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Novak Djokovic, the dangerous Serbian nationalist
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TT
Mar 26, 2012, 12:39:27 PM3/26/12
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Novak Djokovic, the dangerous Serbian nationalist.
In his latest, widely read online mailbag, Sports Illustrated senior
writer Jon Wertheim wrote, “Ask yourself: What's the worst thing you
could say about Djokovic in 2011? He once used a controversial egg
contraption? He faded in the fall? His parents stopped showing up
wearing those super cool T-shirts? Just a standout year in every sense.”
I have something worse to say than the trivial examples Wertheim uses to
build up his straw man. Djokovic is not a big-hearted patriot, but a
dangerous nationalist whose actions are governed by his family's narrow
personal interests. Here is my evidence:
In the interview he gave the German magazine, Spiegel Online, on Ocober
7, 2011, Djokovic said he did not regret the inflammatory remarks he
made about Kosovo in a Belgrade meeting which resulted in an attack on
German, Bosnian, Croatian , and American embassies (the latter of which
the Serbian crowd tried to set on fire). His claim is that "we are
seeking justice but cannot get it." Justice, according to Djokovic,
means not recognizing Kosovo as an independent country but forcing its
predominantly Albanian and Muslim population to continue to accept
Serbian rule because Djokovic's father is from there. Also because there
are Orthdox Christian monasteries in the northern part, which according
to Djokovic makes Kosova "the birthplace of Serbian culture”
(http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,790484-2,00.html ).
First of all, although the majority of Albanian people, like the Bosnian
people, converted to Islam under the five hundred year rule of the
Ottoman Empire (unlike the Serbs and other Slavic nations which remained
Orthodox Christian), the Albanian people together with the Greeks are
the only two native people of the Balkans. The Slavic people did not
immigrate into the Balkans until the seventh century A.D. When the
Balkan nations declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire in
the beginning of the twentieth century, Kosova was given to Serbia by
the European power players because of Serbia’s ethnic and religious ties
with Russia. Any claim that Kosovar Albanians are remnants of the
Ottoman occupation (as even one of my better educated Russian friends
thought before he decided to do his research on the matter) is
revisionist history. All one has to do is read any impartial history
book. Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Palgrave-Concise-Historical-Atlas-Balkans/dp/031223970X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Secondly, while Djokovic and the Spiegel reporter spend a lot of time
commiserating over how "scared" twelve year old Djokovic was during the
NATO bombing and the death of his tennis teacher's sister (who died when
a wall crumbled at what must have been a relatively advanced age), they
barely mention the reason for the NATO bombing. That reason has been
chronicled in various international reports. Here is only one of many
(with one of countless chilling pictures that prove it):
http://projects.jou.ufl.edu/ktrammell/project2/ethnicity/balkans1.htm .
During the Serbian massacres in Kosovo, more than 1.5 million people
were banished from their homes and forced to live in squalor like
animals. I remember one (American) television report in particular about
a woman who had lost her mental faculties after being forced to abandon
her children and leave them in harm’s way. In another, a grown man could
not speak and was embarrassed when he couldn’t stop from crying after
recalling what he had witnessed in his village. Over 3, 000 people, men,
women, and children, were killed in cold blood for being Albanian and
Muslim. The Serbian government neither acknowledged nor stopped its
active killings until the Serbian army was stopped by the NATO bombing
of Belgrade (which did not target civilians although a few civilians
became casualties). Djokovic was struggling to keep playing tennis.
Albanian Kosovars were struggling to keep their families alilve. The
Kosovo massacre was the culmination of years of ethnic and religious
discrimination. This is why the Albanian Kosovars refuse to accept
Serbian rule.
Even the bravest Serbian writers have not admitted to the atrocities
committed by Serbs in Kosova and have focused instead on the atrocities
committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/opinion/06Kandic.html To date, Serbia
has not apologized or acknowledged the ethnic cleansing of Albanian
Kosovars.
It is true that some Kosovo Liberation Army units and generals tried to
avenge the killings of Kosovar Albanians by killing innocent Serbian
civilians. They should and have been brought to trial in Hague. It is
also true that the Kosovo government has not acknowledged nor apologized
for the atrocities committed on Serbian civilians by Kosovo Liberation
Army forces. They should do both. However, Serbian war criminals
overwhelmingly outnumber Albanian Kosovar criminals and the number of
Albanian Kosovar victims is far, far greater than that of Serbian victims.
Djokovic is intentionally emphasizing only Serbian suffering while
refusing to acknowledge Serbian crimes. Furthermore, he is using his
super-star status to fan the flames of Serbian nationalism, the Serbian
hatred of Kosovar Albanians and Serbia’s claims over a land that has
historically been and is currently predominantly populated by Albanian
Kosovars. And he’s doing it in the name of his religion, taking
advantage of anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe. One chilling reminder of
that sentiment came in July of this year in Norway, when the Christian
fundamentalist Anders Breivik killed over seventy people related to the
ruling party for being too tolerant of Muslims. In his five thousand
page manifesto, Breivik specifically targeted Albanian Kosovars for
being Muslim
(http://m.theage.com.au/world/manifesto-reveals-killers-longheld-hatreds-20110725-1hw4j.html?page=1).
A patriot is someone who stands up for his or her country when it is
wronged. A nationalist is someone who stands up for his or country when
it wrongs others. One is noble, the other is vile.
Personally, although I am born and raised in Albania, I am not from
Kosovo and , like most Albanians from Albania I know, I think of the two
countries as separate people who have developed different cultures in
the past one hundred years. I think that Northern Kosovo should be ceded
to Serbia, not because Serbia has any historical or cultural claim to
it, but because it is currently populated mostly by Serbs who as an
ethnic minority may be discriminated against the same way Albanian
Kosovars were discriminated against by the Serbian government. Moreover,
my own father, Faik Shehi, was a political prisoner who was convicted
for praising the regime of Tito, the Yugoslav communist leader. He spent
some of his childhood in Kosovo before World War II and always insisting
on defending the Serbians he met there who were kind to him. Unlike
Djokovic, I have no personal investment in this matter.
Djokovic’s public persona is calculated to manipulate international
opinion in favor of Serbian claims to the whole region of Kosovo and he
has done a very good job at putting up a good, deceiving front. Serbian
nationalists are having a field day with his dominance on the tennis
courts. Unfortunately Kosovar Albanians have no internationally
prominent public figure to give voice to their stories. Just as
unfortunately, none of the many tennis writers who have spent a lot of
pixels and ink writing about the Serbian players training difficulties
has investigated Djokovic's political agenda and to what end he has used
his power in Serbia. But his dominance won’t last forever, and even if
it did, might does not make right. The majority of Kosovo is the
rightful territory of Albanian Kosovars, even if they are Muslims. They
survived ruthless Serbian oppression and persecution and they deserve to
live and worship freely in their own land.
http://monikashehi.blogspot.com/2011/12/novak-djokovic-dangerous-serbian.html
In his latest, widely read online mailbag, Sports Illustrated senior
writer Jon Wertheim wrote, “Ask yourself: What's the worst thing you
could say about Djokovic in 2011? He once used a controversial egg
contraption? He faded in the fall? His parents stopped showing up
wearing those super cool T-shirts? Just a standout year in every sense.”
I have something worse to say than the trivial examples Wertheim uses to
build up his straw man. Djokovic is not a big-hearted patriot, but a
dangerous nationalist whose actions are governed by his family's narrow
personal interests. Here is my evidence:
In the interview he gave the German magazine, Spiegel Online, on Ocober
7, 2011, Djokovic said he did not regret the inflammatory remarks he
made about Kosovo in a Belgrade meeting which resulted in an attack on
German, Bosnian, Croatian , and American embassies (the latter of which
the Serbian crowd tried to set on fire). His claim is that "we are
seeking justice but cannot get it." Justice, according to Djokovic,
means not recognizing Kosovo as an independent country but forcing its
predominantly Albanian and Muslim population to continue to accept
Serbian rule because Djokovic's father is from there. Also because there
are Orthdox Christian monasteries in the northern part, which according
to Djokovic makes Kosova "the birthplace of Serbian culture”
(http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,790484-2,00.html ).
First of all, although the majority of Albanian people, like the Bosnian
people, converted to Islam under the five hundred year rule of the
Ottoman Empire (unlike the Serbs and other Slavic nations which remained
Orthodox Christian), the Albanian people together with the Greeks are
the only two native people of the Balkans. The Slavic people did not
immigrate into the Balkans until the seventh century A.D. When the
Balkan nations declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire in
the beginning of the twentieth century, Kosova was given to Serbia by
the European power players because of Serbia’s ethnic and religious ties
with Russia. Any claim that Kosovar Albanians are remnants of the
Ottoman occupation (as even one of my better educated Russian friends
thought before he decided to do his research on the matter) is
revisionist history. All one has to do is read any impartial history
book. Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Palgrave-Concise-Historical-Atlas-Balkans/dp/031223970X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Secondly, while Djokovic and the Spiegel reporter spend a lot of time
commiserating over how "scared" twelve year old Djokovic was during the
NATO bombing and the death of his tennis teacher's sister (who died when
a wall crumbled at what must have been a relatively advanced age), they
barely mention the reason for the NATO bombing. That reason has been
chronicled in various international reports. Here is only one of many
(with one of countless chilling pictures that prove it):
http://projects.jou.ufl.edu/ktrammell/project2/ethnicity/balkans1.htm .
During the Serbian massacres in Kosovo, more than 1.5 million people
were banished from their homes and forced to live in squalor like
animals. I remember one (American) television report in particular about
a woman who had lost her mental faculties after being forced to abandon
her children and leave them in harm’s way. In another, a grown man could
not speak and was embarrassed when he couldn’t stop from crying after
recalling what he had witnessed in his village. Over 3, 000 people, men,
women, and children, were killed in cold blood for being Albanian and
Muslim. The Serbian government neither acknowledged nor stopped its
active killings until the Serbian army was stopped by the NATO bombing
of Belgrade (which did not target civilians although a few civilians
became casualties). Djokovic was struggling to keep playing tennis.
Albanian Kosovars were struggling to keep their families alilve. The
Kosovo massacre was the culmination of years of ethnic and religious
discrimination. This is why the Albanian Kosovars refuse to accept
Serbian rule.
Even the bravest Serbian writers have not admitted to the atrocities
committed by Serbs in Kosova and have focused instead on the atrocities
committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/opinion/06Kandic.html To date, Serbia
has not apologized or acknowledged the ethnic cleansing of Albanian
Kosovars.
It is true that some Kosovo Liberation Army units and generals tried to
avenge the killings of Kosovar Albanians by killing innocent Serbian
civilians. They should and have been brought to trial in Hague. It is
also true that the Kosovo government has not acknowledged nor apologized
for the atrocities committed on Serbian civilians by Kosovo Liberation
Army forces. They should do both. However, Serbian war criminals
overwhelmingly outnumber Albanian Kosovar criminals and the number of
Albanian Kosovar victims is far, far greater than that of Serbian victims.
Djokovic is intentionally emphasizing only Serbian suffering while
refusing to acknowledge Serbian crimes. Furthermore, he is using his
super-star status to fan the flames of Serbian nationalism, the Serbian
hatred of Kosovar Albanians and Serbia’s claims over a land that has
historically been and is currently predominantly populated by Albanian
Kosovars. And he’s doing it in the name of his religion, taking
advantage of anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe. One chilling reminder of
that sentiment came in July of this year in Norway, when the Christian
fundamentalist Anders Breivik killed over seventy people related to the
ruling party for being too tolerant of Muslims. In his five thousand
page manifesto, Breivik specifically targeted Albanian Kosovars for
being Muslim
(http://m.theage.com.au/world/manifesto-reveals-killers-longheld-hatreds-20110725-1hw4j.html?page=1).
A patriot is someone who stands up for his or her country when it is
wronged. A nationalist is someone who stands up for his or country when
it wrongs others. One is noble, the other is vile.
Personally, although I am born and raised in Albania, I am not from
Kosovo and , like most Albanians from Albania I know, I think of the two
countries as separate people who have developed different cultures in
the past one hundred years. I think that Northern Kosovo should be ceded
to Serbia, not because Serbia has any historical or cultural claim to
it, but because it is currently populated mostly by Serbs who as an
ethnic minority may be discriminated against the same way Albanian
Kosovars were discriminated against by the Serbian government. Moreover,
my own father, Faik Shehi, was a political prisoner who was convicted
for praising the regime of Tito, the Yugoslav communist leader. He spent
some of his childhood in Kosovo before World War II and always insisting
on defending the Serbians he met there who were kind to him. Unlike
Djokovic, I have no personal investment in this matter.
Djokovic’s public persona is calculated to manipulate international
opinion in favor of Serbian claims to the whole region of Kosovo and he
has done a very good job at putting up a good, deceiving front. Serbian
nationalists are having a field day with his dominance on the tennis
courts. Unfortunately Kosovar Albanians have no internationally
prominent public figure to give voice to their stories. Just as
unfortunately, none of the many tennis writers who have spent a lot of
pixels and ink writing about the Serbian players training difficulties
has investigated Djokovic's political agenda and to what end he has used
his power in Serbia. But his dominance won’t last forever, and even if
it did, might does not make right. The majority of Kosovo is the
rightful territory of Albanian Kosovars, even if they are Muslims. They
survived ruthless Serbian oppression and persecution and they deserve to
live and worship freely in their own land.
http://monikashehi.blogspot.com/2011/12/novak-djokovic-dangerous-serbian.html
MuzzasaurusreX - 0 slams and counting.
Mar 26, 2012, 1:44:37 PM3/26/12
to
Yes he's such a serbian nationalist that his parents were seriously
considering switching allegiences to GB in 2006/2007
TT
Mar 26, 2012, 1:54:45 PM3/26/12
to
nationalist and live in Monaco. for example...
Iceberg
Mar 26, 2012, 3:28:59 PM3/26/12
to
play Davis Cup for Great Britain. If he'd done that, him and Murray
would've won it instead of Serbia and perhaps Novak's 2011 would've
happened sooner!
felangey
Mar 26, 2012, 3:34:10 PM3/26/12
to
>the funny thing is he was talking about switching nationalities to
play Davis Cup for Great Britain.
I am still hoping we can get Raonic on the Rusedski Exchange Program! ;)
play Davis Cup for Great Britain.
Iceberg
Mar 26, 2012, 3:52:52 PM3/26/12
to
On Mar 26, 5:39 pm, TT <as...@usenet.org> wrote:
problem is, NATO and the Western gots, Clinton etc seem absolutely
fine with the Muslims and KLA ethnically cleansing Kosovo of
Christians and Serbian nationals, if you're either of that ethnic
group you're not allowed in Kosovo else you're dead. That's absolutely
fine, just like it's fine for Mugabe to engage is far worse crimes
upon his people and still they do absolutely nothing to him. Kosovo
pretty much a no-go zone for everyone now, all thanks to Clinton and
his heroic bombing.
Tony Wailey
Jan 29, 2022, 7:24:29 AM1/29/22
to
Ivan Horvat
Sep 3, 2023, 2:51:50 PM9/3/23
to
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