Civil Resistance in Kosovo
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Civil Resistance in Kosovo Howard Clark Pluto P Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA First published 2000 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Howard Clark 2000 The right of Howard Clark to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Clark, Howard. Civil resistance in Kosovo / Howard Clark. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7453–1574–7 1. Kosovo (Serbia)—History—1980– 2. Albanians—Yugoslavia—Kosovo (Serbia)—History. 3. Passive resistance—Yugoslavia—Kosovo (Serbia) 4. Kosovo (Serbia)—History—Civil War, 1998– I. Title. DR2086 .C58 2000 949.71—dc21 00–008501 ISBN 0 7453 1574 7 hardback ISBN 0 7453 1569 0 paperback 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Production Services Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton Printed in the European Union by TJ International, Padstow To those who work for peaceful co-existence in Kosovo ‘If I were free, I would have much work, I would help those that are suffering more now. Now it is not Albanians that are suffering the most, now it is others, and I would work with all my strength in order to help them. ... I would do anything so that the Serbian community and the Albanians reconcile.’ From the final statement of Flora Brovina, Kosovo Albanian doctor and founder of the League of Albanian Women, to the court in Nisˇ on 9 December 1999. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Contents Acknowledgements x Maps xii Acronyms and Abbreviations xiv Brief Chronology xv Background on Kosovo xix Introduction 1 1 When a dam breaks 7 The demographic battlefield: 1912–66 8 After the fall of Rankovic´12 The rising swell of nationalism 15 Milosˇevic´ mobilises 18 Lazar’s curse: ‘Whoever does not fight at Kosovo’ 20 2 The Albanians in Kosovo 24 The Ottoman Empire 24 The First World War and the First Yugoslavia 26 The Second World War 29 A resistant culture 31 Tito’s Yugoslavia 37 Everything but a republic 39 1981 and afterwards 41 An afterword on Communism in Kosovo 45 3 The turn to nonviolence 46 Miners defend autonomy 46 The Party crumbles 52 Organisation and pluralism 54 The Campaign to Reconcile Blood Feuds 60 Military realism 64 Nonviolence in Kosovo Albanian identity 66 4 Two sovereignties 70 A Serbian recipe for Albanian ‘separatism’ 71 Wholesale dismissals 74 viii Civil Resistance in Kosovo Police and paramilitary 77 The contest for legitimacy 80 The electoral boycott 84 International support 89 Independence: a ‘maximalist’ goal? 92 5 Parallel structures 95 Schools in struggle 96 Open but illegal 99 The University of Prishtina 100 Funding education 102 The lesson taught 104 Medical care 106 The media 108 Arts and sport 111 Economic survival 112 Politics ‘as if’ 115 A state-in-embryo 117 6Pointers for an alternative strategy 122 The Dayton effect 122 A framework for ‘active nonviolence’ 128 A strategy of empowerment 131 Altering Serbian will 138 Empowerment: women 145 Empowerment: youth 149 The student movement of 1997–98 151 7 When the world takes notice 158 Principles and interests 158 In the absence of a peace process 163 International solidarity takes time 168 International support for peacebuilding 169 The crisis erupts 172 OSCE – too little, too late 178 NATO bombs for credibility 181 8 Reflections on civil resistance 186 The balance sheet on civil resistance: the Kosovo perspective 186 The balance sheet on civil resistance: the international Contents ix debate 189 Victim behaviour and nonviolence 193 Leader syndromes 198 Goals and transitions 203 Civil resistance and conflict resolution 206 Early warning, civil resistance and small nations 210 Appendix I: Tables 215 Appendix II: Notes on Terms, Pronunciation and Glossary 217 Appendix III: Leading Characters 220 Notes and References 223 Select Bibliography 258 Index 262 MAPS 1. Regional map xii 2. Kosovo xiii Acknowledgements There are some people who do not wish to be thanked by name for the help they have given me in bringing this book to publication, both in Kosovo and in Madrid. Almost every chapter in the book shows my debt to the writings of Shkëlzen Maliqi, who I have managed to visit on most of my trips to Kosovo. I would also like to thank Afërdita Saraçini-Kelmendi, her family and colleagues in the Women’s Media Project/Radio 21; Albin Kurti and others in the Students’ Union, UPSUP, especially the woman on whose organising they all relied (she and they know who I mean); Burim, Jetish, Vallon and their generation of LDK Youth; Fadil Bajraj and Ylber Hysa were also repeated points of reference; and in the diaspora Isa Zymberi and colleagues at the London Kosova Information Centre. From other parts of former Yugoslavia, I should acknowledge the encouragement I received to get involved with Kosovo from friends in Ljubljana, especially Marko Hren, and in Belgrade, especially Vuk Stambolovic´ and Stasˇa Zajovic´, plus the continued help and encour- agement of others in Women in Black in Belgrade, especially Indira Kajosˇevic´ who accompanied the Balkan Peace Team’s April 1994 exploratory visit to Kosovo. This book has grown out of political work that began when I was Coordinator of War Resisters’ International and which I have subsequently carried on through the Balkan Peace Team. I have greatly benefitted from my involvement with both these bodies. I should thank my friends throughout the WRI network for the oppor- tunities they gave me. The Balkan Peace Team has a policy of ‘non-partisanship’ and in no way can be associated with the opinions I express in this book. Nevertheless, as a member of its Coordinating Committee and through my frequent contact with volunteers, I am grateful for many insights. I would like to thank Ken Simons for the maps and the following individuals for other types of help: Alberto L’Abate, Denisa Kostovicˇová, Martyn Lowe, Mary Motes, Bob Overy, Michael Randle, Mark Salter, Antonia Young and especially Andrew Rigby. This book would not have been possible without a grant from the Albert Einstein Institution (Cambridge, Mass) to research nonviolent x Acknowledgements xi struggle in Kosovo. This institution is devoted to the development of strategic nonviolence, and I specifically thank Bruce Jenkins, Ron McCarthy and Gene Sharp for their support. Two other groups have provided useful opportunities for discussion: the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (London) and the Nonviolent Action Research Project (Bradford). Finally, I must thank everyone at Pluto Press for their under- standing about the difficulties of writing a book about an episode of nonviolent struggle in a situation that has turned into war. xii Civil Resistance in Kosovo 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012Approximate scale (km) 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123HUNGARY 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 0 50 150 200 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212312345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 CROATIA 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 Zagreb 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012ROMANIA 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 VOJVODINA12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 Novi12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 Sad 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012