He was 95 years old, and for the past two years he was being treated at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade.

Patriarch Pavle was chosen to head the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1990 and was the 44th patriarch.

He was said to be a humble person, who lived a simple lifestyle of an Orthodox monk. He was revered by the Serbian believers, as well as followers of other religions.

On occasion of his death, Serbia’s government declared a three-day mourning, starting Monday.

Serbian bloggers did not remain indifferent, either. They reacted to the death of Patriarch Pavle, as well as to the decisions of the government related to his passing.

Blogger Constrictorial wrote (SRP):

[…] I think that he was a human who worked, above all, for the reconciliation of people from this region […] in the time of war, he was one of the rare people who called for peace. […]

[…] I think that he was a modest man who was emitting love, sincerity and honesty. […]

At the end of his post, the blogger quoted Patriarch Pavle’s words:

Finally, as always, I must repeat what's always remains the same: be humane towards those who are constantly seeing us as their enemies; don’t hurry with hugs, but extend hands to everyone who realizes that we have to live as humans if we couldn’t live as brothers. Care for good relations with our neighbors who, even under the highest pressures, didn’t forget that we had to be oriented towards each other. […]

Teofil Pancic, a journalist, published his article titled “The Politics of Condolence” on the Pescanik web site. He wrote this (SRP), among other things:

[…] This is neither the place, nor the time for detailing about Gojko Stojcevic’s [civil name of Patriarch Pavle] character and works. No doubt that he led his Church so that it was not deviating from the widespread and tragic mistakes which inconceivably held Serbia back over the last 20 years. It is also true that other bishops, if they had been in his place, would have been more extreme. It is the fact that he, with his own lifestyle, which suited the popular, that is, idealized show about monks, acquired the mass respect of ordinary people, who are tired because they live in a destroyed society in which all the vagabonds and tramps, including those in cassocks, earn suspiciously bloody millions and drive around promoting their own banditry by various expensive cars and jeeps. […]

Blogger Aleksandar Vasovic reacted severely to the government’s decision to pay expenses to businessmen for all the workers who would attend the ceremony of the Patriarch’s funeral on Thursday. In his post titled “How much is Serbia’s mourning?”, he wrote (SRP):

[…] Why didn't the government, if it is so God-fearing, appeal to the faithful businessmen and workers to spend their one-day earnings, which it approved generously for them for the day of the Patriarch’s funeral, on the help for the poor and homeless persons, for the hungry ones and on maintaining community kitchens? […]

The Republican Broadcasting Agency has ordered state-funded electronic media to stop broadcasting musical programs because of the three-day mourning, and blogger Srdjan Mitrovic criticized (SRP) one Serbian cable operator for blocking of several channels:

SBB [Serbian Broadband] has blocked all music channels because of the days of mourning. […]

[…] I hope that they won’t remember to block cable internet because, God forbid, music could be broadcast through it. […]

P.S. On Channel TV 1000, they are showing soft porno films. Just so you know.

Srdjan Mitrovic wrote:

I am ashamed of this city, these politicians and this country.

Marko Jevtic created a Facebook group - “Stop Violence” - and, on his blog, invited readers to join it. He also wrote:

I am a Partizan fan. I was born and grew up in Belgrade… but I am ashamed.

REST IN PEACE BRIS

Srecko Sekeljic wrote:

Announcements and acts of violence, why the Gay Pride Parade has been forbidden in the capital’s center, why many people have been beaten, why Brice Taton has died tragically, why citizens can’t walk the streets of cities safely - all this shows very clearly the strong need for organizing a wide front against violence. The first step is for the citizens to take over the streets from groups and individuals who are spreading hatred and sowing fear and death. The next step is for the institutions to initiate and successfully bring criminal charges against individuals, groups and organizations that propagate and carry out the violence.

Serbian officials expressed their condolences to Brice’s family and said that Serbia would never forget him. Web site RTV Studio B published this statement by Ivica Dacic, the Interior Minister:

“On behalf of the Serbian Interior Ministry, I express my deepest condolences over the death of your son. Until the last moment we hoped that Brice and his youth would win. The news of his death, that the Serbian citizens received with great sorrow, is all the more tragic.”

According to ”Studio B”, the Human Rights Ministry State Secretary Marko Karadžić called on citizens to gather at Belgrade's central square at 11:30 CET on Wednesday to pay tribute to the victim with flowers and candles. He said:

It is horrible news that a French citizen lost his life this way in Belgrade. I want to call on all people in Belgrade to come to the Trg Republike square as a human gesture, light candles and leave flowers to show that there are many people in Serbia who are against violence and that Serbia will never forget French citizen Brice Taton, nor will it allow a similar thing to happen again.

President Tadic also reacted:

“Serbia will react with the highest level of seriousness, and with very strict principles. […]”

He added that this was a warning “to all groups that have been promoting violence over the last days.”

A few days ago, press service of president of Republic of Serbia published the president’s statement on his official site. This statement was issued because of numerous and serious threats to LGBT population by football fans of Partizan and Red Star teams, as well as by members of some neo-Nazi groups. Below is an excerpt:

[…] The government will do everything to protect citizens, regardless of their ethnic, religious, sexual or political orientation, because no group […] should take justice into their own hands and endanger the lives of those who think differently or are different.

In Serbia, “the Constitution, laws and public order and peace, respect, and any attacks on the army, police, journalists, officials and other citizens will not be tolerated, and all legal measures will be taken against the perpetrator.”

Only one day later, police chief Milorad Veljovic issued a statement in which he explained that it had been appraised, on the basis of security assessment by the ministry of internal affairs and other security services of the Republic of Serbia, that gathering in Belgrade’s downtown is extremely risky and could menace public order and peace in Belgrade.

The Organizing Board of Pride Parade did not agree to change location of the gathering. On that occasion, the board published the statement and described its decision. Here is an excerpt:

[…] Although in the police decision it was recommended that the event is moved to another spot such as Usce [the mouth of Danube and Sava] or the space in front of palace “Srbija”, it is absolutely clear the parade has been banned. Despite the high-ranking officials’ support statements that all social groups, including LGBT community, can liberally express their own attitudes in public places, these are only words, while nothing is actually being done.

The officials of the Republic of Serbia have formally admitted in this decision that the state is not able to adequately prevent and punish threats by clerical-fascistic organizations. Also, the state is not able to provide the rights for citizens that belong to them according to the Constitution. […]

[…] The state has failed a fundamental examination. It should be expecting a repeat examination. Very soon. The Republic of Serbia has surrendered but we haven’t.

On Saturday, September 19, ultra-nationalistic organization “1389″ (the group's name refers to the Battle of Kosovo, which took place in 1389) issued a statement and “E-novine” web site published it. Among other things, they wrote:

We consider that it is a big victory of normal Serbia and citizens against threats and forces. […]

[…] As it was announced, Activists of the Serbian Popular Movement 1389 and movement “Nazi“ will gather on the plateau in front of the Philosophical faculty tomorrow at 8 am and take part in the event called “Absolutely unviolent popular all-Serbian Party of sexual not deviant persons.”

We are calling citizens to massively come in Belgrade’s streets tomorrow in order to make sure that non-believers and satanists will not walk the streets of our city.

This statement and the police decision provoked a lot of reactions, not only by LGBT population, but also by the Serbian public. Bloggers also reacted to both of them.

Jasmina Tesanovic wrote:

As far as I can see at B92 news, members of clerical-fascistic group “1389” have walked along the Knez Mihajlo street, gathered on the plateau and visited Sveti Sava church. Also, last evening the victory of Serbia’s basketball team was celebrated over Belgrade’s streets with hysterical shouting “Serbia, Serbia” and raised three fingers.

And we, forbidden and invisible and whatever, but not Serbia, are sitting under the deck of a boat which is sinking.

Today at 11, it could be October 6, but not 1389. However, the time is neither linear nor progressive. I am just asking myself how Belgrade was in 1389. Probably not as violent and stupid. The time is for Belgrade steampunk revolution!

Srecko Sekeljic wrote:

[…] Serbia’s Executive, personified by its Prime Minister, and the security services, personified by the police chief, put an acknowledgment on paper that they have no control over the streets of their country's capital. For that time, minister of internal affairs and vice-president of the government, Ivica Dacic, have run away from country until things calm down. […]

[…] This acknowledgment was followed by the shocking allegations about the beating of foreign residents in the center of Belgrade. […]

Krugolina Borup expressed her attitude with harshness and irony:

What kind of government are you if you were not able to protect 500 people. Don’t tell me that you couldn’t paint in pink 500 bullet-proof vests, helmets and gas masks and distribute to us madmen, only in the country who was courageous to resist tyrants.

What kind of government are you if you didn’t have in your mind to stand in the front row, all of you 25 or so, because this stopped to be an issue about Pride Parade a long, long time ago and turned into the parade of the fight against violence. […]

At the end of her post, she turned to Zoran Djindjic, former Prime Minister and president of the Democratic Party, who was killed in 2003 by the mafia which was supported by some politicians who were disguised as Djindjic’s political partners, according to respectable number of famous persons, ordinary citizens and political parties, because he wanted to settle accounts with them and lead the country to the European Union as soon as possible:

Oh my Djindjic… these successors of yours… they've betrayed both you and me. As you said: “If someone thinks that he will stop putting into effect the laws if I am killed, then he deceives himself because I am not the system. The system will keep on functioning and nobody will be amnestied for their crimes even if one or two officials would be killed.”

Oh, my Djindjic… they killed and defeated you, my dear. These sissies, not only they don’t represent a system - they've never heard about it. They are afraid to be killed, as you were killed, if they stand in the front row of the Pride column. Sissies, sissies, sissies!

Krugolina finished her post with bitter and sarcastic verses of a famous Serbian author Djordje Balasevic, who supported democratic revolution in Serbia from October 2000:

Go Europe, don’t waste time on us.
Don’t ask too much, you will get too bad a reputation.
Go planet, we had a great time together.
We are fine, just like we deserve.

Krugolina Borup wrote this in her other post related to the cancellation of the Gay Pride Parade:

News: Serbian Popular Movement 1389 sent a mass e-mail to all Belgrade’s media editorial offices that it will pay for photographs of participants of the Pride Parade. They have intention to publish them, so that the parents could recognize sexually deviant persons and protect their children from their impact.

In this post, Krugolina posted her own picture in response to “1389” and wrote that from now on, she was a lesbian, too.

Nebojsa Spaic wrote:

The country is:
1. weak and helpless
2. totalitarian and repressive
3. stupid and unable
4. frightened
5. nationalistic and conservative
6. all of the above

President Tadic doesn't think so. He said this about the cancellation of the parade, among other things:

This has been a misunderstanding in the public and the wrong interpretation. Serbia, as a country, will never recede before the perpetrators and those who threaten […]. The state has offered the safest possible conditions for holding pride parades and Serbia will, like any other European country, insist on the protection of human rights of all its citizens, many times I said, regardless of their national, political, religious or sexual orientation. […]

LGBT population has been facing plenty of serious threats in the past few months. Some neo-Nazi groups and fans who are connected with Red Star and Partizan football clubs have been issuing threats to organizers, warning that the event's participants would be beaten if they organize parade. On the walls of Belgrade’s buildings appeared deterrent messages: “Death to faggots,” “Serbia for Serbs, Out with Faggots.” Football club officials dissociated themselves from these fan groups and said that they didn’t organize anyone to write graffiti.

At the conference, representatives of the LGBT population reminded the public of the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade of June 2001. Lesbian movement named this gathering the Massacre Parade: 40 persons were injured and LGBT community was held hostage by fear for many years afterward.

On the occasion of this year’s parade, they said:

We the activists have long been asking ourselves, “Is it time?, are we ready?” and finally this year, new people came and said “YES!”. Lots of activities, and many negotiations with police and the Ministry for Human Rights are underway to secure a peaceful parade.

At the end of the press conference they invited people to participate in the event:

We obviously need many of us to be here! We invite you all to come and join us on Sunday, the 20th of September!

Mayor of Belgrade, Dragan Djilas, who used to be one of the leaders of the anti-Milosevic student protests, and who is now a high-ranking official in the Democratic Party, is against the parade.

Belgraded.com reported on the bizarre statement Djilas made when asked to comment on the safety issues of the forthcoming Belgrade Gay Pride Parade, and the anti-gay graffiti seen throughout the city these days:

“I say what I believe—maybe I was raised patriarchal—but sexual orientation is a personal thing, and I do not know why anyone would have to come out with it in public, regardless of whether they are homosexual or heterosexual. I did not imperil anyone, I am not prohibiting anything, I just said that such an event will cause a reaction from those that destroy the city every several dozen days and I am expressing concern for the participators.”

Goran Miletic, a Serbian blogger, reacted (SRP) to the mayor's statement:

Mayor Đilas didn’t support the parade. Instead of pointing out the actual laws, he did the most risky thing. […] he said that the police would not be able to protect participants after the Parade. In this way he gave ideas and encouraged everyone who is preparing to commit criminal acts. Third, in his statements he gave an alibi to the policemen not to make enough effort to protect participants. If someone like Đilas says that something is unavoidable, why would the policemen try to do that. Fourth, mayor sent word to Belgrade citizens that they are not obliged to express publicly something from their private lives (the European Court for Human Rights confirmed in a few verdicts that the private is inseparable from the public). Fifth, the mayor is worried about buses in which participants will arrive in Belgrade to be eventually destroyed after the event. In this way he clearly informs us the buses are more important than the people. Sixth, since tens of thousands gays came to Belgrade from the Europe during the [2008] Eurovision Song Contest, and for ten days not a single incident was registered, we conclude that foreign gays, who visited Belgrade as tourists, are acceptable for mayor, but that is not the case with Belgrade gays/Serbs.

Here are some of the dozens of comments to this post:

g.radicevic writes:

[…] Don't get me wrong, I am not against gay population, the Roma, Albanians… anyone. All are supposed to have the same rights but no more the same just because they belong to some group or community. The basis of democracy is that everyone can use his rights but no one can deprive others of the same rights. Simply, I am allergic to selective struggle for human rights. […]

Sybil replies to g.radicevic:

[…] Why would heterosexuals fight for human rights if they are the majority and their rights are not violated. The rights of minorities are violated and the mirror of a society represents relation towards them. Mayor can think anything at his home but as a public person he must to protect minorities and human rights. […]

drug. clan writes:

The story that minority is always deprived is unavoidable falsehood. That is true in the case of gay population in Serbia but that is not the general truth and cannot be an argument. […]

[…] Is the minority of 3% of the total population which has 80% of world’s treasure deprived because it is a minority?

Adam Weisphaut writes:

Let the LGBT population appraise solo what is best for them because they have to live with social prejudices every day.

Earlier this year, LGBT in Serbia was in the online spotlight, too. On a Facebook page titled “Should the organizing of Gay Pride Parade be supported” the following views were published:

Радивоје wrote on March 18:

I have therapy for them. Gays should be beaten by thick bar over their heads to set person straight.

Predrag wrote:

Illness? Where do you live? If something bothers you, why don’t you simply ignore it?

The illness called “neo-Nazism” and how to treat it is more interesting to me.

Nenad wrote:

Homosexuality is a disease. It is incurable. It’s the saddest in Serbia that homosexuals have more rights than normal people. Our government is preoccupied with issues of homosexuality as our people from Kosovo are hungry. Also, there are many poor citizens in Serbia. Gays and people who fight for human rights have the worst propaganda that this population has rights in the European Union. But they are acceptable in England, the Netherlands and Slovenia only. I don’t know who they are lying to. Homosexuals contributed only to the white plague and AIDS. […]

Predrag wrote:

If the words are about white plague, this country is exclusively guilty of that because it didn’t provide conditions for young people to have their own family. Gay population is not responsible for that.

Dusan wrote:

It’s terrible, guys, where this world is going to. And gays will have right to have sex in the streets. We are really miserable and can’t be more miserable.

On the forum titled “Gay Parade 2009 – Belgrade YES or NO” the following comments were published, among other things:

nicsta12 wrote:

To forbid. Because they are the repulsive and perverted beast. I’m repeating: the beast… And probably they will be beaten.

Djosla wrote:

For ignorance and stupidity NO, for all others YES.

Zimba wrote:

I think that parade should be allowed. They should let them walk 15-20 meters and then they should be beaten very strongly to forget their own names as well as that they are faggots.

Vidovlad wrote:

A stake is a cure. Of course NO. When has the straight parade been ever held? Who do we look to for help with our deprived rights? Illness should treated, not protected by laws.

CrasyHorse wrote:

Which human rights? Faggots conceive in order to advertise themselves and poison kids' brains so that they could abuse them. I’m not against them having sex among themselves, but advertising and poisoning of kids' brains is too much. Do you see that they took over the Eurosong, only gays, lesbians and transvestites can win. Hooligans, take bars in your hands. Beat the beast! […]

Nearly all Serbian media have shown the horrible scenes from the short film, in which Peranovic is shown beating one of the patients brutally with a spade and with his fists.

Ombudsman of citizens, Sasa Jankovic, is one of the officials who reacted very quickly. According to the Vreme web site, Jankovic said that he had brought criminal charges against nine identified persons from the Spiritual Rehabilitation Center “Crna Reka” near Novi Pazar because of quackery and committing assault and battery. Jankovic also said that, according to the video, it was obvious that the patients of the center had been injured very seriously and that could not be a treatment or therapy.

Serbian bloggers reacted to the report very quickly, too, and so did representatives of the Spiritual Rehabilitation Center “Crna Reka” and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Ivan only posted the video instead of words on his blog. Here are some of the comments:

WarnY, 5/21/2009:

Initially, I felt nauseous.

Then I thought it over and recalled one talk with my friends, and realized that everything does not look the way it is.

Namely, the word is about people who are on a path with no return. For them and their families anything is more acceptable than if they go on with their lives the way they used to. […]

Ivan replied: 5/22/2009:

Yes, everything that you said is right but when I saw how that hippopotamus was breaking his jaws, I felt ill.

Banjac, 5/23/2009:

In comparison with tortures that drug addicts have survived because of thefts and crimes that they committed, what was shown in the video represents insignificant torture. If drug addicts break a car lock and steal a radio from it, they will be beaten much more. Finally, ask drug addicts’ families how much difficulties and sufferings they have survived and ask them whether they agree with the methods of priest Branislav, and I know surely that they are do not mind. He accepted this job with all his heart and he is trying to help. The torture that was shown in the video is a natural thing in those circles, where it is very difficult for a man to think rationally and humanly. In the end, the “Crna Reka” center is not a source of drug addicts, but the place of Christ’s resurrection who bled for all of us. By faith in God, have my absolute support, priest Branislav.

Foxy Lady, 5/25/2009:

I didn’t watch this video because I am quite a young girl. I just read about it.

I don’t know how drug addicts are, and don’t know what kinds of treatments are being used in hospitals, but I know that if they beat a drug addict, they will get a beaten but not a treated drug addict as a result.

Arnam, 5/27/2009:

This is terrible, such cretins should be arrested. This is pouring out of the vials on people. Regardless of whether someone is a drug addict or not, such act is not normal and has nothing to do with treatment. What's happening is a catastrophe.

On the official web site of the Spiritual Rehabilitation Center “Crna Reka” the following is published, among other things:

[…] Chronology is simple. Biden comes to Serbia. Bishop Artemije doesn’t welcome him in the High Dečani monastery since he represents the occupying forces. Domestic progressive forces are bitter and use the video to discredit bishop Artemije who gave his blessings for the founding of the center as well as priest Branislav who has been the center's head for about ten years. […]

Will Serbian drug addicts be finally thankful to Biden for all that he did for him as well as in Serbia and Kosovo and Afghanistan? […]

Peranovic’s statement to the B92 TV station was published on the Vreme’s site:

“We sometimes use force, of course, in agreement with the parents. And patients were warned just in time that we would not tolerate the violation of our rules. Those who have a drug addict at home knows well what I'm speaking about.”

Silja, one of patients of the “Crna Reka” center, says:

I am Silja and I have been a patient of the “Crna Reka” center from October 29, 2008. I think that I am more competent than any journalist to speak about this topic. I have a message for everyone who believes the orchestrated attacks on the Orthodox Missionary and Spiritual Rehabilitation Center “Crna Reka” - the attacks in which all the media in Serbia took part: stop condemning the center’s staff for something that they had no personal experiences with. It is an absolute falsehood that torture is used as therapy. If there is a torture, it is applied to small patients who don’t obey the rules in the center and who hinder all of us who want to treat ourselves. It is strictly forbidden to bring drugs into the center, any kind of physical conflicts as well as thefts, insulting, running away from the center. Each violation of these rules has to be punished. That happens rarely and it is used in case of need. There are a lot of patients in the center and if the rules are not obeyed, it would be chaos there. You have to know that drug addict is ready to do anything when he is in crisis.

Serbian blogger Markos wrote on his blog on the web site titled Trista cuda:

[…] Some of the parents who were at the camp yesterday had an absolutely different opinion from the majority of the public regarding the brutal methods of re-education of drug addicts. […]

Markos quoted a statement of Vera from Novi Sad, mother of one of the patients:

“My son has been staying there for four years. If he had not come to the center, he would have not survived. I bought a rope for him and I said to him that he should hang himself if he could not live without drugs.”

She added that she was against torture. But treatment in the Institute for Substance Abuse didn’t help her son. He came out from there after [nine sorts of remedies had been tried on him, but still remained a drug addict].

Blogger Nikola Knezevic quoted a statement of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, among other things. Here is an excerpt of it:

The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church received with astonishment and regret news about brutal violence toward patients of the substance abuse in monastery Crna Reka in the Rasko-Prizrenska Eparchy. Records which were shown and acknowledgment by clergyman are irrefutable evidence of violence which is absolutely unknown to evangelic spirit and the Church’s mission.

Because of that, Synod calls reverend bishop Artemije to immediately dismiss illegal stationary and bring church-legal action against clergymen who committed the violence. […]

Knezevic concluded his post with these words:

What astonished and shocked as much as the incident did is the high level of masochism of parents. In accordance with the principle “the end justifies the means,” they were absolutely indifferent to or supported the way in which their children were treated in the “Crna Reka” center. It is surely one more alarming sign that violence has become acceptable in our society.

Vojislav Stojković wrote this (SRP) about doubt and Biblical resurrections:

Philosophy and science say that there should be doubt about everything (de omnibus dubitandum). To doubt the resurrection of Jesus is a great sin for the Church. Because of such doubts, a lot of people died from torture and burned at the stake during the Inquisition. But, at the beginning, the disciples of Jesus, especially one of them, the doubting Thomas, also had doubts about resurrection. Therefore, doubt shouldn’t be a sin. If I have doubts, I think. If I think, I exist (cogito, ergo sum). Every Easter, I ask myself what is better – to believe or to have doubt – and whether a man can choose between these at all?

These days Christians are celebrating their biggest holiday – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For them, there is irrefutable evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is really God’s son and that he was sent by God to save humanity. Although in the Revelation by St. John the Theologian it is written that Jesus was the firstborn from the world of the dead (Revelation 1:5), the resurrection of Jesus is neither the only, nor the first Biblical resurrection. It is the most famous one - but it is only the seventh.

[…]

The first resurrection was carried out by the Old Testament prophet Elijah. […] The second resurrection is attributed to prophet Eliseus. […] The third one of the Old Testament resurrections is also linked to prophet Eliseus - that is, to his remains. […] Before his own resurrection, Jesus resurrected three people. […] First, he raised from the dead a young man, who was a son of a widow from Naina. […] The second resurrection by Jesus, and the fifth one in the Bible, is the resurrection of Jair’s daughter (Luca 8: 49-55). […] The third one - the most famous miracle by Jesus and the sixth Biblical case, is the resurrection of Lazarus from Vitania. […] The seventh and the most significant is the resurrection of Jesus.

According to Christian learning, this last resurrection is different from others because Christ resurrected himself to live forever. He overcame death. Because of that, as St. John the Theologian wrote, Christ was the firstborn from the dead. […]

At the end of his post, Stojković repeated what he wrote at the beginning:

[…] Doubt, therefore, shouldn’t be a sin because “I have a doubt” means “I think” - and “I think” means “I exist” (cogito, ergo sum). Those who don’t have doubts – they believe. They hold hard to their faith today, 20 and more centuries after the events described in the Bible or the Koran. […]

[…] Every Easter, I ask myself what is better – to believe or to have doubt – and whether a man can choose between these at all? […]

Here is the first one of over 150 comments to this post, by Libkonz:

I think it shouldn’t deprive the man of the right to think. One thing is when he recognizes God by his own heart and quite another thing is when someone is forcing what he should think on him.

Stojković replies:

No, it is not about forcing to believe. I don’t think about that. Another, more subtle thing is at stake here. Why does the modern and very educated man in the 21st century, in spite of all the technical and scientific miracles, still believe what was written 20 and more centuries ago? This is the question that's bothering me.

Aleksandar Vasović wrote this (SRP) about the Islamic view of Jesus Christ:

Jesus, in Islam - Isa, is God's deputy who was sent to lead Israel's children into the New Testament (Indzil). According to the Koran, Maria (Maryam, Merjema) bore Isa after the immaculate conception. That was a wonderful event, directed by Allah. […]

Islam teaches that Isa will come back to Earth to establish justice and to defeat the false prophet Antichrist on the Judgment Day. As all prophets of Islam, Isa is a Muslim because he preached about accepting the right way and the faith in only one God. […]

Islam rejects the Christian teaching that Isa was God's incarnation or son; it says that he was a common man who was sent to preach God's words like all the other prophets.

In Islam, Isa has two titles: the Messiah and the Anointed. Islam teaches that Isa was Mohammad's predecessor and that he predicted the arrival of the Prophet [Mohammad].

Gypsies protested and asked city council for other lodging in Belgrade. Instead, the authorities offered them to be moved in temporary containers to Boljevci, a small settlement about 20 kilometers from the center of Belgrade.

But residents of Boljevci protested as well. They didn’t want to give shelter to Gypsies: they threatened that they would set fire to them and their containers.

Because of this, many NGOs, which supported the Gypsies, talked about racism.

Mayor of Belgrade Dragan Đilas said that city authorities would act the same way in the future because everyone who builds house illegally on the city's public land could expect to get a new flat. According to him, these objects have been representing problem since last year because they have been making functioning and development of the city difficult. Mayor also said that these Gypsies would be moved to places from which they had come from to Belgrade. Somewhat later he said that Belgrade’s authorities could only help children and women with forced resettlement, while men would have to find their own way to move.

National television aired a statement by Srdjan Sain, president of the Gypsies' party:

We are not against sports, but we are against someone using sports for personal interests, tearing down someone else's houses.

He added that they would not allow the ethnic distance between Gypsies and others to be increased.

According to the Mondo, on Sunday, April 5, representatives of UNHCR in Serbia handed mattresses and blankets to Gypsies from New Belgrade. John Jang, UNHCR’s chief of the Service for Protection of Refugees, said to journalists that the organization has provided about 100 mattresses and blankets for Gypsies who would have to sleep somewhere until an agreement on some permanent solution has been reached with city representatives. Jang said that UNHCR did not expect that Gypsies' houses would be torn down and that not enough help would be provided, especially because there had been good collaboration with representatives of Belgrade before.

Dorit Nisom, chief of the World Health Organization in Serbia, said that she had been very proud of Serbia because of good attitudes toward Gypsies in the past, but she added that tearing down Gypsies' houses had a negative effect on the image of the country that presided over the Decade of Gypsies and is organizing the University Games.

Several days later, a group of neo-Nazis attacked Gypsies in New Belgrade.

Dusan Maljkovic wrote about that:

The evening before last night, on the night of April 6-7, at 2:30 am, a group neo-Nazis attacked Gypsies' settlement located near the shopping mall and market in New Belgrade.

According to eyewitnesses, 20-30 attackers arrived there in two pickup trucks. They were armed with knives and metal bars. Shouting, “We will move you,” they attacked a group of children, women and men who sat on the ground. Several children were injured and one man suffered a serious injury as he was hit with a bottle. Several older people fainted due to fear and panic. Neo-Nazis ran away as some 50 men from the nearby shacks organized to defend the settlement. Five or six policemen who were on duty in the settlement did not react. They said that they had no permission to get involved.

Journalists who had been reporting from the Gypsies' settlements for the past few days, didn’t report on this incident […].

On her own blog, Jasmina Tesanovic republished an open letter that 43 NGOs sent to the president of the Republic of Serbia, prime minister, vice president of Serbia’s government and the mayor of Belgrade. Here is an excerpt from this letter:

[…] Open or hidden racism toward Gypsies has never been punished up to now. At the same time, from 2000 up to now, forced moving out and tearing down have always been carried out with the help of the police.

Having in mind that Serbia is signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees the right of housing, including the right for alternative housing in the case of forced resettlement, all 47 families have to be provided with housing without delay. Citizens who will eventually be forced to move out must be taken care of in advance. […]

[…] Signatories of the letter ask the highest-ranked state officials to condemn all statements that violate the basic right to freedom of settlement for the Gypsies. That right is guaranteed by Article 39 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. […]

[…] At the same time, the latest announcements by Belgrade’s authorities that it will take care of only women and children, while men would have to find their own way to move, represents a violation of European standards of respect for private and family life and home, which are guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and is confirmed in practice by the European Court for Human Rights. […]

Ten years later, Serbian bloggers are reminded of those terrible days. Below is a selection of some of their journal notes and recollections from the beginning of the war, translated from Serbian.

Dejan Jovic posted this entry:

Today NATO’s forces have attacked Yugoslavia from air, from submarines and warships. The attack began at 7pm. The first wave lasted 2 hours. About 20 targets are hit: the Police Academy in Novi Sad, airports in Batajnica and Danilovgrad (Montenegro), several barracks around Pristina and around Nis as well as factory shops of Crvena Zastava in Kragujevac. The second wave began about midnight and it is still going (now it is 00.45. (Yugoslavia declared the state of war. The last night Veran Matic was arrested and B92 was closed. Now only national stations and agencies can broadcast. Journalists from countries which are members of NATO, including BBC, can report only by phone. Twenty-five journalists have been arrested temporarily so far and one is beaten. Because of all that, there are very little video reports but it is absolutely clear that the attack was very very strong. […]

[…] Milosevic says that he is for peace and agreement. It is not possible to appraise why he says that – whether because he wants to inform NATO that he is ready to withdraw himself or because he wants to justify a lengthy war. In this moment it seems that he can’t withdraw himself very easily. I don’t know how he could be more cooperative with the West after this bombing, if he couldn’t do that before it. Also, people are much more anti- West than they were several days ago. [The West] forgets that Milosevic is a legally chosen president and that he is not without support of voters like Saddam Hussein.

News at 1 am. Russia and China condemned aggression. Russia asks session of the Security Council. For this attack, Clinton and Blair condemn Milosevic directly. Clinton compares Kosovo with Bosnia and mentions hesitation in the first and second world war. India condemned action of members of NATO because they ignored the United Nations. India also says that NATO became an instrument for realization of goals of ethnic separatists and that could be the case in the Kashmir […]

Angie01, in her blog titled ”Notes of Madness”, wrote:

[…] In the evening I come out on my spacious balcony and smoke. I notice some unusual and big star which is very near by me. I don’t know from where it is here. I’ve never seen it before. I call my family. Everyone feels uneasy. No one know what's happened.

A little later, I talk on the phone with my sister from the bathroom. In the middle of a sentence there's a strange sound.

She asked me what that was. I don’t know. “What can we do now?” she asked. I don’t know. I go to see. I open the door. And then I hear zvvviiiiijuuuu. The red-yellow light filled the room. Then there was an explosion. It was strong, destructive and full of dark forebodings.

Everyone is frozen at the moment. And then one more bomb explodes.

You can hear screaming all over the hallways, people are running, children are crying. You can hear people calling over the floors.

Neighbors ring our doorbell. They said that we should go to the bomb shelter. […]

[…] Girls are throwing up inside. Some old women faint. My neighbor squats with a baby in her arms… there is no air, there is only stench and fear. Everything has changed in 20 minutes. […]

[…] A neighbor, a refugee from Bosnia, arrives. He said that he came for us. And he added that the bomb shelters were not suitable for those bombs. If they were hit, they might turn into tombstones over us. And we leave and never come back there.

This is how it began. […]

Readers commented on Angie01's post. Here are some of the comments:

Vidomir Pavlovic:

I was sitting 100 meters away from the barracks in Sremska Mitrovica when a rocket whistled over my head. It was ghastly…

Then one young woman was killed. She came out right after the detonation to see what happened, to see where the rocket hit. She was about 1 kilometer away from the barracks and was hit by shrapnel. It pounded into her head or breast. I forgot. But she was dead on the spot, on the balcony on the first floor. She had just moved into that flat…

She had two little children…

Bili Piton:

One doesn’t know whether one hates more those who bombed or those who caused it.

Sybil:

[…] The maniac [Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Serbia and Montenegro] has burdened us with the bombing by 19 most civilized countries. The biggest disappointment after the bombing was that he kept his seat and Kosovo was lost. It would have been better the other way around. […]

Pix3lchick:

[…] Sadness, hopelessness and depression because of fact that, after 10 years, he [Milosevic] is still alive through the current ministers' statements, in which they says that the bombing happened because of false accusations of ethnic cleansing. (From where did the refrigerator trucks come to us?)

Jasmina Tesanovic wrote in her blog titled “La vita e' bella” ('Life is beautiful'):

March 26, 1999 - 5 PM:

I hope that we all will survive this war: Serbs, Albanians, good and bad boys, those who took weapons, those who deserted, Kosovo’s refugees who are roaming through the forests and Belgrade’s refugees who are roaming the streets with children in arms and running to find the nonexistent bomb shelters when they hear the sirens. I hope that NATO’s pilots will not leave their wives and children forever. I saw them on CNN, how they cried while their husbands were preparing to attack targets in Serbia. I hope that we all will survive, but the world will not stay the same. […]

Jovana Gec, an Associated Press writer, published this article - “Attackers disrupt liberal radio show in Serbia” - on Jan. 28, in which she wrote about the incidents and explained that the weekly show was “very popular with pro-Western Serbs” and ran “interviews with liberal intellectuals as well as critics of Serbia's conservative elite and the hardline Serbian Orthodox Church.”

Srdja Popovic, a famous Belgrade lawyer, wrote on web site Radna soba:

Firstly, what is Pescanik?

Pescanik is an NGO which has two members, two journalists: Svetlana Lukic and Svetlana Vukovic. They've been producing for 9 years 90-minute-long broadcasts. They are making this broadcast absolutely free and give it to radio B92 to broadcast it weekly, on Friday, and repeat it on Saturday. The broadcast is heard by 350,000-400,000 people every week.

Afterwards, they transcribe the broadcast and they publish a book every three months. The books have been printed in 26,000 copies so far. The books were sold by the price of the production or were given free on promotions. The promotions are organized on the tribunes in 30 cities a year all over Serbia. As of now, 354 broadcasts have been aired and 300 of them were copied on DVD. They are distributed all over Serbia in the same way.

Since last year, Pescanik has its own web site www.pescanik.net. On the site, Pescanik's contributors publish their articles about politics, above all European integration and attitudes toward war crimes, about society and culture. […]

The Pescanik broadcast always starts with an editorial by Svetlana Lukic.

In the last, 354th broadcast, she talked about the events from last week. In the focus of those events was, it seems, untouchable president of the republic. Editorial writer found fault with the following:

that he was the only one in the world who didn't congratulate president Barack Obama;
that he isolated Serbia and raised a new iron curtain;
that support of European integration has decreased by 6% in the last 7 months, the time that this pro-European government exists;
that he, thanks to his student, the foreign minister, accuses the EU that it puts special cases to Serbia for admission (we want in the European Union but they don't want us);
that he usurps competences which don't belong to him according to the Constitution;
that he doesn't make anything in order that Serbia supports the European Parliament's resolution according to which July 11 would be proclaimed as the Day of Victims of Genocide in Srebrenica;
that he, thanks to eminent members of his party (Dragoljub Micunovic), deceives the Serbian public that the International Court of Justice has acquitted Serbia from responsibility for genocide.

And look, a miracle!

Because of some inexplicable disruptions on multiple transmitters during the Pescanik broadcast on Friday, January 23, and during the repetition on Saturday, January 24, many people from Vojvodina, central and south Serbia and Belgrade couldn't hear this editorial as well as most of the broadcast.

Biljana Srbljanovic, a famous Serbian playwright, reactivated her B92 blog and, among other things, published on it a letter by Petar Lukovic, editor of e-novine web site. The letter was sent to president Boris Tadic. In it, Lukovic wrote:

[…] However, dear President Tadic, the problem which relates to Pescanik exceeded only internal media borders; disruption of this broadcast irresistibly reminds us of the time of “famous” Slobodan Milosevic, when numerous secret services had the task to control, stop, or disrupt broadcasts; today, when the slogan “Tadic is Serbia” has turned into a national doctrine, there is no reason that I turn to you from this virtual space - through e-novine - (which, by the way, you don't read) and remind you of a just few facts.

In the disrupted broadcast, an editorial by Svetlana Lukic was dedicated to you; the fact that only you, as well as Putin and Hamas, didn't congratulate Barack Obama on his election as U.S. President, had to be commented upon, as well as the fact that support for European integration in Serbia has significantly decreased at the time of your “pro-European government”, as you like to say. […]

[…] What happened, exceptional President, is what happened: no one could hear the repetition of Pescanik because the disruption worked perfectly. The site still doesn't work - thousands of hackers are working to keep the site from becoming available anymore. It's the most interesting that we can read, not just in e-novine, but in many different forums, that Boris Tadic is behind this action. […]

Condor commented on B92 forum:

[…] I don't believe that Tadic has ordered attacks on the site, disruption of Pescanik broadcast and destroying of Svetlana's car - but he made it possible and believable. […]

B92's bloggers sincerely congratulated Krugolina on receiving this valued prize. One of them, MilutinM wrote:

[…] Why I am particularly glad that Branka and her initiative Mother Courage got the prize. Ten years ago, I took part in a meeting of East European scouting organizations in Warsaw. A guest of the meeting was former Polish minister of transition and municipalities. Then Poland had the biggest economy growth in Europe. The minister explained to us what the key reason for that was. “We attained success since we had explained to our citizens that the development of the country was also their problem. There will be development if every citizen makes an effort. No one can make it instead of them.” […]

[…] Branka's action is a proof that it is possible to change the society. As Ivan* in his lecture: this country has problems not just because someone makes problems but because we do nothing in order to prevent them. Krugolina didn't want to accept such situation and because of that she initiated her action. She deserves this prize. […]

* [Ivan Tasovac, director of Belgrade's Philharmonic orchestra and the first laureate of the Disruption Prize; he handed this year's prize to Krugolina.]

MilutinM also pointed out one more praise for Krugolina:

[…] Renault decided to present its car model Twinga to Kru [Krugolina] and her fellows in order for them to be able to visit maternity hospitals around Serbia. That's one more praise! […]

Many readers also congratulated Krugolina on her prize and commented on her initiative below MilutinM's post.

Kraljmajmuna:

Of course, I liked the action by KGB [Krugolina]. And, of course, I didn't agree with every one of her attitudes from the public discussion that she had with Dr. Stanojevic. But, she has moved a huge stone. […]

Msarski, B92's blogger commented:

[…] Sincere congratulations! This blog platform will become a respectable factor. We are on a good way. […]

Blau.punkt:

[…] Krugolina is an ideal example of an individual who initiates social changes. She deserves support and congratulations. […]

Thanks to Krugolina's initiative, a few positive things have so far been achieved on behalf of women who have just given birth. It's most important that the ministry of health has reacted positively. For example, the minister has promised to buy netlike panties for all maternity hospitals in Serbia immediately after he heard about the “Mother Courage” initiative and the first meeting with Branka Stamenkovic. Also, the minister ordered to directors of maternity hospitals to provide badges for medical staff that would have their names written on them, so that the women know who looks after them during their stay in maternity hospital and who is responsible for their health. An agreement on a questionnaire about the treatment of women by the medical staff of maternity hospitals has been reached and it will be conducted for the next six months. The minister also promised that the control in maternity hospitals will be better.

Soon after publishing of these texts, Krugolina Borup started a civil initiative named “Mother Courage” and created a website with the same name. Its primary idea is to encourage all women (mothers) to describe their experiences, regardless of when they gave birth.

Dozens of personal stories (as well as a few photos) have been published so far. The women are posting anonymously: their joint nickname is “Kengurica” ('female kangaroo' in Serbian) and just figures after it are different.

In the biography section of the “Mother Courage” web site, Krugolina Borup wrote:

My name is Branka Stamenkovic. I gave birth in 2004 in the hospital in Zvezdara [Belgrade], and today, four and a half years later, I am still upset and begin to cry when I remember what I experienced […]

Reactions of readers […] inspired me to do something more, that is, to start to gather stories by women who gave birth and to publish them on this website. I don't know whether my effort succeeds in changing anything […]

Today, it is a very serious and massive initiative.

According to Branka's confession, her story was entered as Kengurica 001. She wrote this about the terrible experience of her delivery:

[…] While I was giving birth, air-condition device fell to the floor. Luckily, I didn't lie nearby. I ask myself, if I did, what would happen? […]

[…] When I was moved to intensive care unit after c-section, I was raving. I couldn't rise and recover normal breathing. Because of that, I forgot to put an intrauterine device and I bled over bed linen. Later, a nurse was shouting at me and refused to change it. […]

Only on the fourth day I nursed my baby for the first time because they didn't allow me to do it before since I had to be in intensive care unit. […] Of course, there were problems on occasion of breastfeeding but no one came to demonstrate me how I should milk myself and I got breast inflammation […].

[…] During the intubation, the anesthesiologist knocked my tooth out. Maybe it was a regular procedure, I didn't know, but I would like to know why there was nothing about it in my discharge papers. Also, why didn't anyone inform me whether I had the right to compensation for damage? If I had no right to that, why I didn't?

About corruption, Branka Stamenkovic said:

Epidural anesthesia's official cost is 10,000 RSD. Nevertheless, I had to give illegal 200 EUR to anesthesiologist in order for him to give me anesthesia at all. […]

Kengurica 268 wrote:

I gave birth in 1977 and I still remember every detail. Memories and fear returned in 2007, immediately before my daughter's delivery. I gave birth in Novi Sad and I expected that something would change after 30 years and also that giving birth in Belgrade's maternity hospital “Narodni front” would be something more beautiful than I had experienced. Unfortunately, when I came into “Narodni front,” I had an impression that time has stopped […].

She added:

[…] Shortly, getting out of my baby lasted from 14.00 to 17.30. Doctors, nurses and students stood around me. I felt as an unseen wonder. When the baby was born, her lower part of the body was as blue as ink and the upper part was as white as a sheet. They showed me my baby and walked out. I was cut up and left to lie there. They went to bring coffee. After half an hour, the doctor came to sew up my wound. Afterwards, a nurse ordered me to get out of bed and told me to go downstairs to the lower floor. […]

[…] I am sorry because my daughter's delivery stirred up these memories after 30 years. It is very well that today's mothers will not allow to happen something like my experience. This initiative gives me a hope that I will absolutely forget my memories when my granddaughter should be giving birth.

Kengurica 057, who gave birth in 2004 in Backa Topola, a small town in Northern Serbia, comments on a midwife's behavior:

[…] After a medical checkup, I asked the nurse whether I advanced with opening, since I had been connected to induction for six hours. She asked me very insolently: “Why do you hurry? Will you go to the hairdresser? I have a whole night for you!” The situation was unpleasant and you can guess how I felt […]

[…] In this story I wish to praise my doctor. He was professional, at the same time very close to us, common people. For two days, while I couldn't get up, he was bringing me meals into bed and visiting me past regular visits. […]

Kengurica 047 (2008, Maternity hospital Narodni front, Belgrade):

[…] I completed formalities which were related to entering the hospital from 6.30am to 1.30pm. I was told I was lucky because some women were waiting for a bed for 17 hours. […]

[…] Despite my requests to examine me some of doctors, nurses behaved as if they were higher beings, sent me to CTG, were shouting at me, told me that I was spoiled and that I'll never give birth. […]

Kengurica 070 (Narodni front, Belgrade, 2008):

[…] Both the doctor and the anesthesiologist acted very well toward me because I slipped money into their pockets. Since there is only one nurse in lacteal unit per 30 women, I also slipped money into her pocket. Maybe you will have very interesting experience if you take a wallet. […]

But, all the mentioned things are related to the gynecology clinic “Narodni front” in Belgrade, I don't know how it is in other clinics. […] Otherwise, do you know that you will not get epidural anesthesia, whose regular cost is 10,000 RSD, if you don't slip money into anesthesiologists' “hands” - regardless of the fact that you've already paid for epidural anesthesia to the hospital's account? […]

Kengurica 123 (Narodni front, Belgrade, 2008):

[…] Pains were stronger and stronger. […] I was panting, I couldn't call anyone. All the time I was looking in the direction of the small room where they were all sitting and smoking. I hoped that I'd see if someone came out from that room in order to call him. I called, shouted but they ignored me. Pains were stronger and stronger. I admit, I started to scream at the top of my lungs. My phone vibrated. I couldn't grab it. Some nurse came across and told me: “Why are you screaming? What do you want? We told you to call when you finish with birth, stupid bitch. I was screaming loudly and loudly, above all for someone to come, but also in order to get on their nerves. Pains were stronger and stronger. I turned sideways. I threw up. I was so dizzy I wanted to shoot myself in the head. I started to scream again. I heard a man's voice: “Tell this cow to stop roaring!” “Motherfucker to all,” I returned in kind. I was throwing up. I thought I would die. I started to cry due to pains. No one came to help me. I was beginning to lose consciousness. I tried to slap myself. Suddenly, a doctor came and said: “Hi, how are you? Has the labor started? Let's see… Oh, why didn't you call us? […]

Kengurica 163 (Narodni front, Belgrade, 2008):

[…] Listening to different stories which related to the birth, I conceived of it as not desirable to go to maternity hospital if I didn't know someone there. Anesthesiologist's tariff is between 100 and 150 EUR (if you don't pay, he will not come). No one knew how much doctors cost. Finally, a midwife is the most important and she also has her tariff, because, oh my God, they all come into maternity hospital for your sake outside their working hours. […]

Kengurica 193 (Pancevo, 2003):

[…] They bore my amnion, and afterwards they started jumping on me. Guys, although 5 years have passed, I still can't understand what happened then. I thought that was a nightmare. A doctor was jumping on me, others were climbing on my belly and breast, I was losing consciousness. I thought I would choke. […]

Kengurica 026 (Narodni front, Belgrade, 1997):

[…] Hospital staff is unfriendly, you can't get any information, you don't know where you should go, you don't know what is a next step. You only can stand at a hallway and pray to God that someone will examine you before the baby falls out on the floor. I have contractions every 5 minutes, I am standing in the hallway without panties and I am smeared by different fluids. I have no information on where I should go, what I should do. After half an hour, a doctor comes and says: “Let's go to the induction, I have a flight to catch this afternoon.” […]

[…] Water was overflowing from the washstand. Next day I acquired a chemical and uncorked the washstand. There is one toilet per 70 women. It looks terrible. Later, when I came home and showed my photographes, no one believed me that I had been in a maternity hospital. […]

[…] When the nurse brought my baby on the second day, he was totally dressed although it was 40 degrees. When I took a diaper off him, a cockroach fell out of it. Yes, I screamed, I admit. I announced it to the nurse and she answered me that they had problems with cockroaches […]

Kengurica 269 has had five births. She gave birth four times in Novi Sad (1979, 1985, 1990, 1996 ), and once in Bonn, Germany, in 1994.

[…] The stay in Novi Sad's maternity hospital was painful, especially almost 30 years ago. Nothing has changed so far. […]

[…] Bed sheets were dirty and worn out. Bed linen was not changed for all days of my stay there. […]

[…] During one of my four births in Novi Sad, I was panting and I was very thirsty. It was August and over 30 degrees. I asked for a glass of water. The answer was: “This is not a pastry shop.” […]

[…] Protocols are medieval. If you mention attendance of father during a delivery, every time you'll hear that Serbian parents aren't interested in that. […] Mainly, fathers are brought into maternity hospital secretly. Why secretly? The baby is mine and his, not the hospital's inventory. […]

And here's how it was in the maternity hospital in Bonn:

[…] I have a personal preparation hall, a personal operation hall, a personal midwife at the Bonn maternity hospital. All the time my husband was next to me. And every ten minutes a very cordial midwife asked me whether I had pains and whether I would want analgesic. I mentioned that I didn't want epidural anesthesia, although it was free of cost. That (and everything what I mentioned above) is something that is provided by social and health insurance. I remember that in the operation hall the bed linen was light yellow, there were a lot of flowers on the window sill, red storks hung from the ceiling […] rooms were double-bedded. There were TV, bathroom, telephones next to beds, alarm buttons. By the bed stood a transparent baby box. If I would like to go out of room and sleep, for example, I could ring and a nurse would come and take the baby away to watch after it. The staff was very cordial so that I felt to shy to ring them up. […]

A while ago, there appeared a Facebook group (SRP) with the same name and 1,045 members - as well as a counter-group (SRP, ENG), whose 10,584 members are appealing to Facebook administrators to close the NOŽ ŽICA SREBRENICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! group because it “glorifies the acts of genocide that took place in Srebrenica, where 8,000 men and boys were murdered”:

[…] Furthermore, this group propagates hatred to all muslims according to its description “za sve koje mrze Muslimane” which means “for all those who hate Muslims.” […]

Serbian blogger Nikola Knežević was angry and reacted strongly on his blog, linking to both Facebook groups. Among other things, he wrote (SRP):

[…] A normal person is ashamed of the thing that makes a fool proud. After everything… After the loathsome footage of the Scorpions liquidating Muslims, it is not clear to me how some young people can be imbued with so much hatred towards other people who are different from them… […]

The blogger has received over 270 comments to this post. Here are some of them:

Zazito:

As far as the ban's concerned… hmm, it is not a bad idea but I don't like any kind of censorship… tomorrow you will react the same way if someone creates a group advocating traditional values… I think it will be better to become a member of this group and explain to the young people that what they are doing is wrong…

Vracarac92:

Racism, homophobia and any kind of hatred mainly originate from not knowing of facts, as well as from a fear of the unknown things.

Piro001:

People are unsatisfied due to poverty and misfortune and uncertain future, and some fools abuse it…

Another Serbian gay web site - the Gay Straight Alliance - published an article (SRP) about the European Commission's assessment of the situation with gay population in the ex-Yugoslav republics.

SERBIA:

The report about Serbia's development says that violent attacks, hate speech and sexual discrimination are common. It also says that the government hasn't stopped discrimination. The report stresses that the anti-discrimination laws have not been adopted yet, while the protection against job discrimination and protection on occasion of unemployment is very weak. However, in the report there are no explicit examples about violent attacks, hate speech and threats affecting gay-related events in Serbia, such as [Eurovision] and a gay festival that took place in September. [ILGA-EUROPE] (the International Lesbian and Gay Association) called to the European Commission to continue the monitoring, especially of the rights of free gathering of gay population in Serbia.

MONTENEGRO:

[…] According to the report, there is homophobia in Montenegro. At the same time, there is no law protecting these people. The report says that Montenegro needs anti-discrimination measures that would cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Although there is freedom of association in Montenegro, fear of discrimination and stigmatization are the main obstacles that keep Montenegrin gays from getting organized. The fear is also the reason why this population is not active in fighting for its rights. […]

KOSOVO:

Although there are laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation, the report stresses very bad application of these laws. There is homophobia in the media and public opinion and many gays are not aware of the protection that these anti-discrimination laws could give them. As in Montenegro, the level of organizing of the gay population is very low. There is also the fear of discrimination and stigmatization and many don't dare take part in actions carried out by gay organizations. Because of fear, many cases of violence are not reported. Also, a lot of cases of violence were committed by state authorities.

CROATIA:

According to the Commission, Croatia is the only country in the region in which there has been development in regards to the European integration and protection of human rights. Croatia adopted an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law in July 2008. It will have a positive influence on gay rights. The law is in keeping with European standards, but the report underlines that its practical application is not sufficient. The degree of protection against discrimination is lower than in Europe. […]

MACEDONIA:

The report says that anti-discrimination law hasn't gone into effect yet and the current legislation is not in keeping with European standards. There are explicit examples of discrimination against queer population in the report as well as a recommendation that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity be included in the national strategy against discrimination.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA:

The report says that Bosnia & Herzegovina put an effort in order to improve the human rights situation. It also says that there is no all-inclusive anti-descrimination law and that the government formally and informally supports discrimination and violence against gay population. Also, there is job and employment discrimination, as well as disregard for the right of free association, and violence against some people because of their sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the report doesn't mention the brutal attack and violence during the [gay festival in Sarajevo]. ILGA-EUROPE asked that the Commission included this information in its report for 2009 since there was violence against participants during the festival, the offices of gay movements were attacked, death threats were made against activists and organizers of the festival and the police did not react.

Almost all Croatian media have recently published the news about signing of the petition against homosexuality.

According to the daily news section of Croatian website of Dnevnik.hr, on occasion of France's initiative in the United Nations (Croatia supported it) about global decriminalizion of homosexuality, representatives of a civil initiative “Sign the Declaration” organized signing of a petition against homosexual marriages and abortion, among other things. The petition could be signed in Catholic churches around Croatia on Dec. 7. The Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church as well as the Islamic religious community supported this petition.

Reacting to this action, members of Croatian gay rights movements distributed leaflets with the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in front of Zagreb's Cathedral.

Sanja Juras, coordinator of the Lesbian group Kontra said:

The Church has distorted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the media and abused it in order to challenge the homosexuals' right to have a family as well as women's right for an abortion.

Here are several comments by Croatian readers:

Tinta10 says:

All who support gays and besmirch the Church are miserable.

Starimladi:

It is no argument that the initiative is supported by all religious communities. Religious organizations think dogmatically. They exclude any logical thinking and researching. Professionals - psychologists, sociologists, doctors - should answer about health, illness and conception. Not dogmatists. They think that they are God's deputies and they believe only what they say is true. On behalf of God they made a lot of evils so that they don't have credibility.

Angell says:

[…] It shouldn't be bad toward homosexuals but it shouldn't support them. Homosexuality is illness which has to be treated. If people live according to the New Testament or the Ten Commandments, it will be the way it should be. […]

Serbian bloggers follow closely the situation in the Caucasus region. Many of them compared and analyzed the Kosovo issue and the newest opportunities in South Ossetia. Some of them were careful to express their own thoughts and mainly cited thoughts of politicians. Here is a post by Aleksandar T, a Serbian blogger who quoted in his blog some pieces of the last statements by Russia's government officials, who linked military operations in Georgia to certain historical events:

What is this, some propaganda, Western?…

“Russian operation in South Ossetia was very different in regard to American and [NATO operation against Serbia in 1999],
said [Sergey Lavrov], Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister, in an article published in American [Wall Street Journal]. According to his words, when the initiators of bombing campaign finished to attack the military targets, it turns into the attacks on bridges, television towers, passenger trains, civilian objects”, including a direct hit into China's Embassy building in Belgrade.

As far as Russia is concerned, “it has applied force in keeping with the International Law, its own right to defense and the obligations which result from agreements related to conflict in South Ossetia,” said Lavrov. “Russia could not allow that its peacekeepers quietly watch how, right before their eyes, it commits acts of genocide like Bosnian city - [Srebrenica] in 1995,” said Lavrov.

[Rogozin]: [Saakashvili] is not [Gavrilo Princip]

“Russian envoy to NATO Dmitri Rogozin compared the situation in Georgia with the positions of powerful countries before the beginning of the First World War, emphasizing that it is unavoidable that the relationships between Russia and Western countries would become colder.

“The current atmosphere reminds me of the situation in Europe from 1914, when the powerful countries clashed because of one terrorist. I hope that Mikheil Saakashvili will not go down in history as a new Gavrilo Princip,” said Rogozin.

Here are some comments from Aleksandar T's blog.

Doctor Wu says:

It is very clear. In the quarrel with the Western countries Russia is using a concept and a clear picture which are known to them. A mention of Srebrenica is a slap to Dutchmans and Gavrilo Princip is mentioned in the context of how Englishmen think and talk about him: the fool that pulled them into an expensive and unnecessary war. Reading English reactions, this reminder is effective.
Serbia could learn very much from this access.

blackbox92:

I think that Russia proved it is not different from the West when its interest is in question. […] Just in this way Russia indirectly supports the position of the West about Kosovo.

Aleksandar T, the author of the post, also got involved in the discussion with commentators. In one of his replies he used editorial article of the Times. Unfortunately, he did not write the date of publishing of this article.

The Western countries change their foreign political priorities, it's written in the lead article of the Times. They exchange their recent struggle against terrorism for stamping out nationalism of new powerful countries such as Russia and China and their approaching to democratic ideals.

Entire editorial article is, essentially, an analysis of the foreign policy of the West, that is, the story about one more “new world system.” Among other things, the overflow of the world wealth and power from the West into the East is especially underlined and such political and economic shifts as the reflection of the competition of ideas worry much more than “conflict” nations which we could watch at the stadium “Nest” in Beijing over two last weeks, this international analysis explains.

According to the editorial writer's opinion, China, Russia and Arabic countries became rich countries because of inexpensive production of oil and its high market price. They triumph because of social inefficacy, economic instability and exaggerated foreign politics self-confidence by the West.

Such position of the world's major powers threatens the struggle for global democracy and might result in the creation of a world community which mainly defines mutual threats.

Regardless of whether the new president of for now the only world major power will be Barack Obama or John McCain, the West will have, in any case, to face the new world system, it was concluded at the end of article.

When Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on February 17, 2008 governments around the world were divided about the legitimacy of such an act. As of today, 45 out of 192 sovereign United Nations member states have formally recognised the Republic of Kosovo. Notably, a majority of European Union member states have formally recognised it (20 out of 27). However, a few others such as Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece or Cyprus did not recognize Kosovo's independence fearing the reactions of the separatists from their countries. They thought that Kosovo would set a precedent. Then Russia's president Vladimir Putin apparently did not think so.

According to the Chinese daily Xinhua on February 23, 2008:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the recognition of Kosovo's unilateral independence by several major world powers set “a terrible precedent”.

On February 18, the Reuters website published an article on the occasion of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence. The article, titled “Russia's Chechen rebels hail Kosovo independence”, said:

Russia has strongly opposed Kosovo independence, arguing that to recognise a separatist region as a new state without the consent of the country affected sets a dangerous precedent for scores of other territorial conflicts around the world.

Bloggers also reacted and analyzed possible consequences of the recognition of Kosovo's independence. Below is a representative selection of posts from that time.

Stanley Crossick wrote on his blog on February 22, 2008:

Recognition of Kosovo’s independence is an unfortunate solution, but there is currently no better a solution.

[…] Kosovo has separated from Serbia without its consent; and the UN has failed to endorse its independence because of strong protests by Serbia and Russia, backed by China. However, the question should have been brought before the UN Security Council, as the legitimacy, if not the legality, of the independence would have increased with a resolution supported by a large majority, despite the veto(s). The EU foreign ministers have clearly stated that Kosovo is a special case that should not become a precedent but that may fall on deaf ears in Spain, Cyprus.

Irina Filatova, a professor of the Economics in Moscow and a senior research fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, commented on The Guardian's blog Comment is Free on February 23, 2008:

Many think that Russia would use this situation to recognise the break-away [Georgian republics] of [Abkhazia] and [South Ossetia], and perhaps even [Transdnistria], a break-away part of [Moldova].

[…]The Americans say that Kosovo is not a precedent, that it is a once-off exception. It is difficult to believe this. If a nation wants to secede and to create it own statehood, there is little what any government can do, except keep it by force. […] The independence of Kosovo is useful to the US in order to show the world that America is not anti-Muslim, merely anti-rogue states, some of which happen to be Muslim […] But they would not support the [Basques] or the [Walloons], or the [Kurds], let alone the Transdnestrians.

Nor would they support the Abkhasians and the South Ossetians, of course. On the other hand, if Russia decided to recognise these break-away republics, and if Georgia decided to oppose this (which it would) then the Americans would, of course, support [Georgia], and Russia might, indeed, face a conflict with the west.

Kosovo's independence is not going to explode Europe, but it has already exploded many of the assumptions on which our modern system of international relations is based.[…]

Shaun Walker wrote in the British Prospect Magazine in April 2008:

[…] When I visited Abkhazia last month, I heard all the same arguments for independence as on previous visits. But this time there was an added grievance—Kosovo.
Abkhazians have always felt that the west has treated them unfairly, and now, since the recognition of Kosovo's independence by several western countries, they feel doubly wronged. Why did Kosovars deserve their freedom more than the Abkhaz?[…]

Now it seems that assumptions by many bloggers have become a reality. To everyone's astonishment, on the same day the Beijing Olympics started, Russian military troups and South Ossetian separatists took control of the South Ossetia region from Georgia's authority.

Jelena Milić, like many other bloggers, was shocked to hear the news. She wrote [Serbian] about it on her blog in the Serbian news portal B92:

Šta je ovo? Zar nisu nekad ratovi prestajali kad su igre počinjale?

What is this? Weren't wars supposed to stop when the Olympic Games began?

Ivan Marović, also blogging at B92, wrote a post [Serbian] titled “the War in Georgia” in which he says:

Postavlja se pitanje zašto baš sad, nakon petnaestak godina primirja?

S jedne strane, separatisti i Abhaziji i Južnoj Osetiji su osetili da nakon priznanja jednostrano proglađene nezavisnosti Kosova od strane vodećih država Zapada, oni mogu učiniti nešto slično i očekivati podršku Rusije. […] Rukovodstvo Južne Osetije je, poučeno događajima na Balkanu, skapiralo da sve može, ako imaš moćnu državu iza sebe, a u njihovom slučaju to je Rusija.

S druge strane, gruzijski predsednik Miša Šakašvili kapira da je situacija sad ili nikad. On takođe misli da ima moćnu državu iza sebe, Ameriku, ali da će, što vreme duže bude odmicalo, sve teže biti izvesti vojnu akciju protiv separatista. Već sad se oseća smanjenje uticaja Amerike i povećanje uticaja Rusije na Kavkazu. […]

Međutim, već posle nekoliko sati postalo je očigledno da je Rusija reagovala brzo i odlučno, dok se Amerika još uvek drži retoričkih reakcija. Izgleda da će SAD da pomogne Gruziji onoliko koliko je Rusija pomogla Srbiji 1999, odnosno da je gruzijska vojna akcija u Južnoj Osetiji propala, nema ništa od brzog zauzimanja Južne Osetije. Sad je samo pitanje šta će se desiti, da li će rezultat biti prekid vatre uz pojačano pristustvo ruskih trupa ili otvoreni rat koji može poprilično da potraje.

The question is: why now, 15 years after the armistice?
On one hand, Abkhazian and South Ossetian separatists felt that since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence was recognized by the leading Western countries, they could do something like that and expect the support of Russia […] With Kosovo on mind, South Ossetian leaders have figured out that if they get the support of a powerful country, in this case Russia, they will attain their goal.
On the other hand, Georgia's president Mikhael Saakashvili considers that this moment is decisive for his country. He also thinks that he has the support of a powerful country such as the United States, but as time goes by it will be more and more difficult for him to justify the military actions against separatists. […]
However, already after a few hours it became obvious that Russia had reacted promptly and seriously, while the United States is still trying the diplomatic way. It seems that the U.S. will support Georgia in the same way Russia supported Serbia in 1999. It means that Georgia's military operation has failed in South Ossetia. The fast takeover South Ossetia has failed. Now the only question is whether a ceasefire will be worked out so that Russian troops will remain in South Ossetia or the war will be go on.

Reuters blogger Giles Elgood wrote a post titled “Was South Ossetia’s fate sealed in Kosovo?” in which he wondered:

Is Kosovo to blame for the fighting in South Ossetia?
When the Serbian province seceded from Belgrade in February, South Ossetia was quick to reassert its own claim to international recognition.
As a spokeswoman for separatist leader Eduard Kokoity told Reuters at the time: “The Kosovo precedent has driven us to more actively seek our rights.”
Those remarks will not have gone unheard in Tblisi and could well have added some urgency to Georgia’s desire to impose its rule over breakaway South Ossetia.
With widespread Western backing, Kosovo was able to achieve a fairly clean break with its former ruler, despite Russian objections.
Now Moscow is backing the separatists and it’s far from clear how things will play out this time.

Austin Bey doesn't agree, claiming that it is not possible to compare both issues - Kosovo and South Ossetia:

[…]After Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, separatism resulting from international action to protect an ethnic minority has an imprimatur.
That is one interpretation of Russia’s argument that Kosovo should never have been allowed to unilaterally separate from Serbia, which it did earlier this year.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia’s separatist South Ossetia region is certainly renewed warfare in the near abroad. It is also a violent reminder of how unsettled Eastern Europe remains in the post-Cold War era.
For Moscow’s foreign policy purposes, the troubles in Georgia fit “the Kosovo frame” – a minority group beset by an “ethnic nationalist authority” attempting to regain control.[…]

[…]I’m pointing this out not because I believe Georgia is Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia. It most certainly is not. Georgia a democratic state “working its way West” politically and economically. These are major qualitative differences between contemporary Georgia and Serbia in 1999.
However, Russian diplomats warned for the last eight years claimed “the Kosovo precedent” would affect around 200 regions or territories in nations around the world. That’s a nice round figure and it may in fact be low.
Moscow’s insisted that Kosovo would establish a “separatist precedent” for spinning statelets from sovereign nations. Interestingly enough, both Romania and Greece oppose a “unilateral” Kosovo independence. Spain, with its Basque separatists, wasn’t enthusiastic.[…]