Radomir Baturan
How the journalist and the owner of pizzeria research the conflict in southern part of Serbia by the name of Kosovo & Metohia

By reading the text “In spare moments…” published in the Toronto Star (date) by Sandro Contenta, where he introduces the newest novel “Thin Line” by Perparim Kapllani, we noticed two plausible observations: one being that the owner of pizzeria uses the second computer screen to write a novel in rare spare moments; and the other that “Canada is a mini world”. “When everybody comes from somewhere else, diversity becomes the culture, not ethnic or religious nationalism.”

However, one feels that there is tendency to put the blame on Serbian Army and Police, who for centuries, since the acceptance of Christianity, had to defend the southern region or the heart of their country, by the name of Kosovo and Metohija. The journalist Contenta, goes further repeating the words of Mr. Kapllani, to blame even Serbian children, also from the immigrants’ family, (who knows which force displaced them) the best friends of his son, to wear a tee shirt with the inscription “Proud to be Serbian”. (Would “proud to be Irish” or “proud to be Jamaican” be acceptable, I ask. Maybe, but “proud to be Serbian” that’s absolutely unacceptable it seems. Even though “diversity is a culture” in Canada, we learn.)

Part of the title of the article says “His latest explores the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo”. In the article there is no evidence of “explores”, neither of Mr.Kapllani nor of Mr. Contenta. Mr Contenta is content that Mr. Kapllani’s focus is on alleged massacre of 20 women and children by the Serbian armed forces in one of the Albanian houses in the southern region of Serbia in April of 1999. Neither one of them mentions that exactly at that time 19 NATO countries bomb Serbia day and night continuously for more than 3 months. Many thousands civilians are killed including small children. They also omit to mention ruining the whole parts of the cities, bridges, factories, TV and radio stations, churches, hospitals, schools, trains and buses in which thousands of civilians are killed together with children.

At the same time there is a terrorist – separatists movement of Albanians in the southern region of Serbia (Kosovo and Metohija) where over 300 Serbian young men, is kidnapped and their inner organs are removed in legitimate Albanian hospitals in Kosovo and illegal ones in Albania, while they are still alive and often without any anesthesia. Their organs are sold to rich clientele in Turkey, Germany USA, and many European and Arabian countries for profit, as a part of illegal trade of human organs.

The two collaborators Mr. Contenta and Mr. Kapllani counted precisely 900,000 temporary displaced Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija by organized action at the time of conflict between Serbia and NATO and Albanian separatists. They fell to mention their return back to Kosovo and Metohija to their houses and apartments together with Albanians from Albania who strategically and thoroughly robbed Serbian houses and properties from those Serbs that fled Albanian terror and finally expropriated them. They also forgot to mention 800,000 Albanians from Albania, who were accepted by communist dictator Josip Broz Tito to occupy approximately same number of thresholds of Serbian population driven out by the Albanian fascists (called “balisti”) during the Second World War. The Serbs were forbidden to ever come back to their homes to Kosovo and Metohija.

During the conflict in late 90ies and after it the Albanians ethnically cleansed 250,000 Serbs from Kosovo and Metohia, by pushing them to cities and villages in other parts of Serbia; all that being observed by the NATO American and European soldiers, who were there supposedly to establish peace. Today we see that they were sent there as an occupation force and in order to create Independent Republic of Kosovo, second Albanian country in the region, this time on Serbian territory. However, the “researchers of conflict”, Toronto Star journalist and Albanian pizzeria owner and the writer of the novels, have not mentioned any of this in their “horrific story well documented” as the journalist said.

We do not negate that Serbian defending army has committed crimes in an attempt to subdue riots of Albanian terrorist groups, how they were called by Americans at the beginning of this civil war. But Americans started helping Albanians and today they grabbed 17% of Serbian land, depleting it of cultural and material assets as well as of its population. Serbs from this region are forbidden to come back to their houses and apartments even after 20 years, in spite of the official verbal promises. Serbs cannot even lite the candles on the graves of their ancestors. There was not a word about this in Sandro Contenta’s article.