Hello Alexander,   
      
    AK>>>>> have equal rights. We live in the 21-st century. The Scotch are   
    AK>>>>> going to proclaim their independence, but surely they will not   
    AK>>>>> proclime their nation dominant, and Englishmen as a second grade   
    AK>>>>> nation, incapacitated from voting.   
      
    BK>>>> They had the same fight in Canada, and Ireland.   
      
    AK>>> Well, anyway, we must not IMHO consider old bloody crimes as a   
    AK>>> justification for modern wars and discrimination.   
      
    BK>> I said the same thing about the Kosovo war. Right wingers opposed   
    BK>> me on that.   
      
   AK>BTW, there is a common thing between Israel and Serbia.   
   AK>Both pretend to the lands belonged them long ago.   
      
   The white man conquered the lands of North America.  The white man   
   also conquered the lands of South America.  The white man now pretends   
   the lands belonged to them long ago...   
      
   AK>Jews were ousted from Palestine two thousand years ago by Christians.   
      
   Romans (especially Roman emperors and soldiers) were not Christian.   
   Not in the first few centuries AD.  And by the time Constantine had   
   declared himself a Christian, the Jewish people had been long gone   
   from Palestine.   
      
   Titus was a Roman general who ordered his armies (which were comprised   
   mostly of Arabs) to surround the city of Jerusalem and put an end to a   
   Jewish rebellion.  Most of the Jews fled into the wilderness, except   
   for some hardheads who decided to wall themselves up inside of a temple.   
   So the great general Titus had to starve them out in a siege.   
      
   Although it took four years, the Temple Street Occupiers finally ran   
   out of lambs and dispersed in search of more lambs to slaughter.  And   
   then the Arab soldiers entered the Temple, and were amazed at what was   
   left to them.  All the walls were covered with gold.  Pure gold.  But   
   they couldn't take it with them, because all the gold was stuck onto   
   the rock, as if the sun had cooked it there so it could not be removed.   
      
   Titus knew he was in trouble then, with his Arab soldiers wanting to   
   get paid and about to revolt against him.  However, Titus was a Roman   
   general and was able to quickly think on his feet.  General Titus then   
   gave the order to his men to "Burn the Temple!"  The great heat of the   
   fire caused the gold to melt into the rocks and disappear before their   
   very eyes.  That put an end to the gold problem.  Or so Titus thought.   
   Until one Arab soldier decided to take a rock home with him as a   
   souvenir.  In between the rocks, hidden in the cracks, was where all   
   that gold had run off to.  And that is when all the real trouble   
   began.  The Arab army went mad, tearing down each stone, grabbing as   
   much gold as their gowns could carry.  And off they went to various   
   lands which we now call Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria...   
      
   A few decades later there was another revolt in Palestine.   
   Titus had long since retired, so it was up to another Roman   
   to settle things.  But not to worry.  Hadrian was there, and   
   knew what to do.  The Jewish people were a very superstitious   
   lot, and Hadrian merely had to show them a sign of who he was   
   and they would run away.  So Hadrian grabbed some cotton, daubed   
   it with alcohol, stuffed it into his cheecks, and stood before   
   the Jewish masses, took a deep breath, and lit up a match.   
   Yes, it is true that Hadrian looked exactly like Marlon Brando   
   in The Godfather.  But that was not the scary part.  When Hadrian   
   let out his breath, he breathed out great balls of fire.  That   
   was when the Jews knew it was time to go.  Hadrian was the   
   Antichrist and was going to send everybody straight to Hell..   
      
   Note: Harry Houdini also performed this trick, but only on stage   
   to a paying audience.  He even wrote a book about it, telling others   
   how to perform the trick, claiming he had learned it from Hadrian   
   himself.   
      
   AK>Serbia was conquered by Ottoman egression five hundred years ago,   
   AK>and then a big part of Christian Serbian population was converted to   
   AK>Islam by force.   
      
   King Richard the Lionhearted brought many Christians with him but who   
   defected to the other side, declaring themselves Muslim in order to save   
   their skins.  Those Christians had been held in prison waiting to die,   
   but had volunteered their services in exchange for a full pardon which   
   they knew would never be granted.  The Ottomans came later, making sure   
   everybody in the area was Muslim and remained Muslim.   
      
   AK>That's why we have today Islamic Europeans in Kosovo, living among   
   AK>hundreds of Serbian Orthodox temples and monasteries.   
      
   And one giant statue of Bill Clinton.   
      
   AK>We can understand how painfully Serbs feel when looking at Kosovo.   
   AK>And especially, at the help NATO provided to the Kosovo Albanians in   
   AK>1999.   
      
   Was it a religious war?  Or was it economic, rather than religious?   
   The entire area of Yugoslavia is now broken up into many parts.  How   
   was it possible for the Olympics to have been held in an area that   
   completely fell apart shortly thereafter?  At the time the Olympics   
   were held, who would have thought Sarajevo would become a bloody   
   war zone?   
      
   AK>Another matter - Kosovo's Albanians cried that Serbs oppressed them   
   AK>as a minority within Serbia, but they easily do the same with the   
   AK>Serb minority within independent Kosovo.   
      
   It's all Tito's fault.  Tito had set up how things would be run   
   after his death.  There would be a rotating presidency, with the   
   leader of each area getting his own turn.  But we all know what   
   happened when the Muslim got his turn...   
      
   Albania had a different president, and was never part of Yugoslavia.   
   As such, Tito never had any control of what those people did or would   
   do.  But one did not have to be psychic to figure things out.  Mother   
   Teresa was Albanian, and would care for everybody.  But then Mother   
   Teresa went and died and ruined the whole plan...   
      
   AK>The way out is obvious - Albanians and Serbs must build a civilian   
   AK>state where all the nations could feel themselves freely and   
   AK>not-oppressed.   
      
   Nah.  What Albanians and Serbs need is for Marshall Tito and Mother   
   Teresa to come back to life and get married.  But I don't think that   
   will happen.  Not anytime soon, anyway.   
      
   AK>It is an ugly mistake when somebody in Europe or the US helps to   
   AK>anybody to build a nationalistic state for a particular nation! He   
   AK>helps to build a new building with bombs laid inside.   
      
   Is nationalism the root of all evil?  What is the difference   
   between nationalism and patriotism?  Or is there any difference?   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.06.00.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)