Up Too Late: An Endless Search for Mr.Right & Other Important Things in Life

In the last few weeks, thanks to the wonders of IPTV technology, I've been avidly following the coverage of the parliamentary elections in Kosova. I was disappointed to find out that a year after president Rugova's death, Kosova's political parties have fragmented into a bunch of small parties...

Ibrahim Rugova, the man who used diplomacy as a tool of peaceful resistance and was recognized by the world as a pacifist who wished for a peaceful resolution to the Serb-Albanian divide, is shunned today by those who are tired of promises, those who want immediate action on the region's looming independence, eight years after the war that saw my family and me, among more than a million Kosovars displaced, over twenty thousand mostly Albanian men and women killed.

His party, LDK (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës) , the Democratic League of Kosova, continues to use Rugova as an image to promote its values. However, there is something morbid, something sad, almost ironic, in the promotion of a dead man to a people who want resolutions fulfilled, long lists of "to do" promises held.

While alive, Rugova enjoyed a popularity comparable to few in Kosovar history. After Rugova's death, UN officials, diplomats and Kosovar politicians saw his passing away as an opportunity to move on, to move towards the much-wanted independence in a more pro-active, immediate manner. Kosovars saw this as a chance to wake up from the "dream" of independence resulting from diplomatic talks.

A year later, little has changed. Kosovars have become hopeless and desperate, to the extent that they've given the international community a deadline to settle Kosova's political status. The unheard Kosovars, Serbs, continue to reject any notions of independence, and, though I would hate for Kosova to remain part of Serbia, I can understand why they choose to boycott elections
(lack of security, allegiance to Serbia, Kosovar Albanians' anger blame on the community for the 2300 missing persons since 1998).

While watching the news on KTV (alternative and independent TV media station, comparable to B92 in Serbia) yesterday, I heard an interview with a Serbian man from northern Mitrovica, who said he boycotted the elections because he feared that if he did vote, his vote would add to the multiethnic vote count in an independent Kosova, a notion he despises, as, he said, he only believed in Kosova within Serbian territory.

The group Vetevendosja (Self-determination, alb., I wrote them about a couple of months ago here), called for a boycott on Kosovar elections, as well. The group says Kosovar parliamentary elections are simply a forum for rival groups to compete for more empty promises and useless, result-less negotiations with UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosova). Their dream came true. Kosovar Albanians, who, until 2004, saw elections as the only way of showing their discontent with the Serbian regime, are growing more and more disappointed in the electoral process, halfing the turnout at the elections this year (less than 45%), as opposed to the war years (more than 90%).

At this point, I don't know what will happen with Kosova. The preliminary results (graph above, from the Demokracia në Veprim coalition), show Kosovars want to try something new. They want to deviate from diplomacy and want unilateral independence. How productive this will be is left for the world to see. US and France are big supporters of Kosovar independence, but what of China and Russia, which both oppose Kosovar independence?

My Quebecois heartbreaker, in a heated chat we had about the future of Kosova (and Quebec, incidentally!), told me he thinks that Canada, too, plans to oppose Kosovar independence, for fears it might incite a separation of Quebec from the country.

The winning party, PDK (Partia demokratike e Kosovës), the Democratic Party of Kosova has set the deadline for independence for December 10th, a day when they will declare Kosova independent unilaterally, if the West does not do anything to support it.

Coincidentally, December 10th is International Human Rights Day.

Image credit: City of Gjakovë - Flickr-ibslim , Poster - Vetevendosje

Labels: Canada, ibrahim rugova, Kosova, Kosovo, politics, problems, Serbia

A silly row between Egypt and Germany threatens the diplomatic ties between the two countries. A bust of Queen Nefertititi (1400 BC), brought to Berlin as part of an archaeological dig project in Egypt in 1912 financed by a German patron, seems to have caused more stir than it probably should have.

The bust of the woman thought to have been one of the most beautiful women in history, is claimed by the German government to be "cultural property" of the country, whereas Egypt, on the other hand, says the bust is part of Egyptian identity.

Funny enough, for a country so multicultural, Germany claims Nefertiti is the best newcomer. "I think Nefertiti is the best ambassador of Egypt. She is accepted here, although she is still unique and different. She must stay in Germany,"says Dietrich Wieldung, the curator of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

The reason used by the German Ministry of Culture for not sending the bust back to Egypt is that the bust is too fragile to travel and could fall apart while on its way back to its home. It's funny how Nefertiti is too old to travel, yet it was used for odd exhibitions that required some contemporary artists to move it around using nothing other than their hands, yet transporting it using crates and other packaging used for transporting fragile museum pieces is insufficient.

I didn't know about the controversy when I saw Nefertiti last summer at the Museumsinsel.. She just looked neutral, so neutral, in fact, that her empty eyes attracted my attention. Return to sender? I guess not.

Labels: Berlin, Egypt, Germany, Museum, politics

8 years after the brutal beating death of Matthew Shepard and dozens of other youths across the United States, the US House of Representatives was still hesitant about voting in protection for individuals claiming human rights abuse based on their sexuality.
Finally, last Friday, the HoR voted 237 to 180 and passed the law to extend hate-crime protection to people victimized because of their sexuality.

Labels: gay rights, homophobia, human rights, integration, politics, United States

This Tuesday will be the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Queen signed the document on April 17th, 1982, after we pleaded with her and her politicians for decades, centuries even, to have our own planefull of rights.
In the presence of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, letter H's favourite Prime Minister and French Quebecers' least liked politician, the Queen signed the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms into the Constitution.

This year, the Conservative minority government, which has never been a fan of the Charter ("Rights?? Who needs'em???!!!"), apparently has no major celebrations planned for the day that marks a symbolic breaking away from the strict and controlling mother Queen two and a half decades ago.

Five years ago, when, at the time, the Liberal government was in power, Canadian Alliance, the co-founding group of today's Conservative Party of Canada, said that the whole Charter thing had been overdone by the Liberal government, underlining that its need was exaggerated in a sense, ignoring some fundamental human rights that would never have been challenged had the Charter not been enshrined in the Canadian Constitution. The Alliance said at the time that the Charter went against the will of many Canadians who thought the rights revolution "had gone too far".

This week, on Monday and Tuesday, the University of Ottawa is holding a two-day conference on the Charter. Apparently, all of the invited guests, except for Stephen Harper and his run-alongs, are coming. Stephane Dion, who first declined the invitation, must have changed his mind when he found out about Harper's decision to unofficially boycott the event.

Jean Chrétien, the former Liberal prime minister who initiated the same-sex marriage vote is apparently talking at a $150-per-plate gala fundraiser in Montreal about the importance of having a Charter.Harper must be staying home and enjoying Bill O'Reilly and Fox News.

His government recently (last fall), canceled funding for the Charter Challenges Program, which helped individuals and groups/organizations challenge federal laws on the grounds of equality. The Program, known as the pillar of federal court challenges, has given out funding in the past to groups demanding a change in the definition of marriage, prisoner's rights to vote and, among other things, the limits of the parents' disciplining of children.

Oddly enough, Canadians seem to be turned on by the idea of going conservative. A prime minister who refuses to acknowledge the importance of one of the most important and fundamental human rights documents is gaining popularity, according to polls.

The pendulum is swinging right once again...wonderful. We are already explicitly supporting Israel's so-called anti-terrorist measures that cause thousands of civilians' deaths, Israeli and Palestinian. Every few days, our "anti-terrorist troops" are attacked in Afghanistan. We are going under in our environment policies. Refugee claimants are being deported every day.

At the tennis club, a member sees me typing my paper on racial profiling in Montreal. He asks me what I'm doing and when I tell him what it's all about, he asks me what I think of the Montreal police. I say that I have no personal opinion on it, but that so far, I've only found negative info. on them. He looks at me and says,

"Our Charter was overdone. It gives every nobody, especially the first generation Canadians a chance to claim the race card when a policeman pushes him or treats him like he should, for beating up someone or for sexually assaulting someone else. Frankly, and a lot of lawyers agree with me, the Charter of Rights was overdone." I ask rhetorically, in a curious tone: "But you can't change it, can you?"...he replies, with a sad face: "It's too hard to change it."... Take that, racist millionaires.

In other news, Quebec's ADQ is considering pressuring the provincial government to sign the Canadian Constitution it never signed in 1982. Quebec is the only Canadian province not to have approved the Constitution. The signing would allow the province to finally propose an amendment to the constitution, in order to, according to the Action Démocratique du Québec, achieve greater autonomy from the rest of Canada.

What surprises me is why Quebecers have to go to the most conservative party in the province to get help to make the province sovereign...or autonomous...or whatever.

Sources:

Justice Canada

"Conservatives skip out on Charter events" - The Gazette, Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Labels: Canada, conservatism, human rights, politics, quebec