On the 4th of July (ironically), Julia Gorin, as a part of a lengthy (to say nothing of long-winded) attempt at defending the opportunistic Draza Mihailovic, published in her "GLOB" some correspondence she had received from Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, a US airman rescued by his men and returned to the Allies, and who for the past 60 years or so has been trying to "clear" Mihailovic's name. I don't know if Mr. Jibilian's opinion has changed in the past 8 years (unlike some, this blog does not go around quoting 8 year old articles as if they are current, and none of the facts in them have changed in the intervening years due to more complete knowledge than was available at the time), but at least this is how he felt in 1999 about whether "good deeds" done in the past give one a pass to do evil ones in the present:
"I love the Serbs," said Jibilian, 75, a retired industrial safety director. "I owe them my life. Five hundred American airmen owe them their lives. The bombing of Serbs -- I find that very hard to accept." "But right is right and wrong is wrong. And as much as I love the Serbs," Jibilian said, "what they're doing now," in driving Albanians from their homes, "is wrong."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune, 25 April 1999 (Sunday)
Mr. Jibilian (at least as of April 1999) had it right.
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Good afternoon Peshkatari,
Tell me, what do you make of these words?
"Even so, we can only confess our confusion and impotence, our anger and our opinions, with words. With words we name our losses and our resistance because we have no other recourse, because men are invariably open to the word, and because, little by little, it is they which mold our judgment. Our judgment, often feared by those who hold power, is molded slowly, like the source of a river, through the current of words. But words only produce currents when they are profoundly credible."
...that is one of my favorite novelists, John Berger, articulating (indirectly)about c-r-e-d-i-b-i-l-i-t-y; something if I may say, the Serb argument is lacking. I traveled along Southern Serbia (an economic disaster btw) last year and let me tell you, the feeling of unease amongst the residents there is more present than ever, especially in comparison in any other region in Kosovo. A time will come though when this feeling of unease will be crushed, not by Albanians but by the Serbians themselves. The conformity prescribed to Serbian citizens by their "elite" is a faulty one, with cracks all over. It is simply in their best interest to raise their voice and holler out this tittle in their own mother tounge, Pravda je pravda, a nepravda je nepravda!
Unfortunately, there are many of those amidst the Serbian "think tanks" whom wish to use their power so things stay the same as they are; status quo ante bellum! as it is said in Latin. These are the individuals (*hint) hunting every suffering Serbian. These are the very people who are opposed to change; those who veil themselves and seek a change for uncommon interests, political ambitions or personal gain; those who with their propagandistic acclaims wish to see a war erupt once more. It is clear today - to those with eyes - who the enemies of the Serbs really are...surely it is NOT the Albanian s. From what I see, they're (Albanians) are ready to move on, but the question is are you?
p.s. Keep up the good work, long live the visual era!
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