used without permission, for "fair use" only

Our Existence is a Crime

by Dubravko Horvatic

Hrvatsko Slovo, Zagreb, Croatia, March 22 1996

What kind of evil have the Croats inflicted on Muslims (who in the Kallay manner are calling themselves Bosniaks, as if that regional name did not belong to the whole population of Bosnia, equally to Croats, Serbs, Jews and others), what kind of evil have they inflicted on Muslims when the Muslims, not only bar Croats from those territories which have been taken over from the Serbs, but are also expelling them from those areas from where neither Muslims nor Serbs had managed earlier to dislodge the Croatian population. A part of Croatian opposition "knew" as early as 1993 what was going on there and wrote about it in an "Open letter to the president of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tudman," which was initially published in the "European weekly edition" of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodenje. The letter was signed by six insignificant personalities, who think of themselves highly, so much so that they called on the president of the state, a man who had been elected by the majority of the people, to resign. Briefly, they claimed that the president "with his long term orientation towards the division of Bosnia-Hercegovina," enabled ," the tragic split of this thousands year old, multicultural and desirable state." Next, they accused "Hercegovina oligarchy," (which is according to the six authors of the letter "supervised" by Dr. Tudman) of "pushing us in a war against the Muslims." None of the six authors (and as far as I know, four of them were loyal sons of the [Communist] Party!) remembered at the time slimy statements by Alija Izetbegovic about the assistance he expected from the Yugoslav Peoples Army, after the experience from Vukovar and Ravno [place in Hercegovina where, according to the Croats "the Serb aggression on Bosnia-Hercegovina" begun], none of them remembered Izetbegovic's rejection of Croatian military assistance, nor his statements made in Turkey during Summer 1993, that Serbs and Croats were exterminating "the Bosniak nation"; above all, all those who accused Croats for the aggression against Muslims forgot about the "Islamic Declaration" by a former Serb Alija Izetbegovic and his group, from 1974; there, among other, one can find these words: "There can be no peace and coexistence between the Islamic faith and non-Islamic social and political institutions." In accordance with these words, Izetbegovic's regime attacked in 1993, in the operation "Tito", Croatian settlements in central Bosnia and carried out a genocide against Croats; today those same authorities print anti-Croat textbooks, publish historical forgeries in Ljiljan in addition to political programs according to which Sarajevo (were Croats were 35% of population in 1910) would become the European center for 15 million of European Muslims; further the Muslim authorities continue to harass Croats in every possible way; they even send out those international robbers, the Mojahedeen, to attack Croats. It is obvious what is the Croat crime: Croats live on their ancestral land and their very existence is a crime. Obviously, they are an obstacle to realization of an old dream of Izetbegovic and his [former wife] Melika Salihbegovic (today she calls herself Melika Salihbeg Bosnawi) who in the early 70's wrote to ayatollah Homeini that she couldn't wait for the formation of the state "which will spread from Teheran to Slavonski Brod [town on Croatian-Bosnian border]." Let us not forget those words, nor the "Islamic Declaration" because they are not only behind the persecution of Croats in Bosnia, but also behind the demands for a free trade zone in Ploce [Croatian port; before the war major conduit for transport of Bosnian goods; Bosnian government has been negotiating with Croatia in order to secure independent access to the port facilities].

Disinfection

by Maja Freundlich

Hrvatsko Slovo, Zagreb, Croatia, March 22, 1996

When a lie with its sharp teeth jumps you trying to get you by the throat, at first you are helpless. You are confused because you did not expect the lie. You couldn't have expected it nor anticipated that it would jump you. Because a lie is not based on anything real. In it, there are no facts from your life, or at least not in that ratio and shape. In a lie, there is nothing that can be related to you; therefore it is obvious that you cannot in advance predict what kind of fabrication, out of thousands which are not related to you, someone could throw at your neck. In order to cut your throat.

From the first day of the renewed Croatian life, lies have been spinning around our state. Serbs, who are the fiercest fighters against Croatia and its survival, are most frequently the source of those lies. Still, there are many other sources, and there are a lot of hungry dogs who spread bits and pieces of such a lie. Because of that, pollution is greater and wider, garbage is being spread, rotting on the road; as lies get more rotten they stink more; the older they are, the more false they become. Although the throwers of lies hope that the pile of thrown lies will eventually become as convincing as the truth, that can never happen. A lie cannot become the truth, but the people may become polluted by stench which had spread around them and may decide to move to another block in which garbage doesn't stink.

Let us at least try to count some of the lies which have been thrown on Croatia. First, that Croatia is essentially a fascist country and Croats a fascist people. Then, in accordance with that, that all symbols of Croatian history and statehood are also fascist. Third, that Croats killed in Jasenovac - how many millions of Serbs? Then, that even waving of a Croatian flag is a genocidal crime against Serbs. Fifth, that Tudman is a fascist and is rehabilitating fascism in Croatia. Sixth, that that is actually fascism, but at the same time also communism and an imitation of the Central Committee. Seventh, that Croatia with her waving of flags caused this war. Eight, that Croatia is a country of thieves, ruled by thieves, who had robbed the Croatian people. Ninth that Hercegovci have robbed other Croats, are uncivilized and have occupied Croatia. Therefore, we have to throw them out. Tenth, Croats hate and persecute Jews more than anyone else in the world. Eleventh, there isn't such a thing as Croatian history and culture. Twelfth, HDZ members are bolsheviks, they have taken money from the retirees; therefore, we have to get rid of the "party of dangerous intentions."

Could anyone list everything in so little space? Who could even try to list all the lies which would confirm the theses that I've just mentioned? Who could list the reasons because of which former UDBA [former Yugoslav secret service] agents founded more than 30 newspapers? That wave of new papers in Croatia reached such proportions that one day we will study it as a strategic phenomenon in the war against Croatia. KOS [former Yugoslav counter-intelligence service] or UDBA or MI5 or MI6 or BND, who knows who is involved in all that. Whoever was involved, they decided that Croatia should be attacked from inside, because newly independent countries do not have well formed protection mechanisms, which by the way, exist in all countries in the world. The plan was based on two ideas. On the continuous blackmail from the European Council based on the fabricated violations of human rights and press freedom in Croatia, and on the other hand, while Croatia's hands are tied with the blackmail, on the copious inflow of money and continuous launching of new publications.

All those publications are the same, their design is the same, even their primitive tastelessness is so identical that even from up close one can not guess which weekly is which. Garbage which is published in them, lies which make every honest man squirm, curses and vulgarities which disgust every normal man, huge titles in which lies pile up in identical sentences, in the same rhythm, they pour on you from newspaper kiosks with such force that you wish to run away from those tasteless and primitive howls and stop reading newspapers. Recently, I have been surprised when I found out the possible source of the "design" ideas for the journalistic garbage published in Croatia. Serb Telegraf looks exactly the same. Probably the "publishing house" behind them is also the same.

Putting aside graphic design, we should point out that the goal of tastelessness, although it is in the nature of those fat editors, was to draw attention. They wanted to be noticed, because the only real goal of those KOS "editors" was to spread lies for five years. Lie, another lie, then another and yet another. Then you blackmail someone and he, in order to get out of that, hands over the first state secret. And that other person, who is already your man, but infiltrated into the highest levels of Croatian government, will sell you another secret for a lot of money. Thus, through illegal means you obtain several true secrets and on them build a tower of lies.

At the beginning of the war, Serbs were boasting that they had their people everywhere in the Croatian society. If we observe newly composed papers , some thirty of them, we would have to agree with that statement. The strategy of those their people was very simple from the first day. They were in charge of mud slinging.

The duties of the fighters were determined in advance. It is well known who among them produces shit, who collects it, who adds stench to it, who shapes shit with his hands, and who finally throws the shit. The best shit throwers get a lot of praise, and besides that receive international protection. Because, the international institutions for protection of human rights mostly worry about the freedom for cursing and slandering, unfettered freedom for lies and mud slinging over the Croatian public life.

We are faced with an ecological threat. Even more serious: an ecological catastrophe. Around us, there is so much garbage and stench that we have to think about how we can clean our quarter, because we will not achieve anything by running away from it. Shit can be cleaned with water and lies disinfected by the truth.

translated on 7/1/96