concrete engagement within the region and local communities, to promote peace building as one of the priorities of civil action and to strengthen the regional cooperation and peace network.
Its phase I was held from August 8 – 18, in Jahorina,
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The group consisted of 18 people from the region of former Yugoslavia, with different ethnic, religious and professional backgrounds and interests. Among the trainees was a policeman, teachers, journalists, NGO activists and people who are active in politiCS.
The first phase was primarily focused on dealing with the past. Therefore, we worked on familial and collective narratives, went through some sodal concepts and processes related to constructive dealing with the past and analyzed them, and considered the fears and dilemmas related to them. We tried to discuss the similarities between the patriarchate and militarism and their mutual strongholds.
Unlike previously, this year we invited some guest trainers to phase I. Goran BoZicevic of Miramida Centre, Groznjan, Croatia had designed and held a one-day workshop on peace building, and Vladan Beara and Ivan Kralj of Novi Sad’s Centre for War Trauma had prepared and facilitated the workshop on war trauma and the need to remain aware of it while working in peacebuilding. It was important to work on these issues as well as to introduce participants to various approaches to and methods of peacebuilding work and dealing with the past.
We also visited the Section for War Crimes in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was an important point of reflection upon the entire process of dealing with the past and its indispensable legal and judidary part which is just one element of support for working in specific communities and vice versa.
Despite a rather demanding concept and the density of the material, the group dealt with it quite well.
The themes we tackled were sometimes analyzed from very different points of view with respect to the underlying values which was a result of the group’s heterogeneousness. It certainly helped us get a scope of sodal problems, respect them and understand them.
Although intensive work was pursued while analyzing sodal processes, the group conflicts often remained undisclosed, unmentioned and unprocessed, which burdened the atmosphere and group work.
The work schedule was quite demanding, with a lot of guest trainers, thus we didn’t have much chance to deal with group processes and conflicts, unfortunately; however, we’re glad that we dedicated one of the last blocks to it which resulted in achieving better atmosphere and group dynamics during phase II.
Since we analyzed our societies quite thoroughly during phase I, sometimes dissecting them very critically and from different points of view, we noticed that most trainees tended to consider social processes from the position of an observer solely. Therefore, in phase II we dedded to set up the concept in such a way so that the possibility of merely observing sodal processes is almost excluded. The trainees were assigned roles of active creators of various forms of nonviolent action regarding certain issues. It was an opportunity to place
the partidpants into situations in which they could reflect on concrete examples of what they wanted and could do, by using certain methods and ways, either in situations we had prepared or those they came up with through analysis of certain areas/regions.
The second phase of the training programme was held in Tivat, Montenegro. Unfortunately, none of the trainees came from Montenegro (and we must notice that people from this region haven’t applied to our peace education programmes at all since independence was declared) and we didn’t want them to leave the training without having an idea of the Montenegrin socio-political context. Therefore, one of their tasks was to conduct a small scale research regarding one of the following themes: interethnic relations in Montenegro, Montenegro and dealing with the past and Tivat as a local community. In order to complete the picture, our long-term friend and collaborator Lidija Zekovic from Podgorica helped us with her views and reflections on the situation in Montenegro. She was our guest the first day of the training (and the only guest during this phase of the programme).
During this phase, the participants mostly worked on concrete themes/problems in small focus groups, either analyzing or designing activities in local communities (Split, Bratunac, and a somewhat wider Macedonian context). One could notice almost an unbelievable dedication and motivation some people demonstrated as well as their responsibility towards us and the group they worked with.
Therefore, it happened more than once that discussionsand work continued until very late at night.
In the context of reflecting on social activism, the discussion of perceptions of the border where nonviolence stops and violence begins, or the line between the nonviolence and violence, was the landmark of this training. It followed the screening of the film entitled The 4th Wortd War and opened up the important theme of re-evaluating and shaking up our own standpoints and different concepts of activism and different ways to achieve social change.
Although it seemed in the beginning that not that many participants had concrete activist experience or perfected and clearly focused motivation for peacebuilding work, the final evaluation (of both the training team and the participants) suggested that this programme meant a lot to many trainees in terms of an incentive for further work and inspiration for new, future activities. On the other hand, others found it encouraging with respect to discovery and realization of their own potentials and limitations for this work.
In any case, we hope to stay in touch with some of the participants by supporting each other or working together.
The training team for this programme included Tamara, Ivana and Sanja of CHA, while the financial support was provided by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
Seminar on Dealing with the Past
Belgrade / Serbia, 18 – 22.11. 2007
After a valuable experience we had gained from the last year’s seminar on dealing with the past, we decided to organize it this year as well. We wanted to offer some space to people active in the field of dealing with the past all throughout the region of formerYugoslaviato exchange experiences, dilemmas, difficulties, questions, approaches, success… and eventually find a mode to support each other. Furthermore, we wanted to include people who do not have experience of work in the process of dealing with the past, but are highly motivated, to get them involved. The idea originated from our desire to create space for an exchange with other groups/individuals that we had realized we needed, to overcome an occasional feeling of loneliness as well as to re-examine how constructive were some approaches and steps and how much they helped peace building, and to learn from our own and other people’s mistakes.
In terms of methodology, we wanted to have a diverse seminar; therefore, we called several people to create workshops on the themes they felt close to.
The workshops were designed and facilitated by:
- Gordana Čomić – “The role of state in the process of dealing with the past”
- Jasna Šarčević-Janković – “How does the society ofSerbiadeal with the wartime past”
- Vesna Teršelič – “The process of dealing with the past inCroatia: Experiences of Documenta”
- Branko Todorović – “Dealing with the past: Experience of the Republic o fSrpska”
- CNA team (Adnan and Ivana) – “Dealing with the past and peacebuilding”.
We received some important insights from our guests. Vesna Teršelič presented, among other things, the survey of Documenta on the Croatian public’s standpoint towards dealing with the past and perception of victims and sufferers of war. ~The survey is available on the Documenta’s website: www.documenta.hr/dokumenti/istrazivanje.pdf~ She dedicated part of the workshop to rights of both the victims and society as a whole ~According to her, both victims and the society as a whole have the right to truth, justice, compensation, remembrance and guarantees that the crimes will not be repeated.~ and presented an interesting discussion that had taken place in Croatia regarding the Jasenovac Memorial Centre. Branko Todorović offered his experience and a better insight into obstacles and difficulties regarding work on the process of dealing with the past in the Republic of Srpska, with an overview of entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jasna Šarčević-Janković presented the way that the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia works and the difficulties which they encounter – mostly due to lack of willingness on the political level and political pressures. These were important insights, primarily since the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor was publicly criticized for being too slow and inefficient, but the criticism should have been addressed elsewhere. The workshop conducted by Gordana Čomić was especially important, since most participants had never before had a chance to discuss the issue with the Vice Speaker of Serbian Parliament (or any state parliament, actually). She said that, as far as dealing with the past was concerned,Serbia’s most important task was the arrest of “the remaining four,”, while reconciliation was “our job” – meaning activists’, the nongovernmental sector’s and individuals’. The workshop gave us a better understanding of the way these issues were treated by the state, and we certainly became additionally motivated to work on the wider acceptance of understanding who’s responsible for ’reconciliation’. The workshops gained additional quality with plenty of time devoted to questions and discussions.
The participants’ group was quite diverse, relatively young (the average age was 30), and consisted of NGO activists mostly, as well as students, people who work in education, media, political parties’ activists.
It seems that we tackled this seminar’s organization rather naively, since it turned out that only a few people with the experience of working in this field applied, whilst most of them were inexperienced. We thought that some of those whom we had invited to the seminar with an experience worth of exchange were even offended for not being called to conduct a workshop but to “merely participate.” It’s not something we expected, but that’s a good lesson for some other event.
Even though we put together a group which was more inexperienced then we had previously planned, we decided to go on with the seminar, aware that it would turn out differently then intended, and we didn’t regret it. It was four days of intensive work, highly motivated participants, long, never-ending discussions, valuable insights from the workshop authors and a fine basis for some future cooperation.
Training for Veterans
phase 1: Jahorina / BH, 16 – 20.05. 2008
phase 2: Ilidža / BH, 20 – 24.06. 2008
This year we organized the sixth CNA’s Training for Combatants of 1991-99 Wars. The two-phase training gathered 17 veterans fromBosnia and Herzegovina,CroatiaandSerbia, who were mostly members of veterans’ associations. Even though six people were missing in phase two (excused absences), the quality of work, good atmosphere and group energy weren’t affected too much. This time no one came from the Croatian Defence Council (CDC) since the people we had invited cancelled. However, we remained in contact with the Association of the CDC defenders and hope that they will join our post-training activities as we generally agreed.
During the last two years we have been visiting local veterans’ associations and campaigning vigorously. Along with the joint activities we had implemented earlier this year, our efforts provided good turnout at the training. The training was good, considering the group’s willingness to discuss war openly, engage in cooperation and exchange experiences. Eagerness and desire to talk about wartime experiences, interpretations of events and attitudes that resulted from the wartime period existed from the beginning. Such an atmosphere in the group allowed the training team to develop themes related to important problems related to dealing with the past, such as collective and individual responsibility, the veterans’ role in the wartime and post-war periods, etc., early on during the event (it’s important to point out that the war was discussed frequently during breaks, also). The trainees’ motivation to participate in plenary discussions and work in small groups was noticeable. One could also sense the trust they had in the training team apropos of acceptance of suggestions and respect for standpoints. This needs to be underlined since the trainees at training events for veterans often tend to be reserved towards members of the training team, especially towards those who are not veterans themselves.
At times, fear of both the confrontation and the open criticism addressed to „the other side“ could be sensed. This issue is of utmost importance for this type of training since it helps veterans step out of the rigid social roles that portray them as promoters of nationalistic and extremist politics instead of a group capable of critically re-evaluating their own social and wartime roles. This capability should have a reducive impact on strong, widely accepted, ethnicity-based prejudices and inspire the analytical approach to problems that are decelerating the trust building processes between belligerent sides. The very element of open exchange of thoughts and joint search for ways to overcome nationalistic taboos is what gives this kind of meetings a great potential in the reconciliation process, on both personal and collective levels. That is why we dedicated a good amount of time during the training’s second phase to issues like addressing and accepting criticism, communication and cooperation with non like-minded people.
Statements, which were given during training, illustrate the discussions of the aforementioned issues:
– I encounter the things we talk about every day. I can have an opinion about the other side. How come we are all good individually and there’s all this mess? I don’t ask myself what I’m like, but if I want to be good I’ll have to do that.
– If someone says ‘patriotism’, it means that I must love my country. I don’t have to love the society, Bosnia or Croatia if something is wrong with the society, but I can do everything for it in order to make it better.
– Before the war there was this Yugoslav nationalism and then, because of all that love, we broke it into pieces and everybody took some. We didn’t care about the structure of people who had lived there, everyone simply took what they wanted.
– Thank God that nationalism has all the letters required to spell cynicism ~„nacionalizam“ and „cinizam“ in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian~. A nationalist will say everything about himself/herself before they even say their name. I will know that he/she is a nationalist before they introduce themselves. National identity has become something that comes first and people always put it in the first place, as if it were the most important thing. I would prefer it to be somewhere in the back instead of the first thing I notice about a person when we meet.
Additionally, the group was motivated to continue with the peace building activities after the training. This is particularly encouraging for us regarding our aim of organizing some joint public activities just as we did last year when we drafted an action plan at the end of the training. We hope that we managed to create a good atmosphere so that, in the fall of this and throughout next year, we can implement some of the activities we had agreed upon (e.g., filming short video clips sending the message of peace). We are glad that all those who were present expressed their distinctive desire to support and participate in visits to mass graves and other combatants’.
Generally speaking, most participants made a noticeable progress regarding their acceptance and understanding of the other side and willingness to pursue a more elaborate engagement in regional peace activities.
The participants’ statements given during the training evaluation follow:
– When I received the materials I got the picture, but it’s nothing close to this. This has surpassed all of my expectations, firstly the workshops. I heard the experiences of others therefore I have a better insight into my own problems, traumas … I’m dealing with my own emotions. I still think that I do not have any prejudices. It is a far wider platform than I expected, I feel fulfilled and satisfied, full of sensations and impressions and I’m sure I’ll be like this for the next five days. Everyone’s words made an impact on me, but they affect the future, too.
– I don’t know what my expectations were. I came here to see. We went through some tough things in a good and modern way. I like the work method and I got what I was asking for. When we have coffee together, that’s also important to me …Something is moving and changing inside of me, and I’m glad about it.
– I’m worn out. Our communities have more things in common then differences. Still, those differences are always underlined and that’s why it’s difficult to accept …
– At first, I was very enthusiastic, and now I feel down a bit. I came to the training psychologically unprepared due to some things that had happened to me before this phase. I’m very satisfied with the group and hope we’ll remain in touch afterwards. This will last for a long time, I’m sure.
– Part one was more emotional and I was, somehow, more satisfied with it. I tried harder while we were working on practical things. Still, I did my share, but I do think that I could have done more. I liked the dynamics of the aquarium ~Type of exercise~. I liked the intensity of the discussion. The work of the team – they never stop, man! Whether it’s something that I know or don’t, they pull it off.
– I gave what I could. That’s it. I would have given more if I had been able to. For as much as I did – I thank both you and myself. During the first part we just talked. Some things are expected from me now, and I feel kind of scared. Until now I was just invited, and now there are more expectations…
Our contacts with associations and individuals on the grass-root level make it easier for us to approach this population. Another important fact is that veterans spread the idea of peace building amongst their fellow combatants which increases both the quality of training and the number of veterans willing to get involved more actively in the process of the regional reconciliation. This effort’s important result is also the good cooperation we have established with certain veterans’ organizations. That cooperation increases the concept multiplication’s efficiency and strengthens the social credibility of the idea of veterans as peace building participants.
It is important to add that many participants were either severely disabled veterans or persons treated for stronger forms of the posttraumatic stress disorder. One of the trainees was a disabled veteran who had been organizing tournaments in sitting volleyball in Bosnia and Herzegovina(the most common sport for people with handicap), where the competing clubs consist of former soldiers. These types of events are very important for the establishment of trust and solidarity between veterans who had been, just a few years earlier, shooting at and killing one another. It’s surprising that such events aren’t shown more often because they embody peace building as such.
The symbolism of the former enemies’ meeting always makes a strong impression on both the participants and the team members, therefore we usually leave the veteran training events exhausted because of all those long days spent talking about painful issues like wartime violence, hatred, sacrifice, fears, defeats, victories … that are sometimes not easy to think about. At the same time, however, we feel inspired because it gives us the impression that we all do something extremely important for our societies that carry a huge burden of the nineties’ wars.
WORK WITH WAR VETERANS
Through our work with former combatants we want to emphasize the importance of both dialogue and cooperation with this segment of population, which often carries the burden of traumatisation and marginalization along with having the harrowing war experience. Furthermore, they are labelled as those who are quick to resort to the radical, nationalistic vocabulary and actions. We disagree with the aforementioned.
We want to show that former combatants are a highly credible social group with the potential for work in the field of peacebuilding since they experienced the war firsthand, often very brutally.
Visits of Veterans and Veterans’ Associations to Atrocity Sites from the 1991-1995 Wars
Sarajevo, Bugojno, Prnjavor – BH; February – March 2008
During the second phase of last year’s training for combatants (held from June 30 to July 7, 2007), the idea to organize mutual visits to different B&H veterans’ associations, pertaining to different once warring armies, was put forward. Everyone was willing to partake and find a deeper meaning in these visits from the beginning. We decided to visit the wartime locations of importance and those regarded as powerful symbols in local communities. By visiting atrocity sites and war crime locations (both marked and unmarked) we wanted to jointly pay tribute to civilian and military victims, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. We also wanted to become aware, side by side, of different local contexts and wartime events.
The visits were conducted in February and March of 2008. We visitedSarajevo, Bugojno and Prnjavor (all inBosnia and Herzegovina). The group’s core consisted of fifteen veterans fromSerbia,Croatiaand B&H. A number of people joined us in each town, mostly the members of veterans’ associations. This was a chance for the trainees from the previous training for combatants to meet the participants of earlier training events and, also, for all of us to meet new faces ready to get involved in what we can call “veterans in peacebuilding”.
The local hosts were veterans’ associations whose members were in all three armies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Croatian Defence Council, the Army of the Republic of Srpska and the Army of B&H). The hosts were the Association of Demobilized Combatants of the Army of B&H in Sarajevo, the Association of the Demobilized Defenders of the Croatian Defence Council in Bugojno and the Association of the Demobilized Combatants of the Army of the Republic o fSrpska in Prnjavor.
After the initial idea had emerged at the training, the CNA team took over the initiative to organize the visits, which is not surprising having in mind the previous experiences with this group which needed a lot of encouragement and support for independent peace activities. Nevertheless, when the idea was about to be implemented, the veterans and their associations almost completely took over the responsibility for the visits’ organization. We were very satisfied with cooperation and communication during the visits. We could see that they cared about the guests, laboured to make the people feel both comfortable and safe, and expressed their willingness to support the idea wholeheartedly. The group agreed to hand over the responsibility of choosing the visits’ locations to the hosts. Different associations demonstrated different approaches when selecting the locations, with more or less willingness to critically evaluate the role their side had played in the war. However, all of them showed a notable readiness to talk with the “others”.
We also agreed not to invite the media during these visits, since some people expressed that it would make them feel better.
Visits to towns , atrocity sites and memorial centres gave the participants the time to meet people and exchange experiences, thoughts and realizations they had. The participants also got together frequently and “competed” in hospitality.
The participants’ courage marked a different path to dealing with violence and torment which they suffered during the war. Starting from the habitual position where the “other” was expected to acknowledge “our” victims first, we arrived to the situation where the “others’” victims were also the ones we should empathize with. The latter situation signifies the guideline to the necessary empathy for the victims of one’s own people. One could sense the mutual support expressed as “if they could come to me, I can go to them, also” as well as a lot of trust in each other. The previous enabled the participants to go through some situations that weren’t so easy. Dealing with fear, dealing with the re-examination process of the interpretations of the past which could have been experienced as insulting in another situation, dealing with the re-evaluation process of one’s own images and “truths” regarding the war… I believe that there’s no dealing with the past without these processes which occur on both personal and social levels, regardless of their difficulties. This group showed that they could do it.
If we step out from our context, one could get an impression of the visits’ great symbolism, thirteen years after the war ended. The idea to invite the German veterans to the 60th anniversary of theNormandy invasion failed since the French veterans turned it down. Sixty one years after World War II ended.
We think that a very powerful message of peace and desire to rebuild trust can be sent when a mixed group of former combatants (Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, etc.) jointly visits different places of suffering, when everyone makes place in their hearts and minds for the victims of “others’” and feels true empathy which is not limited by ethnic or religious borders.
We will continue to organize similar visits in the future.
IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Workshop with Dan Bar-On
Berghof Research Centre, Berlin, Germany, February 14-15, 2008
In memoriam – Dan Bar-On (1938-2008)
We received with sadness the news of Prof. Dan Bar-On (professor of psychology and co-director of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East) passing away on September 4th, 2008, in Tel Aviv.
Prof. Dan Bar-On was born inHaifain 1938. We are grateful for his contributions to the story-telling model’s development, which he initiated a few decades ago by working with the Nazis’ and Holocaust victims’ children. We respect most deeply his devotion to the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
Unfortunately, none of his books has been translated and published in any of our languages. We hope that his will change. We’ll do as much as we can.
We are proud of having had a chance to meet this great man who left behind a pricelessly valuable body of work for peacebuilding processes. We are also using this chance to express our sincere condolences to the people who were closest to him.
The Berghof Research Centre and their executive director Martina Fischer, PhD, had initiated a workshop that gathered Dan Bar-On, peace activists of CNA and Miramida Centre, some persons close to Kurve,Wustrow,Germany, and those from the Berghof Centre.
Dan Bar-On, a psychology professor at theBen-GurionUniversityand the co-director of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME), worked on the processes of reconciliation and dialogue within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as those between the descendants of both the holocaust victims and the Nazis. One of his important achievements regards the implementation of narratives (Israeli-Palestinian) in certain schools, and he is well known for developing the method called “storytelling”.
During the workshop we discussed individual and collective histories, the actual method of storytelling that we tried ourselves and dilemmas and questions regarding peace work. We also related experiences of work in the region of formerYugoslaviaand within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Part of the workshop was dedicated to narratives, their role, mechanisms and the dialogue of narrative.
I find it hard to express a shared impression, because each of us in CNA experienced the workshop differently. My personal impression has remained very strong, regardless of the time that has passed since the event. However, I can say that we left the workshop empowered, inspired and encouraged. We gained a new perspective, since having been immersed in the events here, political situation etc., we were often unable to look at it from a different point of view. We might not arrive to final answers, but we did reach some new and different ones and we had a chance to ask questions from a different angle. I’ve got the impression that we gained a new optimism, broadened our views, and got the feeling that things could (still) happen along with an impulse to try again if things hadn’t worked out and that one could still remain warm and human after having worked for so long with such complicated issues. I would also add that Dan Bar-On’s dedication and zeal just have to move you from where you stand.
Additionally, having heard about the experience of working on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that goes on for such a long time and has such deep roots, I can conclude that we certainly have a lot to share and listen, especially from someone who has been working on it for such a long time.
It is sad that none of Dan Bar-On’s books or works are available in any of our languages. Therefore, we started the talks with one of the publishing houses that we are close to about the possibility of publishing some of his works, like Tell Your Life Story and Legacy of Silence.
Another very important thing about the workshop doesn’t have so much to do with its content. The organization this workshop, knowing how much this kind of exchange with Dan Bar-On would mean to us, showed us once again how immeasurable is the support that we receive from the Berghof Centre and Martina and Bea. It means so much to us … So much that it sometimes leaves us speechless.
More information about the workshop is available in a thorough report of the Berghof Centre on “Dealing with the Past in Israel-Palestine and in the Western Balkans. Story-telling in Conflict: Developing Practice and Research” (link: )
Helena Rill
Training on Historical and Collective Narratives
Novi Sad / Serbia, 07 – 09.04.2008
The three-day training on narratives was held in April 2008 at the Centre for Trauma (CFT) inNovi Sad, Vojvodina. Our colleagues in CFT contacted CNA’s long-term partners, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC),Sarajevowith the initiative to organize this activity. The colleagues in MCC recognized the idea as a valuable opportunity to enrich our cooperation with a new aspect – joint planning and implementation of the training on the theme that we had previously researched together.
It took two months to implement the idea. During that time the training team made of Randy Puljek-Shank of MCC and Tamara Šmidling of CNA (with a generous help and support of MCC’s Amela Puljek-Shank) conducted an intensive research of the available material, chose some useful articles and prepared the concept of the training that would, hopefully, be useful to our organizations and regional partners in their future work.
There were 13 trainees, all of whom were either CFT staff or volunteers, which resulted in specific group dynamics since they had known each other quite well and had had the same professional background (more than 80% of them were psychologists).
The team’s impression is that the training was extremely interesting, intensive and with the majority of participants who were highly motivated for work in this field. High motivation mostly means a huge number of questions, which resulted in very interesting discussions that challenged the training team and gave them an opportunity to reflect on some previously established concepts.
The workshops thematized the following issues: What are narratives? Why are historical and collective narratives important for peace building work? What types of narratives exist? What is the relation between a myth and a narrative? How does a narrative depicting a certain event/historic period become dominant in a society? What happens with the “marginal” narratives? How do the narratives change and transform themselves? How are our group identities defined/described by various narratives? What is the relation between a narrative and trauma? How did different societies deal with confronted narratives? What is the constructive way to approach this issue within our context?
The examples of Palestine/Israel, Northern Ireland, South African Republic, Japan and USA were used, although the discussion was focused on „our“ context, i.e. the situation in the region of former Yugoslavia.
One of the most important insights from this training is related to this issue and it has to do with the situation in Vojvodina, the so-called „multiethnic and multicultural heaven on earth“ as people from Vojvodina often describe it. This trainer got the impression that it was far easier to discuss confronted narratives in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or Croatia than to talk about our knowledge of our own neighbours’ narratives, who pertain to different religion or ethnicity (That is, Hungarians. It was noticeable that this theme was being avoided until the very last day when the training team asked explicitly: What do we do with Hungarian narratives? Do we know them? Do they exist in public at all, etc? A heated two-hour long discussion followed.)
It’s not unexpected, one might say – since it’s always the hardest to talk about problems in our own community. On the other hand, one has to emphasize how important it is to insist on such a discussion in order to critically review and re-examine the narrative of the multicultural Vojvodina, because it seems that the reality (at least for some of us) is somewhat different – and can be described with the terms such as: lack of knowledge about each other, fear and mistrust.
Tamara Šmidling
The Workshop on Dealing with the Past with Teachers
Neum / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 17 -18.05. 2008
Sanja and Tamara, two members of the CNA Sarajevo team designed and implemented a two-day workshop on dealing with the past with teachers, responding to an invitation from the Zenica-based NGO „Sezam“. The trainees were teachers who work in both entities’ primary schools in the Teslić – Tešanj region.
The workshop was held in the Neum’s Sunce Hotel on May 17th and 18th as a part of a longer seminar organized by Sezam,.
This was the first time that the war was discussed within a group of about 40 teachers after a few years long cooperation with Sezam’s trainers in their professional development.
The biggest organizational difficulty was the number of participants. Therefore, we had to divide them into two groups because interactive work was impossible in a group of 45 people.
Even though the discussion about the past started rather timidly, little by little more profound and personal conversation developed on the theme regarding the past and the war’s – something that surely affected those people’s daily life and work (as well as our own, too).
The discussions about whether we need dealing with the past or not, what benefits to it and what does not, what teachers can do to advance the whole process and alike showed an obvious gap between those who created school curriculum under the veil of national ideologies on one side and the intimate, human resistance felt by some of those who were supposed to implement that curriculum. The latter often experience the lack of support from their colleagues from the same ethnic-school tribe.
Different voices do exist, but they are not allowed to be heard in public, therefore the trust that some people have been working on for years is being destroyed for the sake of “good education and creation of little Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs”. One example is a multi-ethnic school near the town ofDobojwhich had been functioning for years without segregation and division of pupils but was abolished and divided into two schools instead, probably in the name of certain national interests. It is obvious that those who secured their positions in governments by supporting the ethno-nationalistic politics and demagogy do not consider that building mutual trust is in their best interest.
We believe that this workshop is important because it created space for people who work in education and do not share the unanimous views to hear each other, share their personal experiences, stories, standpoints and fears and slowly start creating a core of people who can offer support to each other because they share some universal human values that have nothing to do with the national and nationalistic ones. We hope we helped a little by boosting this exchange, based on what the participants expressed in the oral evaluation at the end of the workshop.
To end this report, it’s hard not to look back at the context of the town in which the seminar took place. Neum is a small town in Herzegovinaand the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly populated with Croats. On the hotel’s and nearby buildings’ walls, as well as all along the sea pier, we saw nationalistic and fascist graffiti like ‘Kill Baliya ~Derogatory term for a Bosniak~ ’, ‘Dear guests, be careful’, ‘Nazi Neum’, ‘NDH Ustashi’ and Ustashi symbols. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and a feeling that many of us were unwanted there.
It was a picture of an overall madness in which we live, this time with the Croatian precursor.
That’s why it is truly encouraging to recognize those who share similar values, feel hurt by the situation and are willing to jump out of the unanimous, tribal way of thinking,
As a reaction to explicit hate speech, together with two colleagues from Sezam, we took pictures of the graffiti and sent the photos attached to a letter of protest to the mayor and town’s authorities upon returning toSarajevo. Unfortunately, even though we sent the letter and the photos twice, we received no reply so we have no idea if anything has changed.
Sanja Deanković
International Exchange Seminar
Istanbul / Turkey, 0 6 -17.07. 2008
More than two years ago, in April 2006, an international exchange seminar was held inBielefeld,Germany. Tamara and Ivana, two members of our team, had taken part in the ten-day seminar that was continued this year in Istanbul.
Our German colleagues from the Dortmund-based organization Umbruch came up with this idea. The core participants who had been in Bielefeld also participated in this year’s seminar with the addition of some new organizations and individuals. The intention was to hold seminars in different countries where the participants from Germany,Turkey,Russia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina could exchange their work experiences from their communities.
The concept of this year’s seminar was designed and prepared by Jan Brauns and Christiane Moecker of Umbruch and Tamara Šmidling of CNA, with the support of Martha Hesselmans, a researcher from theNetherlands, who was in charge of the theoretic input.
The proposed theme was ‘Dealing with the emotions of pride, shame, guilt and humiliation in the context of current conflicts’. The proposed concept put emphasis on social contexts which people came from, revealing mechanisms and different ways our communities define the attitude towards these emotions as well as exchange of experiences gathered in our work. The seminar also included study visits to various groups and organizations inIstanbul, aiming to help us understand the situation inTurkeybetter.
However, what was going on during those eleven days of seminar was quite far from what had been intended and planned to happen.
Firstly, it was clear after the first two days that it would not be easy to find a common ground for the entire group. The fact that all of us conduct training events proved insufficient for a stronger group identification. What kind of training events? For whom? Based on what values? – these are just some of the questions that we answered differently and regarding which there were different needs within the group. Furthermore, it remained unanswered whether all participants considered social and political context in which we act crucially influential to our work, something that shapes it and directs it, something that peace work is either in dialogue or in conflict with, but always in interaction with it. For some, the connection between the context of social problems and their own work was dominant, for others it was almost irrelevant because they saw themselves primarily as trainers and only then as activists for whom the objective was an essential social change.
Then the „ghosts from the past“ slowly started to resurface, unleashing unclear conflicts, even power plays and feelings of manipulation that had remained hanging in the air after the Bielefeld seminar. Soon, there was an obvious conflict within the group between two concepts: on one hand, there were those who wanted to discuss the previously announced themes, while emphasizing that the seminar was only about exchange. The others were focused on „internal fears, emotions, etc.“ and tried to concentrate on the group’s dynamics and the processes of decision making within the group, perceiving the gathering primarily as a training. Apart from the fact that this training was primarily about training one’s nerves, I still haven’t realised what it was that we were supposed to train ourselves for during in those days.
As a member of the moderating team, I still have a bitter taste of dissatisfaction in my mouth about the way that the team handled the situation. I think that, by wanting to prevent few people from manipulating the rest of the group, we failed to make a crucial step and ask clearly and explicitly: “Where do we go with this seminar?” at the very beginning. Instead, we had the situation in which everyone was more or less unsatisfied and frustrated and the teamwork was very painful and stressful.
It’s not that all was bad. I should say that our friend and colleague Hilal Demir did a phenomenal job of making our stay inIstanbulvery pleasant while responding to plenty of organizational challenges with calmness and maximum efficiency. The magnificent view from the room where we worked at the dance school in Beyoglu, small boat ride on Bosporus, and Turkish tea and coffee that we were having on the fascinating streets of that town helped us cope more easily with highly stressful situations.
According to the participants, the biggest benefits of this meeting were the study trips. The opportunity to meet people from the Kurdish organization inIstanbuland hear firsthand from the residents of Kurdish quarter about the horrendous position of this group inTurkeywas really valuable. Population of a few million is subjected to torture, poverty and violation of basic human rights – the right to their language, schools, identity, etc. Our visit to the editorial of the only Armenian newspaper in Turkey showed us the Turkish society’s attitude towards the other minority group, which obviously does not represent any danger since it has been reduced to only 45000 people, therefore is allowed to have a newspaper and schools where their own language is taught. The fact that the books which are used for education were published in the 19the century (!!!) also tells a lot about the context, but that’s another story.
At least we learnt a lot aboutTurkey, even though we were somewhat confused with the following question: How is it possible to reconcile the vitality and beauty ofIstanbulwith an enormous amount of violence that is right under the surface, and, even more, often quite obviously? We had an excellent chance to compare violence in the strong state such asTurkeyas opposed to the contexts of weak states likeSerbiaandBosnia and Herzegovina. The question is – which are worse? It remained unanswered, of course.
Finally, it was obvious that the people from Umbruch were highly and truly dedicated to this idea. We shall see if it will be continued. The experience gathered during the previous two meetings shows us that it will never be easy, even if it continues.
Tamara Šmidling
The First Regional Peace Academy
Sarajevo, 18-27.07. 2008
Facts:
The Peace Academy for people from the region of former Yugoslavia is a result of the initiative launched by four peace organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Terca, Mostar/Sarajevo, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Nansen Dialogue Centre Sarajevo and Centre for Nonviolent Action, Sarajevo), and was supported by numerous activists from both the region and abroad.
It took more than a year and a half to prepare the event.
During thePeaceAcademy(ten-day event), three parallel courses were held, lasting eight days each:
- Understanding Social and Political Elements of Collective Violence and Mass Crimes (cases of Yugoslavia and Rwanda), Vlasta Jalušič and Tonči Kuzmanić, Peace Institute,Ljubljana,Slovenia
- Civilizing Nationalism – Regional Pacification, Ugo Vlaisavljević and Faris Čengić (assistant),University ofSarajevo
- What Can We Learn From Peace Movements? Lessons of the Past for the Present and Future, Brian Phillips,OxfordBrookesUniversity
There were 135 applicants fromBosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Kosovo and Montenegro, 62 of which were selected to participate. In the end, 60 took part in one of the three courses which were offered.
The facilitators and participants were accommodated at the premises of the Franciscan Student Dormitory complex in Grbavica,Sarajevo.
Financial support was provided by MCC, Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) Belgrade office, while part of the funding provided the trainees themselves by paying the 50 € participation fee.
The trainees were obliged to read the assigned material, which had been distributed prior to the course, and attend the entire course. Those who wanted to receive the RPA attendance certificate had to write an essay on any of the themes their course had covered.
The essays will be available on RPA website (www.mirovna-akademija.org).
What did we want to accomplish?
We wanted to create space for reflection on, exchange of and learning about problems essential for peacebuilding in the region of formerYugoslavia.
Furthermore, we wanted to offer activists, researchers and theorists an opportunity for advanced peace education, whose success is based on true motivation for work in this field, instead of desire to obtain certificates and improve one’s CV.
Also, we wanted to improve the dialogue between activist and academic worlds, both of which have a peculiar attitude towards one another which can be summarized as „we don’t need THAT“.
We also wanted do achieve some of our lifelong dreams, respond to personal needs for additional knowledge and new space for exchange, work on something new and interesting, participate in the whole process during which something is being born – starting with a blank paper to a gathering of seventy people from the entire region…
And what is it that we’ve accomplished?
In my opinion, we have done a lot regarding the local people’s capacity building for tackling the problems of ethno-nationalism, tribal nationalism and racism, various types of resistance to the peace process. Also regarding the capacity building, we did plenty that would enable people to think about it first, and then act, based on it. Act concretely, that is.
It was also a brilliant opportunity (and brilliantly taken, too) to promote peace work as a true and basic need of all our societies, regardless of the fact that they often consider themselves much better that they really are, and try to impose such misconception onto as many people as possible.
It was important to follow the dynamics that were being established during the course of the RPA, from initial confusion that was written all over people’s faces that spelled „what’s going on?“ to the formation of circles within which heated discussions continued after the working sessions had ended. Away from the pressure exerted by either state or the system, we were able to define problems and reflect on things, undisturbed and uncensored, in a way that is impossible to achieve at our universities burdened with the process of reforms and “dull-ification”.
About Cooperation
Another thing is worth mentioning in this report. I think about the cooperation of four organizations (and a permanent team of six people) which participated on equal basis in creating the RPA. In this long and occasionally frustrating process we had to start from scratch, make thousands of decisions and think of million things. There were more than a few moments when we ranted about the consensus and „too much democracy in the process“, and called on a deus ex machina to „suddenly appear and resolve everything“. We dealt with many issues along the way and often unsystematically, made some mistakes and omissions (failure to provide additional grants, delay in the materials’ distribution to the trainees); there were things we didn’t have time to think through and set them up better (essays and what to do with them).
Anyway…
The evaluation we did yesterday, September 29, 2008, showed clearly that there was willingness for further cooperation, that there was tremendous enthusiasm, that we were ready to take care and support each other and what we do together. Moreover, that there’s enough of it going around in order to continue what we do.
Within the next couple of months, when we start preparing for the next years’ RPA, we shall see how capable we are to learn from our own mistakes.
Cheers!
Tamara Šmidling
Sarajevo, September 30, 2008
Miramidani – The Role of War Veterans in Peace Building
Grožnjan / Croatia 11-14.09. 2008
Two themes were dominant in CNA’s activities during 2008. The first theme was the work with veterans which gained a new quality of improved partnership and some activities’ joint planning after seven years long intensive effort and search for an adequate approach. . The other theme is the intensified cooperation in various fields with numerous regional groups and organizations which we dedicated ourselves to for the past year and a half.
The event in Grožnjan was the point at which both of these themes met. It was an excellent opportunity to strengthen our cooperation regarding the veterans’ participation in peace building.
The event was designed and organized by members of the following organizations: Miramida Centre,Grožnjan,Croatia; Centre for War Trauma,Novi Sad,Serbia;Izmir,Zagreb,Croatia; CNA, Sarajevo/Beograd. Support with this event’s conceptualization was provided by Centre for Peace Studies,Zagreb,Croatiaand group of young people fromVukovar,Croatiagathered around the project „Say NO to Violence”. This meeting of peace activists and peace activists/veterans which was organized with minimal funding while the facilitators (amongst which were Adnan and Nedžad of CNA Sarajevo) volunteered, empowered the existing and induced some new initiatives that strengthen the dialogue between these two groups, thus including the veterans amongst peace building actors.
An impressive group of about fifty people gathered, most of them from Croatia, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovinaand Serbia. The participants comprised of veterans who had been working for several years/months on peace building as well as peace activists of different age and interests. Almost all people who had been working on bringing peace work closer to veterans (and vice versa) were present, except for a few exceptions, but that’s another story.
The four-day event was organized as simultaneous workshops which the attendants chose according to their interests and needs. The following workshops and activities were offered:
- War veterans and peace workers – similarities and differences, Vladan Beara and Miloš Antić, Centre for War Trauma, Novi Sad, Serbia
- Reintegration of veterans and their inclusion into peace work – Goran Božičević and Ana Bitoljanu, Miramida Centre, Grožnjan, Croatia
- Peace education and veterans – Nedžad Horozović and Adnan Hasanbegović, CNA, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Minorities, here next to us – Mirjana Bilopavlović, Delfin Association, Pakrac, Croatia
- Working on war trauma as a way of releasing potential for peace building – Vladan Beara, Centre for War Trauma, Novi Sad, Serbia
- What is peace work today? – Goran Božičević and Ana Bitoljanu, Miramida Centre, Grožnjan, Croatia
- Projection of the documentary film “Not a Bird To Be Heard,“ followed by discussion about reconciliation, dealing with the past and ethnic identity
- Peace building – the process that includes all of us – How to bring it closer to citizens? How to make it less elitist? – Iva Zenzerović Šloser, Centre for Peace Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
- Women defenders-veterans/invisible combatants – Ljiljana Canjuga and Andreja Kraljević Mišić, Izmir, Zagreb, Croatia
It was a phenomenal experience for us, an opportunity for high-quality exchange and a chance to see where we stand regarding this aspect of our work, as well as where we want to be in the near future. We are particularly glad to see the cooperation and that our different approaches are something normal we can discuss, instead of a stumbling block and the reason not to work together. We were especially pleased to organize a showing of our documentary film „Not a Bird To Be Heard“ which was attended by more then thirty people. Even though the film was supposed to be an introduction to the discussion about reconciliation and dealing with the past, people were highly distressed afterwards, some were even in tears, therefore the discussion that followed was more of an emotional evaluation, with a clear message that „the film made a strong impact and was very touching, and that it is important for as many people as possible to see it regionally“. Hence, this unpretentious „premiere“ of the film was far more rewarding than we had expected, and we must add that the audience was bigger than it was at some of the previous showings in Croatia.
While we’re waiting for the participants’ evaluations that will give us a more concrete picture of what was not good, we hope that Miramidani becomes both Grožnjan’s and regional tradition. We are certainly willing to support this valuable initiative in the future.
MISCELLANEOUS
Round Table : Truth Telling in Kosovo: Which Way Now?
Priština, 12.09. 2008
In 2007 and 2008, Integra, a Priština-based NGO, conducted a survey entitled “Attitudes On Inter-Ethnic Relations And Truth Telling In Kosovo” which was followed by the round table entitled “Truth Telling In Kosovo: Which Way Now?” The activities were supported by the Dutch peace organization IKV Pax Christi.
The round table focused on recommendations for truth finding/truth telling in Kosovo, establishment of he Commission on Truth, and was based primarily on the conducted survey. Part of the meeting was dedicated particularly to the exchange of experiences which relate to truth telling within local communities. The event was attended by representatives from associations of missing persons, victims of war, human rights and peace organizations, research and legal institutions and others.
I want to emphasize the importance of conducting such a survey. As far as I know, this is one of the first surveys, or even the first one of this kind, done in Kosovo after the war and it is very valuable (it will soon be available on the Integra’s website: . However inappropriate it may be to draw questions and answers out of the survey’s context, I cannot help but consider them since they depict a situation important for dealing with the past and peace building. Here are some of the most interesting ones, in my opinion:
– When asked who should get involved in improving the inter-ethnic relations in Kosovo, Albanians replied: Kosovo Serbs (30,3%), all of the actors involved in mutual effort (16,4%), while Serbs who participated gave the following answers: everyone individually (25,4%) and Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians (24,4%).
– The chapter entitled “Blaming Game” states the following: It is very common for post-war regions that people try to determine a certain factor (person/institution/nation) which is to ‘blamed’ for their misfortune. This survey also suggests that Albanian and Serbian interviewees think that they have a clear picture of those whom they can blame for all the things they suffered in the past. The majority of Albanians canvassed (95,3%) responded that Serbian leaders bore responsibility for their suffering, 97 % blamed the individuals who had committed crimes, while 77,1% blamed the Serbian nation in general. On the other hand, Serbs who were canvassed considered the Albanian leaders to be responsible (96,6%), 97,1% blamed the individuals who had committed crimes while 64,9% placed the blame on the Albanian nation.
However, one should take into account that the answers offered in a survey may sometime present a certain unrealistic picture. Therefore, the situation might not be so gloomy and there could be someone who is considering their own responsibility … Although, having in mind other conflicts that happened in this region, the blaming game has become a part of the ‘folklore’.
My dilemma regarding this meeting (as well as others of this kind) is whether it makes sense to talk about inter-ethnic relations unless people of both sides are present and included, that is, both Serbs and Albanians from Kosovo because they were the conflicting parties surveyed. (As far as I know, there were almost no Serbs from Kosovo present).
In any case, this was only the beginning. We’ll see how it goes. However, if I consider the survey’s results, I can only say that there’s a long way ahead of us.
Helena Rill
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
Croatia
This article considers some of the most important events that happened inCroatiawithin the past year which I find essential within the context of reflection on the issues important for peace building as well as social phenomena that bother and hurt me.
In spite of the strong opposition from the Croatian Catholic Church, and the majority of the Croatian Democratic Union MPs in the beginning, the Croatian Parliament ratified the Anti-discrimination Law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2009. One could say that this is not such a big deal for a country that aspires to call itself democratic and is about to join the European Union. I read the bill and was truly surprised by all that fuss, since it’s simply a document that gathers complete anti-discriminatory legislature in one place whilst introducing some new categories and defining concrete, serious punishments for its violation.
I do not wish to speculate whether the Croatian legislative bodies were ready and mature to initiate such a law or they merely obeyed the EU request. However, this law represents, at least formally, an important step in the separation of church and state, which have been functioning in an awkward symbiosis since the nineties.
Regardless of the fact that the law prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, age, disability, religion and faith in the domains of social welfare, education, housing, justice and public administration, science, sport, cultural and artistic creation, the destiny of the entire law depended on two words (“heterosexual” and “transgender individuals”), which were mentioned twice in it. Perhaps the church feared that its entire teachings would be questioned and the virtue of a healthy Croatian being would be violated. Finally, the Croatian Democratic Union (whose MP, Jadranka Kosor, was the author of the bill) withdrew the amendment which would remove from the bill discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
It’s an important step for the state whose By-law on Blood and Blood Components prohibits the “persons with homosexual behaviour,” among others, to give blood and whose judicial system has not yet reached a single judgement in cases of discrimination against affiliates of ethnic minorities at workplace. These are just two out of many examples of democracy – the Croatian way.
It seems that we need something to hold onto in hope that it will stir up the lethargic Croatian judiciary that allows some to be more equal than the others, all of which is masked with the Constitution and the law.
Due to “procedural errors” of the judiciary, Branimir Glavaš, the infamous executor of Serbs from the beginning of the nineties, has become a “respected” Croatian MP; the Croatian media relentlessly cover war crime trials of the Croatian generals Čermak, Markač and Gotovina in the Hague Tribunal, providing all of the accompanying details; Mirko “A Hero, Not a Criminal” Norac is about to marry a dentist from his hometown, while serving a jail sentence…
The lack of either the debate on Croatian war crimes in the media or a critical, honest discussion about what it is about the Croatian society that produces so much ethnically inspired violence and hatred was solidified by the common narratives on the inviolability of the Homeland war and us – a small, but proud and courageous people who had stood up to the outnumbering and overpowering enemy.
Due to all these reasons, I guess that we should not be surprised when demons from the past reappear every once in a while: Ustashi graffiti in some Croatian towns (which go either without prosecution or with petty fines); counting the Croatian blood cells of all those “whose names sound suspicious”; vicious threats addressed to the only Croatian soldier who was a prosecution witness in the lawsuit against general Gotovina.
Not long ago, the public defender of gender equality, Gordana Lukač-Koritnik, was beaten up when she rushed to help the citizens ofZagreb, who were Orthodox Christians, at the city’sFlower Square. She was punished by a group of attackers because she acted as a responsible citizen trying to point out hate speech.
There are plenty of examples that provoke rather anaemic and superficial public reactions, within a pandemic apathy of ostensible „normality“ that seems to be self-purposeful and keeps us stuck in-between the dictatorship of the Tuđman’s nineties and the democracy that EU aspires to. Anyway, everyone knows what it means to be normal inCroatia: it means to be a Croat, a Catholic, a heterosexual, to have children and mind one’s own business.
The distinction between the left and the right was blurred long time ago and it’s difficult to tell who’s who on the political scene. Name of a party doesn’t tell anything about its ideology and values of those who represent them. Hence, the mayor ofZagreb, a social-democrat Milan Bandić, initiated a concert of Marko Perković Thompson to commemorate the Day of Croatian Defenders, regardless of all the controversies and incidents that had happened in the past few years at that person’s concerts, including the unavoidable Ustashi artefacts and the calls to “Kill a Serb.” The city authorities verbally condemned those incidents, the police inspector Josip Gašparac was suspended because he had brought a suit against Thompson for instigating ethnic hatred, endless newspaper articles were written, Josip Gašparac was sent back to work, Milan Bandić is still a mayor of Zagreb, while Thompson keeps playing gigs all across our beautiful country. However, for the first time, he was banned from performing – inIstria, of all places.
The Feral Tribune no longer exists. The only newspaper that offered essentially studious criticism of reality and offered hope that there were those willing to talk publicly against injustice and fascism, disappeared. It faded out because it could not stand against the laws of the market anymore, but the sad truth is that the story about the amassed real estates and bad characters of its editors seems to overshadow all of the things that Feral had been standing for throughout all these years…
The opposition to the aforementioned mainstream opinions present certain people from civil society, who are neither listened to nor paid too much attention to in the public. They are usually characterized as enemies, foreign minions and those who are “against the system,” although, if it weren’t for them and their work and initiatives, many acts of violence and injustice would remain undisclosed and it’s likely that the Anti-discrimination Law which was mentioned in the beginning of this article would look differently.
We don’t have much choice but to make additional effort to re-examine these “still waters of normality” in which we live, have more trust in our power as individuals and raise our voice against those who tend to keep things “normal,”“, and offer a bit more support to those who either suffer injustice on whatever basis or stand up to it, because we truly lack more solidarity and willingness to accept criticism and self-criticism in order to build a better society. I hope this is possible. Perhaps the aforementioned law will make it possible for us to feel more protected and safe, while the rest is up to us… or we will keep our red and white chequered jerseys within our grasp, waiting for our hearts to beat like one while we’re cheering up for our national team, unified into one national being, eyes shut to everything else…
Sanja Deanković
The Amplitudes in Serbia, i.e. Radiation
I sometimes wonder whether it is possible for one to live in Serbia (or anywhere in the entire region, if you will) and make sense of all the socio-political amplitudes that condense within a year. Most of them are negative and positive ones are much less frequent. Life can hardly get dull here so, if you’re not fighting for bare survival like so many people are (which, I suppose, applies also to other countries that are in the process of indefinite “transition”) and possess at least some political awareness, consciousness or sensibility for social processes – your are in danger of suffering from all kinds of diseases, whether it’s ulcer, serious apathy or depression, to name just a few. No wonder that more than eight million boxes of tranquilizers were prescribed last year only, while up to three times as much is believed to have been sold without prescription ~B92 News, April 14th, 2008~.
Herein I’ll try to make an overview of all kinds of socio-political radiation we have been exposed to during the past year.
What happened last October after the announcement of the neo-Nazi gathering depicts most vividly the social situation.
Anyway, the neo-Nazis who gather around the so-called “National Alignment” ~NA, considered national-socialist by their supporters~ organization (well known by the law enforcement agencies), along with other similar organizations from both this country and all over the world, announced that they were going to march on October 7, 2007 in Novi Sad, presumably to celebrate Himmler’s birthday under a veil of Serbian patriotism. Since it was taking ages for the police to think of what to do, an anti-fascist protest gathering was also announced for that day. Police had banned the neo-Nazis gathering, but several hundred conscientious citizens gathered up in downtown Novi Sad and held a short anti-fascist demonstration followed by a protest walk. The street was teeming with police, however, the neo-Nazis, whose march had been banned, started to throw rocks and firecrackers at the protesters. A few more curiosities related to this event: the neo-Nazis attacked from the forecourt of the Army House (by throwing rocks across the fence) while the police, which was there to secure the event, was facing the gathering as if that’s where the danger was coming from, instead from those who were attacking it ~Reporter Miloš Vasić wrote an excellent article about this event: „Blood (and ’Honour’) in the presence of the authorities,“ Vreme No 875, October 11th, 2007~. This also would have probably been a marginal event, like neo-Nazism is after all, if it weren’t for the fuss it created in the public with most commentators relativizing the event by claiming that both sides were extremist (that claim was repeated over and over again during the parliamentary debate the following day). It was supposed to mean that both the neo-Nazis and the anti-fascists are the same kind of an extreme occurrence in the peaceful Serbian society (thus also unwanted, let’s suppose). That kind of approach illustrates best the situation in which our society has been existing for quite a few years now. It’s exactly the kind of widespread approach that prevents us from going any further than where we were on October 5th, eight years ago.
Since October 5th, 2000, we seem to have been living a perpetual election campaign, since some kind of elections or referendums were held almost every year. The first event of the year was the presidential election, in which the Radical’s candidate T. Nikolić lost by a small margin. The local and early parliamentary elections followed. No party was able to form the government so we waited for the next couple of months to see what was going to happen and who was going to close a better deal. Back on October the 5th, 2000, no one could had imagined what would follow: the coalition between the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), forming the government. As far as I recall, the Democratic Party president even called upon reconciliation between these two parties stating that “they each have their pain” during the courting, meaning that both the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia had tragically lost their respective party chiefs ~Just few days ago, on October 18, 2008, Boris Tadić (in the name of the Democratic Party) and Ivica Dačić (in the name of the Socialist Party of Serbia) signed the „Declaration on political reconciliation and common responsibility for creating a vision of Serbia as a democratic, free, integral, economically and culturally developed and socially just country“~. They would probably not have fallen in love with each other if their leaders were alive: one of them had died from natural causes in the Scheveningen prison, waiting for the verdict to be reached in the judicial process for war crimes while the other had been killed in broad daylight in downtown Belgrade right in front of the Government building while occupying the position of the Prime minister. Which makes all the difference in the world.
The best thing about this government being slapped together is the fact that the man who had been first the president, and then the prime minister for a long time, stepped away from power. It’s Vojislav Koštunica, the man whom Srđa Popović, with good reasons, refers to as a “Trojan horse” ~ Srđa Popović in Peščanik, Radio B92, June 13, 2008~ and the one who had been obstructing all of the attempts to push through more fundamental reforms while protecting the lackeys of Milošević who are still safely embedded in various “law enforcement agencies” and similar comfortable positions. Before he was ousted, he had managed to organize a prayer for Kosovo earlier this year as a reaction to the province’s declaration of independence. The prayer ended up in chaos, riots and pillaging inBelgrade. Interestingly enough, police department did not have the authority to prevent it.
It seems that we will not recover from this whole Kosovo issue for quite some time. I don’t mean the riots and the pillaging by that, but an inexhaustible fuel that heats up nationalism and ethnocentrism that we seem to have in abundance. I doubt that anything will change for the better in relations between Serbs and Albanians, unless some sort of an agreement between two sides is achieved, without the interference of those who install democracy throughout the world by enforcing it.
With regards to it, the fact that Ramush Haradinaj was acquitted in the Hague Tribunal in April, came as quite a blow to the Serbian public. Dejan Anastasijević, journalist of the Vreme newsmagazine, commented that “there was probably no other verdict that caused such protests, bitterness and pure rage in Serbia” ~Dejan Anastasijević, Vreme No 901, April 10, 2008~ and it all happened after a mere two months since “Kosovo was taken away”. The last blow, which did not cause too much of a public reactions due to an overall tiredness and exhaustion with the subject, was the Montenegrin and Macedonian recognition of Kosovo. The lack of the public reaction was certainly not due to the political elite’s attempts to point out the “brotherly treason” and “backstabbing,” all of which happened at the moment of complete media frenzy over the “international victory we had won.” Since I’m also tired from this whole Kosovo issue I cannot dedicate any more attention to it, because we had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as Petar Luković put it once. Literally.
Not long after the new government was formed, with the SPS cadre occupying the positions of the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of interior affairs, education and infrastructure, it seems that the whole world was shocked with the news of the Radovan Karadžić’s arrest. While the majority was convinced that he would never be found, the criminal was living quietly ~The so-called ’quiet life’ was discovered after the person in question had been arrested. It has nothing to do with ethnic cleansing, the establishment of ethnic borders etc., which people automatically associate with the new tenant of the Scheveningen prison. Those seem to be the same as Orthodox meditation, to put it laically~ in New Belgrade, riding the public transportation, giving lectures and participating at public forums and, perhaps, even attending promotions of his own books which he had managed to write whilst living a quiet life of an Orthodox believer. Many were deeply saddened because they didn’t get their hands on the five million dollars of reward money. Others were saddened by something else, thus they have been gathering on the Square of the Republic in Belgrade to mourn the arrest of this criminal who is responsible for death and ruin of tens of thousands of people (few millions, more probably). However, there’s just a few of them protesting so the passers-by hardly even notice them. I was utterly upset by the media’s treatment of this event, both domestically and internationally. For days, they kept informing us how he had walked around disguised and making fools of us, what pub he had been frequenting, what he had liked to drink, what kind of yoghurt and health food he had preferred, if he had had an affair and if his wife had known about it … It’s a real Hollywood thriller in our own neighbourhood that totally overshadowed all of the horrors he is responsible for. It seems that it is better to run the entertaining news for the public than to remind it of the things it persistently tries to deny or forget.
It seems that the agony will continue because we are still to see his defence in the Hague Tribunal. He is going to defend himself, just like his brothers did. Those who at least partially watched the Milošević’s trial, or particularly Šešelj’s, know what kind of a circus the trials are. The young (and not so young) patriots are watching the circus as if it were some kind of a football mach between “us” and “them” where “the goals we scored” are being carefully tracked. By the way, if you miss some sessions of the Šešelj’s trial you can get them from the patriots who exchange the recorded videos on the Internet. I assume that’s how it’s going to be with the new tenant in Scheveningen as well.
Nevertheless, let me return to denial, the tradition which is persistently being upheld. It is especially noticeable every July, when the crimes committed in Srebrenica and nearby Bratunac are commemorated. For those who do not know, the people who deny it constantly bid the number of victims, denying the “Bosniak” and emphasizing the “Serbian” victims. The notorious Belgrade daily Kurir published the statement of a certain Milivoje Ivanišević, presumably the member of the Republic of Srpska’s Senate, which claimed that there weren’t any civilian victims in Srebrenica since “only one female corpse was found until 2005”. He calls the gathering in Potočari “the vampires’ ball” because “those very same people burned hundreds of Serbian villages and killed thousands of Serbian civilians … Now their fellow combatants come to salute them, pay tribute and pledge that they will continue to commit atrocities” ~Kurir, July 11, 2008~.It’s one thing that no verdict or a committee will ever end this type of thinking, but they also won’t stop the media from giving space to such people. A part of the public will eagerly accept these kinds of non-arguments because that is so much easier than to deal, at least, with the feelings of shame, not to mention the responsibility and the guilt.
It would probably be quite unjust to end this overview without mentioning this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the pride and joy ofSerbiaand, especially,Belgrade. It was quite a successfully organized event. The absolute favourite was the Bosnian artist. I was really glad to hear the radio commercial advertising his album with the following slogan: „Get ready for action: Support the neighbour!“ Now, that’s a positive amplitude for you.
That’s how it goes in the country where even the Constitution divides the people who live in it into „Serbs“ and „citizens“. As if both could not go together.
Ivana Franović
Oktober 2008
On the Context of Peace Work in Sarajevo or
„Better a Fascist than a Faggot“
The following article is a very personal, biased and subjective view of the current „state of the affairs“, not so much in the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina as in its capital – Sarajevo. It means neither thatSarajevorepresents the whole country nor that what happens here inSarajevois the only thing that matters. Moreover, my intention is not to state that things are essentially different inSarajevo, or God forbid, better than in the rest of B&H, at least regarding the problems here. I only intend to discuss the things I know best, those that are closest to me and most relevant at this moment. Those who are careful enough will be able to get the wider context ofBosnia and Herzegovinafrom this story aboutSarajevoand, possibly, a wider picture as well.
I have decided to write about Sarajevobecause of what had happened to the attempt of holding the first Queer Festival in (my?) city – the town globally known for „an exceptionally high level of tolerance and multiculturalism”. The latter is most frequently described with the well-known (and quite stupid) phrase depicting „a church, a cathedral and a mosque – existing one next to another, in the very town’s centre.“ Exactly. That’s the kind of multiculturalism dreamt of and practiced by the religious elites which occupy churches and mosques. They do it together with the politicians who grabbed their spots in various governments and parliaments while being paid highest regional salaries (average monthly proceeds of an MP in B&H is 3000 €) for their incompetence, impotence, stupidity and illiteracy. This vision of tolerance and multiculturalism does not tolerate anything even slightly different from the formula „man = faith + nation“, except for the phrases about inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance, especially since it has become clear who’s on top (the majority) and who’s at the bottom (the minority). No matter whether it is about people who practice yoga, communists, worshippers of Hare Krishna or members of different subcultural groups. Not even to mention those repulsive „faggots and dykes“– to use names that certain so-called journalists used. The attitude towards people who are part of the LGBTTIQ population showed that Sarajevo’s legendary multiculturalism is just another side of the coin of horrifying sameness, of monoculturalism in which all our alleged differences are hidden behind a folding-screen of impotency and the lack of willingness to think, and to think in terms that are different from corny ethnic-religious-showbiz-capitalistic categories.
Therefore, a cultural event became a crossing point for various fascistic currents and attacks that were launched from different positions of the social spectrum (including MDs, politicians and both the newly converted and, particularly, the old believers). Among them are also football fans and the rest of the „drunken youth“ who are, in a charming kind of way, in the end always responsible for committing acts of violence in our societies, those acts that honest people are, like, ashamed of. Overnight, the Queer Festival issue has become a political issue par excellence, in spite of attempts to reduce it to a so- called problem of morality. All it took was several declamatory newspaper articles (Dnevni Avaz, Saff, Press), which focused on the alleged „homosexuals’ parade in Sarajevo during the Ramadan holiday,“ for everyone to take up arms and defend their ethnic and religious feelings. All of a sudden the question „who’s playing a prank with Bosniaks?“ has come into the centre of attention. Beside dealing with this issue of critical national importance, the festival’s organizers were subjected to public lynches, violence and death threats, discrimination on every corner, etc. Suddenly, homophobia has become a factor around which all those professional Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks united, despite the fact that they are unable to agree on pretty much anything else. Not even the Chetniks, the archenemies, looked the same any more, while their reactions to the Belgrade Gay Pride from June 2001 were commented with great respect: the reactions were so manly, so uncompromising ~On June 30th, 2001 the first Gay Pride of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals was organized inBelgrade. The procession was supposed to gather on the Republic Square and march to the Students’ Cultural Centre, where the programme was to take place. However, several hundreds football fans, members of extreme rightist and nationalistic organizations, led by some priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with a tacit blessing from the police, prevented the participants of the Parade to even arrive to the Republic Square. The exact number of people who were brutally beaten up remains unknown, and no charges have been pressed against the perpetrators~. Homophobia gave a true meaning to a certainSarajevo pop band’s „We are the same – Herzegovinians and Bosniaks“. We surely are the same, it’s just that we come in three different pre-packaged models – Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox.
Seemingly, the biggest battle took place in internet forums which showed the true face of our current intellectual and spiritual misery and confirmed the “disappearance of the public person”. Protected by anonymity and a bunch of like-minded companions, absolved from any responsibility whatsoever, many rushed to launch their threats against the „Bosnian junk“, to threaten with dousing with gasoline and torching the sick, homosexual bodies, decapitating and spilling their guts out. All of it that in the name of religion’s defence and the Holly month of Ramadan. Bravo!
In the meantime, our moral misery’s true actors – religious dignitaries (in this case the Islamic community’s leaders), politicians, public figures, enraged veterans (also anonymous), as well as some who belong to the so-called civil society, either tried to express their disagreement with the Festival’s organization (under the following pretext: should what’s private become public, we, heterosexuals, do not organize parades!) or relativized the whole thing (everyone’s entitled to their human rights, but both sides crossed the line here!).
Finally, the threats came true on September 24th. Violence was committed when Queer Festival’s participants and supporters were beaten up on the Sarajevostreets. At first the organizers announced that the Festival was going to be closed for public, but since the threats didn’t cease, the event was cancelled altogether. Sarajevowas successfully defended from the sickness! Sarajevohad become clean and healthy again! Neither Svetlana nor Boba ~Names of the organizers who are members of the Q Association, Sarajevo. Their names are conspicuously non-Bosniak and Non-Muslim, therefore problematic~ will provoke us by organizing make-believe art festivals!
What does it all tell us aboutSarajevocurrently, huh?
Firstly, according to the public, the organizers made a fatal mistake – they did not check the religious calendar. What does that have to do with the constitutionally established secular state? One should seriously think about it and discuss it. Can anyone ever organize an art festival simultaneously with celebrations of religious holidays? Should we ask ulemas, patriarchs and archbishops for permits to organize any kind of public activities? Where do we draw the line?
Furthermore, why does it matter if your name is Boba or Svetlana in an allegedly multicultural but evidently monocultural town of Sarajevo? Would it be easier if such „slurs against faith“ were coming from Džemila and Amila ~Two typical Muslim/Bosniak female names, chosen randomly without any hidden agenda or bad intentions~? How come people are being expelled „back toBelgrade“ and told to „get the hell back toSerbia“? Why are people being harassed and assaulted because of their names and where they come from? These questions require serious and deliberate answers, instead of trite phrases like „it’s the rednecks who say that, we’re cool and we listen to cool music“.
The post-warSarajevodrove many people away while attracting very few. For years it has been lulled with the victim’s image and a dangerous belief that the truly horrendous suffering during the 92-95 siege earned it sympathy and understanding forever. The time has come andSarajevois (or at least a part of it) waking up from this dream feeling terribly hung over.
So, what is it seeing? A decrepit capital with hardly any cultural life at all, a small town where illiteracy and mediocrity reign, four bookstores, two cinemas and three theatres. It’s the town that tries to keep up only with the tycoon-capitalistic criteria according to which the only parameter for a town to become and remain that is the number of new shopping malls’ and business offices’ square meters. No wonder art shows were targeted and that the artistic provocation is considered to be the society’s bogeyman. Everyone should know by now that art has long ceased to provoke but, instead, that it should be sold and used to lull us. What else would an honest man need but a mosque/church and a shopping mall, especially since he managed to make ends meet by taking out the loan number 101 within the past three years?
More and more people write their books, articles and columns while living in other parts of the world. In their place the guys with long beards and shortened pants, a radical Islamized version of the committees for moral and political correctness that existed in former Yugoslavia, sagely gain space for themselves and their own twisted political visions carried by the winds of this town’s and this country’s omnipresent ignorance, apathy and spiritual indolence. It makes no difference that 90% of people’s lifestyles do not fit into this vision because it seems to me that the prevailing opinion can be summed up as „who cares, they’re „brothers“, someone’s got to beat up those faggots“. That is exactly whereSarajevo has reached the lowest point of its degeneration. We have allowed them to become the striking fist and act in the name of the society’s huge majority. Now, there’s no turning back. The question is- who’s next?
For the sake of intellectual and human honesty, I want to underline that there were those who stood up, who dedicated their capacities and credibility to raise the voice against violence and discrimination. They, and especially the editorial staff of the „Dani“ weekly magazine deserve all the credit. We’ll see if that is enough forSarajevo. Perhaps even next Saturday (October 4th) when civil protests against violence will take place, or Sunday (October 5th) when the local B&H elections will be held…. Hope dies last…
Tamara Šmidling
Sarajevo, October 1st, 2008
Macedonia – from october 2007 to october 2008
Without a doubt, the past year was marked with the dispute between Macedonia and Greece over the name of the Republic of Macedonia. All of the other events were overshadowed by the attempts to find the alleged final solution to this long-term dispute. Nothing was achieved through various negotiations, agreements and, more or less, open quarrels whose consequence is further division and stratification of the Macedonian society. However, let’s start from the beginning …
The Macedonian singer Tore Proeski died in October 2007. The death of an artist, however tragic, usually isn’t of such an importance, nor does it influence/reflect the country’s political, economic or spiritual moment. Nevertheless, soon enough it had become clear that he was more then just an artist in Macedonia. A national day of mourning was declared, and he became an important figure for the interpretation of some phenomena in the upcoming year. In a certain way, his life was a dream come true: from a poor little hometown to the status of a Balkan megastar, remaining a modest person dedicated to charity work in the region of former Yugoslavia, never discriminating people, especially not based on their ethniclty. That’s why a certain feeling of closeness emerged during the mourning process. The closeness was something that the citizens of Macedonia hadn’t felt for a long time, both within the Macedonian society and in the region. Furthermore, the individuals and the organizations who and which are involved in the humanitarian and voluntary work in Macedonia ascribe the increased number of charity events, voluntary work and activities during the past year to his tragic death, which is not a trivial thing for such a lethargic country like Macedonia. On the other hand, his death was often used to confirm the theories about “the damned and suffering Macedonia,” where “nothing healthy nor good can live long, ” because “Macedonia is ruled by some dark and mighty forces” etc. So, once these theories are accepted, the average citizen of Macedonia doesn’t have much choice but to resign to the fate of a person who neither influences things nor can change them (whilst the political structures make additional efforts to reinforce such a perception). The role of the victim reappears in the domestic folklore, partly due to the people’s need
to justify their own feeling of hopelessness while being caught up in a 17 years long transitional process.
Due to the dispute between Macedonia and Greece over the Macedonia’s name, the relations and problems between Macedonians and Albanians were pushed
aside. After a long discussion during which both arguments and non-arguments were used, it seemed that Macedonia was on the verge of a solution. The important part of the solution was the expected and unerring invitation to full NATO membership that was due at the NATO’s April summit in Bucharest, Romania. Greece opposed the decision and vetoed the invitation, NATO accepted Croatia and Albania to full membership, while Macedonia was left out. The possibility of “provisional membership” was discussed in order to possibly calm the reaction in Macedonia, but the final decision was that the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” would be invited as soon as possible once the solution regarding its is acceptable for both states. The news about the no-go regarding the NATO membership caused a huge disappointment and anger, along with a strong feeling of injustice, because it was believed that Macedonia had met all the requirements for membership regarding reforms, participation of soldiers in foreign missions etc., but that the citizens of this country were
being punished simply because they were Macedonians and because they publicly expressed it.
The political analysts believe that the lack of prospects regarding the Macedonia’s impending membership in NATO and EU means the uncertain future for the country. For the “ordinary” people it means the reignited fears for Macedonia’s eXistence, for its mere survival.
After the NATO summit, the relations between Macedonia and Greece that had been already very bad and fragile deteriorated drastically. What followed was a stream of mutual accusations and reproaches. In the meantime, the citizens of Macedonia experienced various difficulties in Greece, such as being refused service at the gas station because of their Macedonian registration plates, planes were refused the landing permitbecause they bore an MK sign, drivers were being asked to remove the stickers that indicated where they came from, truck drivers were harassed. An anti-Greek sentiment is on the rise in Macedonia, the Macedonian nationalism is getting stronger and there are initiatives to ignore, negate and abstain from all things Greek. Attempts were launched to boycott the Greek companies which are doing business in Macedonia and employing Macedonian citizens while paying taxes to the Macedonian state which had allowed them to invest their money in this country, all of which testifies that things are getting out of proportion. Greece had been the most popular summer destination for great many citizens of Macedonia but this year the number of visits drastically decreased, although those who went there, despite everything, confirmed that they encountered neither provocations nor problems and that the Greeks employed in tourist business worried over the outcome of the dispute and its consequences on their work and survival. Anyway, those Macedonians who went to Greece this summer are keeping it quiet because they might end up being accused of treason.
Regarding the name change, the Macedonian society has split into several parts even though everyone agrees that the Greek politics is very repressive and antidemocratic. Ethnic Macedonians firmly believe that the name mustn’t be changed because it’s tightly related to the identity of Macedonians, while those who are fed up with this long lasting agony wish to resolve the dispute even by changing the name so the country could move on towards revitalization of the economy, change of the visa regime, etc. Ethnic Albanians are believed to be in favour of the second solution since the name of the state is borrowed from ethnic Macedonians. However, regarding this dispute, they demonstrated the far more constructive approach and the state-forming awareness than the Macedonian political parties, which stubbornly stick to the futile practice of proving “who’s the better Macedonian” instead of facing their own foreign political failures.
The relations between Macedonians and Albanians were quite relaxed in the past year, as opposed to the relations between Macedonia and Greece, or, perhaps, because of it. Apart from the usual political and party
games, there weren’t any major tensions amongst people. Nothing major has neither changed nor been resolved and the large majority of Macedonians and Albanians continue to live within their own separate communities. However calm, the situation is still far from being good, which is indicated by the events surrounding the early parliamentary elections held on June 1st. There were several clashes between the followers of two biggest Albanian parties. One person was killed and several were wounded. Since these violent incidents took place in so-called Albanian municipalities, or Albanian quarters, and occurred between ethnic Albanians, many ethnic Macedonians found some kind of comfort in it because “the world could finally see what the Albanians in Macedonia were really like, the same ones who had been supported by the international community at the expense of Macedonians all along.” It is unclear when violence will become unacceptable, no matter whether it occurs between Macedonians and Albanians or within their respective communities, and when it will become important to have a peaceful election process in Macedonia, regardless of the municipality in which the election is taking place … However, for the beginning we might feel satisfied with a decrease in interethnic tensions after long years of constant strain.
Since the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo there have been speculations about the Macedonian recognition of Kosovo, even though it was, obviously, just a matter of time. Instead of making the decision and justifying it with state’s interests, the decision was reached only a day after the UN General Assembly had decided that the International Court of Justice would rule on the legality of Kosovo’s separation, so the decision seemed to come at the worst possible moment. It is unclear why it happened in that particular moment, considering the unfinished border demarcation process and the open issue regarding Kosovo’s recognition of Macedonia under its constitutional name. Such a decision has negatively impacted the relations between Serbia and Macedonia at this moment and it is believed that it would have been much less painful a few months ago, when some other countries had also recognized Kosovo. An eariier decision could have provided additional favourable conditions for the agreements with the authorities of Kosovo. The perception of Kosovo’s recognition is that it was done as the result of blackmailing and pressure from the Albanian parties in Macedonia, regional pressures and primarily due to the intrusion and conditioning of foreign powers. Ethnic Albanians greeted the recognition while the majority of citizens, ethnic Macedonians, once again felt ignored and forced to comply with international orders. The comments range from mild, stating that it was a good decision but its timing was wrong, those expressing the complete disappointment with the Macedonian foreign policy’s incoherence and real power, all the way to the allegations that Macedonia was again forced to be qUiet, obey and give in.
During the past year various laws were adopted, some of which handle the preparation of aJvar, public sanitation and restrictions on the animal-drawn vehicles’ participation in city traffic, etc. Their strict implementation has begun. The adoption of these laws is, of course, a positive thing, but it’s irritating that not much thought was given to the causes of problems and phenomena that are meant to be sanctioned by them. For example: why is there an expansion of the animal-drawn vehicles in the streets if we accept the claims that the Macedonian citizens’ standard of living has not fallen drastically, but that it is even rising slowly? Furthermore, is it a good idea to start regulating this country’s problems by implementing those particular laws? The average salary in Macedonia is about 250 €, the costs of utilities have risen already while other
prices are about to be increased as well.
Finally, it’s a year that has brought no good. There’s an overall impression that people are tired, unable to resolve their everyday problems, lacking faith that a political solution is somewhere out there, tired of both explaining it to themselves and to others, and of convincing themselves and others, that better days follow even though the transition has been going on for 17 years.
For CNA,
Ana Bitoljanu, Miramida Centre,
October 2008, Skopje
Montenegro
Prime Minister This year’s political, economic and social situation in Montenegro isn’t much different from last year’s. Firstly, one should mention that Prime Minister Željko Šturanović resigned. He was replaced by Milo Đukanović who made a great comeback providing another déjà vu experience to the Monenegrin citizens. The last European communist leader, according to many, consolidated his number one position when it comes to longevity of being in power (it has been 20 years already). Altough wishing to retreat after having reached his ultimate goal – the restoration of statehood, the gentleman in question has returned to politics (if he ever did leave it in the first place) in spite (or just because) of an Italian prosecutor’s investigation which links him to tobacco smuggling. Anyway, the Prime Minister didn’t just sit back but went on to establish the University of Donja Gorica (UDG) which formally opened its doors in September with a lavish cocktail party studded with public figures along to the tune of the university’s hymn. In addition to the private university he is a co-owner, or as they say now stockholder, of three companies, each of them worth millions. After the re-inauguration he withdrew from those companies since the Committee for Conflict of Interest fulfills its duty rather scrupulously.
Language The newly opened Department’s of Montenegrin language work at the University of Montenegro has remained under the veil of darkness, and its premises are still locked even though freshmen students were admitted to the university. It’s obvious that the team which is working on that language’s grammar standardisation and study materials’ preparation still hasn’t managed to resolve the difficult task. To proceed with the Montenegrin language, it is both interesting and ironic to mention the exam which is obligatory for Montenegrin citizenship. The test, which provoked various public reactions, contains questions that somehow ridicule the existing language which people speak no matter what ethnicity they claim as theirs. Here’s an example from the test: „Potato goes into a b_g (fill in the missing letter).” It’s even more ironic if we consider that most people who have to take the exam and pass the „citizenship test“ were born and have been living in Montenegro for years.
Religion Last year we witnessed the attack on Cetinje monastery by affiliates of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) in an attempt to seize it. This year’s enthusiasm has somewhat deflated, although the tension is sustained by the MOC PR’s threats stating that „what belonged to them“ would have to be returned sooner or later. One should mention the incident that happened in the Nikšić area where residents of two nearby villages tried to prevent the MOC archbishop, accompanied by some priests, from laying the new church building’s foundations and giving his blessing its construction. The villagers formed barricades with their own bodies. Sixty five people were arrested during clasehes with the police. Some were injured, too. Both sides exchanged rather serious accusations after the incident, but no charges have been pressed so far.
Tourism Despite long preparations, “fixing up” of the Montenegrin coastline and many new facilities which have been built by either Russian or domestic investors, this year’s tourist season is doomed, although local media report quite the opposite. In any case, the fact is that Montenegro aspires to be a prestigious tourist resort, available only to upper-class tourists, yet closed for its own citizens. It is interesting and strange to see how the Montenegrin landscape is being transformed, especially in the coastal area, to accommodate luxury facilities (this year it was normal to bring down an entire hill in order to erect an elite tourist complex). This season’s poor economic performance remains in the shadow of big concerts performed by international stars like Lenny Kravitz and Madonna on the Jaz beach. More than ten million euros were spent on it, although we don’t quite know where the money came from.
Dealing with the past continues to be distant, even unattainable and quite possibly never of a to be achieved future. The processes against people of Morinj (camp where Croatian prisoners from the front line near Dubrovnik were detained) are ongoing away from the public’s eye and, very likely, only the perpetrators will be prosecuted while who’s responsible for giving orders and planning the whole thing will remain a secret (a public secret, that is). New laws, like the one regarding lustration and some others, remain only in the domain of science fiction.
Recognition of Kosovo – “Montenegro’s the latest and the biggest disgrace,” “paying off mafia debts,” “pressure from the international community,” “mature political decision,” “clear perception of reality,” “realpolitik,” “politics in accordance to national interests,” etc. – these are only some of the different sides’ reactions to Montenegrin recognition of Kosovo. Both sides (the division is reaching its peak at this moment, the tension is ongoing) consider the event to be one of the most important in recent history of Montenegro. The protest rally, which was staged in front of the parliament building, ended in clashes with the police, in which some of the protestors participated. Thirtsy four people were injured and considerable damage was done to property. That’s only a part of a rather tense atmosphere in Montenegro. Since the Prime minister did not disclose the reasons for Kosovo’s recognition nor did he confirm that the decision would be revoked even though huge majority of Montenegro’s citizens is opposed to it, the opposition announced they would abstain from parliaments work, but would continue the nonviolent resistance since there are no prospects for either the referendum or the new parliamentary elections.
Radomir Radević & Kristina Bojanović
PERSONAL VIEWS
The Words Of A New Member
Why reconciliation? Why nonviolence? Why peacebuilding in this part of the world? And finally, why CNA? – these are only some of the questions that I will try to briefly answer in this article.
Having been away from this region for eleven years while I was living on another continent, in the state „between asylum and exile” ~I thank Mr. Predrag Matvejević, who was also born in the sunny town ofMostar, on the coast of the Neretva river, for this term.~ I turned up in one of my former cities, returning to the beginning of one of many winding lines for the first time in my life. An emotional shock, which was a mixture of all the beautiful things I longed for and all the bad things I loathed and was running away from for a long time, overwhelmed me. For me, the Balkan wars raged for entire fifteen years. The acts of brutal, wartime violence had been replacing one another during the first three years before I left. When the real ones disappeared they were replaced by imaginary, distant ones of the same intensity. Even though I was far away, on another continent, these conflicts never ceased until I returned. I travelled through all the cities I still considered mine, deliriously, crossing the borders that were aesthetically reduced to red and white, horizontal and vertical plastic lines that marked the borders between muddy cornfields and smooth, wide rivers. One of the reasons, and, most likely, the biggest one, for my return was the need for personal reconciliation, for that lucid moment when we are able to say goodbye to people and events that hold us in chains of emotional slavery and force us to go through each new day restarting the unfinished circles from the previous.
After each one of these trips I asked myself what was I going to do with it, then, and this question grew more important every time. The delirium was tamed, determination and strength came back along with the overlapping of the acquired associative networks that made me extra sensitive to many types of collective and individual violence. I started to fight again, but this time it was essentially different – this time I knew what my goal was. I was absolutely hooked onto this satisfying feeling of exaltation that people feel when they do their best to make at least a small step forward daily. I believe that all of us are capable of sensing the moments we start moving backward, and I believe that is the choice we make ourselves.
I also felt a strong need for allies.
I had no idea that the notice published in “Danas” daily about the promotion of the CNA’s book “I Cannot Feel Well If My Neighbour Does Not” was going to be an introduction into the next stage of my life. I came to the promotion and met Adnan, Ivana and Nenad, with whom I had a long conversation that evening. We discussed many issues, the essence of which could be reduced to the review of not just the critical problems which undermined our societies, but the discussion of practical actions which could contribute to their recovery. What are the problems? Violence, irresponsibility, war heritage, militarism, ethnonationalism, clericalism, patriarchate, homophobia and many others. All of them may amount to „Violence against the Other.” What about the solutions? Dialogue, peacebuilding, criticism, self-criticism, trust and culture of nonviolence, dealing with the past, re-evaluation of one’s own attitudes, peace education, fight against injustice.
After the meeting events unfolded naturally – the CNA team offered me a true friendship, support and stimulus for further reflection. I took part in their basic peace building training and the seminar on dealing with the past. I learnt a lot but primarily I had become more aware of all the traps I fell into each day, that I can simply describe as giving in to violence and emulating it due to lack of thought and awareness about the possible alternatives.
I am honoured, proud and grateful to be given a chance to live (most of this experience cannot be reduced just to „work“) with such a group of exquisite individuals – Adnan, Helena, Ivana, Nedžad, Nenad, Sanja and Tamara. I feel sorry that I haven’t joined them before when I see how wide and deep their experiences are and all the effort they have invested in our society, but I’m convinced that I’ll manage to help them as much as I can. I also know that every day spent with them will be an invaluable experience for me.
And when we all get together one day, a few decades from now, on a tender night, in a quiet garden, and the remaining smokers light their cigarettes (in case it’s not extremely punishable) and feel, behind our backs, a thriving society that cherishes lasting and sustainable peace, I hope that we will recognize that we will have contributed to it to a certain amount as well. But, in case this never happens, we will still know that, at least, we will have tried.
Nenad Porobić
Filming in Macedonia
In the end of March and the beginning of April, we, a CNA crew, together with our associates filmed a new documentary in Macedonia. The documentary’s topic is the relations between peoples of different ethnic background, primarily those of Albanian and Macedonian origin.
We filmed twenty-two interviews altogether with the help and support of our closely knit network of associates who made the core of the team which engaged in creation and production of this documentary.
Aside from the fatigue we felt, our stay in Macedonia had its ups and downs – we felt fear, pain, desperation, joy, hope. Even though people in the Balkans are not welcomed to have feelings for a neighbouring country as if it were their own, I admit that I do feel that way about Macedonia – I feel it to be my natural space to which I belong, primarily because of the good and honest people who live there and happen to be my friends. I cannot but be ashamed of what I thought while I stayed there: “Thank God it’s not as bad back home (in Belgrade) as it is here”.
Hatred and fear reign in Macedonia and it seems to me that it’s the hardest for those who do not hate.
We spoke with people from both sides who had participated in the war. Despite all the resentment and pain, one could easily tell that there would be willingness to repeat what had happened in the past, if only the political elites presented people with a fait accompli. We saw the refugees who had been exiled from their homes for seven years and afraid of returning to their villages. We visited those villages where police presence was unwanted, and the walls we decorated with UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) graffiti and exclusively Albanian flags. When we asked the villagers why their neighbours hadn’t returned, they replied: “It’s their problem, they are free to return” or “If I were on welfare, with food and electricity bills paid by the state, I wouldn’t come back either”. The refugees live in horrendous conditions. We filmed only a part of that.
Not everything was gloomy, though. We met and talked to the people who recognized the evil of violence and hatred, who longed for peace and were willing to fight for it. However, their initiatives remain a drop in the bucket in the country where ethnical segregation was implemented diligently and the communication between two quarrelling ethnic communities (and others caught up in-between) was minimal.
People are afraid to talk openly. When asked how it was during the 2001 conflict, an illiterate villager from the outskirts of Prilep told us that everything had been “nice”. When we asked how it was in the village, she said that she wasn’t there at all. “Where were you, then?” – we asked. She replied that they were in the mountains, sleeping out in the open… Most of the villagers fled the village, scared of a lynching since the armed mob got organized at one point and took off to this remote Albanian community…
When the film is done you’ll be able to see how well we managed to portray the atmosphere and how we would like inspire people to think about all that through watching selected parts of the interviews. The huge credits for any success go to the people from Macedonia who helped us: Gorde, Margarita, Ana, Luan, Ali, Goran, Boro, Blerim, and all the others who gave their small contribution.
Nenad Vukosavljević
Many thanks to all of those who are supporting our work,
financially or through their engagement