Kosovo, an international protectorate administered by the United Nations, is part of Serbia and Montenegro, but the legal authority of the region is the U.N. Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The province is considered one of the jewels of Christian heritage, having served as the "Vatican" of Serbian Christian Orthodoxy from the 12th century onward.

Serbs, who are predominantly Orthodox Christians, constitute a minority, as do Turks, Roma (gypsies) and Muslim Slavs. Eighty-eight percent of Kosovo's population is made up of Muslim Albanians.

The attacks and ongoing persecution are seen by some as the purposeful targeting of the very symbols of Christian European civilization.

Between 1999 and 2004 approximately 150 churches, monasteries, seminaries, and bishop residences were attacked by ethnic Albanian mobs. Many of the churches contained priceless Byzantine frescoes and other religious artifacts dating as far back as the 13th century. Many of the sites were reduced to rubble.

In a Capitol Hill press conference Aug. 11, former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Patrick Melady called for a heightened international presence in Kosovo and the continuation of that presence for another 12 years. Melady, former ambassador to the Vatican, Uganda and Burundi, is senior diplomat in residence at the Institute of World Politics. The Capitol Hill briefing was sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.

Melady cautioned politicians against rushing into decisions regarding Kosovo's status. Final status talks are expected this fall with Albania pushing for an independent Kosovo.

"Undersecretary of State [R. Nicholas] Burns was recently in Kosovo and he is drafting a policy paper for [President Bush]," said Melady. "Sometime between now and November, we'll hear the decision" on how the Bush administration will handle the independence movement in Kosovo.

Those attending the Aug. 11 press conference, and a follow-up congressional briefing on Aug. 12, expressed disappointment over the lack of media coverage of the church destruction. "I've been quite disappointed," Melady told Cybercast News Service, "It wasn't a major headline story."

He compared the destruction to Kristallnacht, or "the Night of Broken Glass" -- the Nazi-sponsored violent persecution against German Jews launched on Nov. 9, 1938. Gangs of Nazi youth fanned out into Jewish neighborhoods vandalizing and burning Jewish property and businesses, including 101 synagogues.

The official Nazi government response at the time was that such outbreaks were spontaneous, not organized. In the Kosovo situation, analysts are also expressing doubt over a similar line touted by the government.

Referring to the destruction of 34 churches in March of last year Melady said, "Thanks to a few amateur films that were made when the protests broke out, we can see how things unfolded. At all the scenes someone would climb to the top and tear down the cross, then stomp on it. Then they would set fire to the church."

During the Aug. 12 congressional staff briefing, Melady's research assistant, Ivan Djurovski, showed footage of the destruction of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Podujevo.

The 17-minute video obtained by Cybercast News Service shows crowds of men ranging in age from about 15 to 50, calmly and methodically fanning out around the church after marching through town. After setting the church on fire, one of the vandals enters the bell tower to ring the church bell, which draws cheers from the crowd. Men scale the roof of the church to tear down three crosses, resulting in more cheers. Cybercast News Service edited the 17 minute video down to approximately two-and-a-half minutes.

The video also shows the presence of a Kosovo Force tank and soldiers. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international contingent responsible for establishing and maintaining security in the province. French and German forces later said their mandate was to protect lives, not property. However, according to Djurovski, "Italian and American KFOR soldiers risked their lives to not only save people at monasteries, but to also protect the sites.

"In these villages the church is the physical and spiritual center of the town," said Djurovski. "This is the center of hope for the people. This is where they go to learn about their faith. Where can they go now?"

Melady, who recently visited the area, said that sisters and monks at the historic monastery in Pec could not go outdoors to fetch water without military escort, for fear of being shot by snipers.

Some 200,000 Serbs have fled from Kosovo and those remaining are encircled in military-ringed enclaves. "It's not a normal life. There's no freedom of movement due to fear," said Melady. Djurovski added that many are not able to obtain needed medicine and there are no high schools or universities in the enclaves, resulting in a "brain drain." Those who have assets have sold them and fled, while most of the poor remain.

More than 18,000 legal complaints have accused Albanians with confiscating church and private property and building on the property, according to Djurovski. Whether church property remains as such or is handed over to the government remains a serious concern, he added.

Melody R. Divine - judiciary counsel and foreign policy advisor to Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz), who attended the briefing - said, "Albanians have also overtaken entire areas where Roma lived.

"Congressional interest and involvement will be key in ensuring that the international community places a high premium on the protection and integration of the minority communities within Kosovo and the preservation of the remaining cultural sites, "Divine said.

Defense analyst Frederick Peterson said the media around the globe are ignoring the issue of Saudi Arabian and other sources flooding the economically depressed region with money to pay for new mosques as the churches are being destroyed.

"With money comes influence," Peterson told Cybercast News Service. "They are building a substantial ideological and brick and mortar infrastructure there." Peterson is a defense and counter-terrorism analyst with the Institute for Security Studies at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He also serves as military policy advisor to Joseph K. Grieboski, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.

Peterson and Djurovski both said many of the new mosques funded by Saudi and Iranian funds are currently empty, but reflect plans to indoctrinate residents with the radical Wahhabist form of Islam. The new mosques carry plaques acknowledging funding from Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, said Grieboski.

"This is a very grave threat," said Peterson. "With final status changing from Serbian Orthodox hegemony into at very best a gray line, the dividing line between the Christian and Islamic world moves closer to the European Union, and we're at great risk of tolerating what should not be tolerated in order to buy some peace in our time."

In the war against an expanding radical Islam, Peterson said, "We have three choices: convert, submit or die. But there's a fourth choice and that's to fight.

Since our choices are converting to Islam, submitting to Islam, or dying, I'll take the fourth choice - but it takes all of us to do so successfully! And one of our first steps is to demand that the UN stop the Islamist's persecution of Christians in Kosovo.

Remember the fourth choice for non-Muslims and Muslims not wanting to live under radical Islam, it's worth repeating: Stop the appeasement of radical Muslims (which is a greater number of Muslims than you'd like to believe) - now, forget about political correctness, fight the agenda of radical Islam at every corner of the earth, and turn back the tide of insanity and inhumanity!

Technorati Tag: Kosovo, Christians, Islam, Christian Persecution, United Nations,

I am Neshad Asllani, HR activist from Kosovo

Comment on the article: Persecution of Kosovo Christians Said to Reveal Larger Threat

Religion and the war
Can religion prevent the war or it causes the war. Can the church, synagogue or mosque be a reason for war or they are sacred places. How history and religion are taught is very important and how they are going to be taught is the task for all priests, educators, politicians, journalists and policy makers.
Before the war in Kosovo my understanding was that religions exist to prevent the war and heal the wounds and reconcile if the wars occurs. The Orthodox Church from the XII century exists in Peja (Pec in Serbian), and through history it was always protected from Albanians. Many stories are told that Albanians during centuries protected the Orthodox Church because it is sacred place and Kosovo cultural heritage. There are Albanians honored from the church and became Vojvoda (Serbian Orthodox honored title), because they have protected the church during the wars. It is unknown that the church was attacked from Albanians during centuries. The church was visited from the majority Albanian population during the years and Orthodox Religious Feast and shown always to the foreigners and tourists as an important cultural heritage site of Kosovo. We have grown up with the feeling that the church is important and it will protect us too. After the war, I came back to my hometown Peja in June 1999. It was like a ghost city. Almost everything was burned, destroyed and killed. Nothing was functioning. We couldn’t find the place to drink water and if we did we were not sure it is not poisoned. During the war Serbs burned more than 11.000, all mosques burned and destroyed and killed about 600 civilians, elderly people, women and children, many of them unburied, wells poisoned, no food and reasonable fear from the land mines. I thought nobody is alive. We heard stories that there are about 1.000 Albanians out of 120.000 hiding in their basements or else were. Mixed feelings, unanswered questions, emotions and consequences of war remain long time after the war and carried on through generations. Very often and important question was: Why Serbs did all these atrocities and burnings and how did the church permit this. Another question was “How to start a new life”?
I read your article and saw the film you presented and I was thinking and experiencing it in the different way (out of your box). Your article seems to be good but the address is wrong. For your information Albanians didn’t start the war in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia.

Albanians, Serbs and the religion
There are many cases that Serbs civilians protected and gave shelter and food to Albanians during the war. There are many cases that Albanians protect and gave shelter and food to Serbs after the war. Unfortunately Orthodox Church and orthodox priests didn’t protect or provide shelter or food to any Albanian during the war. Furthermore the Serb Patriarch was very supportive for the Milosevic regime. It means they were supporting the Serb politicians and the genocide in Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia and also against democratic Serbs forces in Serbia. Religions in general and Orthodox and Catholic Church, Muslim Mosque, and Jewish Synagogue are sacred places and very important for Albanians. During the history two Popes are of the Illyrian/Albanian origin. Mother Theresa, Noble Peace Prize recipient, if you heard of here is from Kosovo and of Albanian origin too.

Forgive and Forget
Tragedies and genocide are repeated and they are always justifiable from perpetrators and forgiven from politicians and future generations. Second World War, war in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and many other wars, had cause death of millions and we do always hope they will not be repeated. We forgive even we are not authorized to forgive. Who has the authority to forgive the death of innocent civilians from WWII, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Rwanda and many other countries? Nobody! To forgive is good but it is personal, nobody can forgive the death of the victims of war. It is not fair, it is not good, and there is no compassion. We can teach young generations about the consequences of war and ask them not to forget in order not to repeat the war. It's very easy to ask forgiveness and to forgive but it is much better to teach your children about the genocide and crimes you have done in my country, if the Serbs will do this than I believe there will be no more wars in the Balkans.

Valuable Message:

Mahatma Gandhi
“Make injustice visible” and

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

The role of media is very important therefore I suggest you to have more professional and human approach, and of course more independent reporting, in the interest of responsible journalism.

The Serbs were wrong, and the Patriarch was wrong for not standing up against the Milosevic regime, although I doubt that was the case, and believe, but do not know, that his error was by omission rather than purpose. What the Muslims are now doing is even more wrong - it is open hatred and violence against a people and a religion, having recent knowledge of the horrors and wrongs that such violence causes. Are you saying that what the Muslims are doing is made right by the wrongs of the Serbs?