This Man's Land

A profile of director Danis Tanovic and his new political party, "Our Party."

Excerpts:

“For me, the international community is nonsense; it’s something that doesn’t really exist. What do exist are French, English, American interests …,” he said at a recent meeting of Our Party. Bosnia’s government has been under international supervision since the Dayton accords ended the war in 1995. “I can't see why would they do a single thing contrary to their interests – everybody works in their own best interest. So that's why we need to start working in our own interest, for our country. I don't think anybody in Bosnia has the right to just wait for things to get better.”

If we want to create a better future for ourselves, we have to stop dealing with the same old issues that aren’t the real issues that must be dealt with,” he said. Chief among them, the ethnic divisions that retard the country’s progress. “I always liked diversity. I'm glad to be from a country full of diversity and I have to admit that countries without it are quite boring.”

Marjanovic said the party would focus on social justice. “The situation in Bosnia is such that we’ve taken the worst of capitalism and find it in such a way that it’s exploitation. So we’re going to keep talking about the fact that there are so many unemployed people in this country, that people’s vital interest … is to be able to work in proper conditions and have a good and dignified life that you support with the fruits of that labor -- a proper salary. Your vital national interest is to have a proper health care system, to be able to send your kids to good schools in this country, to buy them books, to feed and clothe them, and to secure them a future. We’re talking about your everyday problems and we’re able to identify at that level with the public in this country.

Kanun

An in depth article from the NYT on the devestating effects of blood feuds on families in Albania.

As Noel Malcolm explains in his study on Kosovo, the Kanun provided an extensive basis of law and social customs that cover a wide and diverse range of issues (beyond just crime and punishment) during an unpredictable and lawless era:

The importance of the Kanun to the ordinary life of the Albanians of Kosovo and the Malesi can hardly be exaggerated. `Whenever in the mountains I asked why anything was done,' wrote Edith Durham in the 1920s, `I was told, "Because Lek ordered it." ... "Lek said so" obtained more obedience than the Ten Commandments, and the teaching of the hodjas [Muslim clerics] and the priests was often vain if it ran counter to that of Lek.' Anyone who has read Ismail Kadare's novel Broken April will associate the Kanun above all with the archaic and terrible laws of the blood-feud; and some news reports on the revival of the blood-feud in post-Communist Albania have given the impression that the Kanun, which is now being implemented again in the Malesi, is nothing more than a system of vendettas. But the Kanun covered most aspects of human life (there are sections, for example, on the duties of blacksmiths and millers); it specified the system of assemblies, judges and juries; and it laid down punishments for a range of criminal offences (fines for minor ones, and execution, plus the burning down of the offender's house and the expulsion of his family, for serious crimes).

One leading scholar has summed up the basic principles of the Kanun as follows. The foundation of it all is the principle of personal honour. Next comes the equality of persons. From these flows a third principle, the freedom of each to act in accordance with his own honour, within the limits of the law, without being subject to another's command. And the fourth principle is the word of honour, the bese (def.: besa), which creates a situation of inviolable trust. Gjecov's version of the Kanun decrees: `An offence to honour is not paid for with property, but by the spilling of blood or a magnanimous pardon.' And it specifies the ways of dishonouring a man, of which the most important are calling him a liar in front of other men; insulting his wife; taking his weapons; or violating his hospitality. The reference to hospitality here is important: entering a man's house as his guest creates, like the word of honour, an inviolable bond between the two, and there are stories of Albanians sacrificing their lives to protect a perfect stranger who had taken shelter with them for one night. The reference to weapons should also be noted: the history of Kosovo and northern Albania is punctuated by a series of revolts caused by ill-starred official attempts to disarm the population. In the words of one English traveller of the 1880s: `The pride of a farmer in his livestock, or of a collector in his specimens, is nothing to the pride of an Albanian in his weapons. They are ... the guardians of his hearth, the object of his admiration, and his perpetual glory.'

In the wake of the mammoth political, social and economic changes over the last 2 decades, some isolated areas of northern Albania have experienced a "return" of the blood feud so to speak. According to the National Reconciliation Committee, an Albanian organization dedicated to ending the practice, approximately 20,000 people have been trapped in cycle of the blood feuds since in early 1990s. Thanks to the work of the counselors, the practice has been declining dramatically over the last year; but the new blood feuds, instead of just targeting the direct perpetrator, targets his family members as well-something not sanctioned by the Kanun.

One of the more interesting side effects of the blood feuds is the reversing of traditional gender roles. Since women are supposed to be excluded from the blood feuds, they are the ones who become the family breadwinners, while their husbands and sons are trapped in their homes.


The issue of the Kanun is not black or white; it offered a system of basic law and social mores during an unpredictable and violent time. But, at the same time, as the NYT article points out, the practice of blood feuds today only creates more and more victims.

EXIT Festival

This weekend marks the famed EXIT festival in Novi Sad. Last year the festival attracted a record number of fans from all over Europe; and was named the best festival in Europe.
But while the festival grows each year in popularity; politics is never far removed from the surface.
The festival began in 2000 as an anti-Milosevic regime music fest; this year controversy was raised over allegations that the EXIT fest founders cancelled Bjork's show due to the singer's support for Kosovo's independence.

Srebrenica

Articles commermorating the 13th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica.
While thousands of family members marked the anniverary at Potocari, for the first time Serbian peace activist joined the "Peace March" commemorating Srebrenica.
And for those connected to Srebrenica, the pain still lingers, both for family members and for investigators trying to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Besides the enormity and cruelity of the massacres themselves, much of the international attention on Srebrenica is because the town was a U.N. safe area; and because of the debate over the role the international community (be it in the form of the UN, NATO, or the Security Council states) played or should have played; it is an issue that still reverberates today in places like Darfur.

Berat, Albania

The old town in Berat has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Photos

(Hat Tip: Inside Albania)

Srebrenica

A Dutch court rules that the U.N. has immunity from a lawsuit filed on behalf of the "Mothers of Srebrenica."

Meanwhile, 307 victims will be buried during the 13th anniversary memorial.

Games & Elections-Not Necessarily in that Order

Serbia has a new government, which you can read about here and here.
And if you ever wanted the opportunity to help create the next government of Serbia, here is your chance. (Hat Tip: Eric)
I haven't played the online game yet, but just the concept of it seems more entertaining than the Election version of Stratego they're selling at the Barnes & Noble.

New Look! (And Goodies)

Eh, not really, as I think I had this layout before at one time. I really should dust off one of my html/web design books that I bought a few years ago, study up and create my own layout-but in the meantime, blogger templates work just fine.
Although I do wish that their template program would allow more flexibility when it comes to creating layout; sort of like a Frontpage editor for blogger.

I also added some more links to the blogroll. Perceptive readers will notice that I changed the title from "Balkan Blogroll" to simply "Blogroll" as now I'm linking to blogs from Central Europe to Central Asia.

Also, the description changed as well. Bosnia, will still be the main focus of the blog, but I'm probably also going to write more about other countries in the region, and beyond.

Anyways, now for the extras: Balkan newsfeed from Google (which is apparently making us all stupid .

And now for the goodies: links to, what are in my opinion, 5 of the greatest songs of all time. My music taste is eclectic and runs the gamut from mainstream top 40, punk-pop, rap, classical, praise, classic rock, alternative, showtunes, Motown... hopefully, you get the point right now.
Anyways, whether I'm listening to Rachmaninoff, Hole, or the Black Eyed Peas; these 5 songs are always near the top of my list of favorites.
They should all be the full song-except for Bonnie Bramlett's cover version of "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" because I wasn't able to find a complete version on youtube.

Stari Most Bridge Remains on UNESCO List

Mostar's "Old Bridge" will remain on UNESCO's World Heritage list, on the condition of the remodeling of a local hotel.



Background information on the bridge,its destruction before & after photos and the and the reconstruction project.

IWPR

July 4th, 2008 issue of IWPR.

IWPR

IWPR weekly report (from last week)

McMafia

The information is not new, but journalist Misha Glenny discusses the role the mafia played in the Balkan Wars.

And a related article published last year from T.O.L.