Monday, February 25, 2008

Egypt and Kosovo

Unlike to what I expected the Egyptian state did not officially recognized the new independent State of Kosovo despite its support to the cause and the people of Kosovo, I thought that Egypt will immediately declare its recognition following the steps of the United States of America and EU but it did not . Some would say that Egypt is trying not to lose Russia , we still have good relations with the Russians and we are trying to keep balance between the Russians and the Americans as pole of powers..etc. Well it turned out that Egypt is hesitated to declare its position from Kosovo for another reason far away from our Russian connections. This reason made me respect again the Egypt regime and reconsider its foreign policies and how it still cares about our national security , yes Our national security can be affected By Kosovo.

Look as I hinted before Europe is divided and cautious from the Independence of Kosovo as it may open the door for the troubled ethnics in the continent to follow the same steps of the Albanians of Kosovo.

Well Europe should not alarmed that much because after all this independence was under the sponsorship of both U.S and EU , yet we are the ones in the middle east who should be alarmed and worried from this independence.

And this is why Egypt is cautious and worried , we all know the plans of the Neo-conservatives of dividing the Arab countries in to more small countries and semi countries based on the religions and ethnics. Most if not all the Arab countries are going to divided , from the Gulf to the Ocean , of course not only the Arab countries but also Iran and Turkey have their share in the plan , yet the later is so cautious and fighting it already in a proactive move up till this moment .

Egypt is scared not only because Sudan, Iraq ,Syria , Saudi Arabia ,Algeria ,you name from the Arab countries are going to be divided but also because Egypt itself is going to have its share from the division process. This is not a conspiracy theory folks . First of all you got the newest threat Egypt currently is fighting that is to gather all the Palestinians from Gaza , West Bank and Mainly from the refugee camps and put them in Sinai , it is empty and Egypt does not use , this talk became a threat to our national security because it is being repeated over and over by the United States of America not recently by the way as a permanent peaceful solution to the Middle east Conflict . The last events in Gaza awaked this fear and here I am not speaking about the silly attack of the governmental media as if the Gazans were invading Sinai , I am speaking about the American and Israeli wishes to get rid from the Palestinians, If you notice the past two weeks the newspapers and media were speaking about the new plans for developing Sinai after long time of concentrating only on tourism projects .

It is not only Sinai but the threats reaches to the valley to Nuba and upper Egypt the day dream of crazy immigrant Copts gangs.

The game of the minorities and ethnics is replayed again and already is used to blackmail several countries and we should not forget that UK entered Egypt through the gate of protecting minorities and ethnics .

I may most of the time criticise the Egyptian regime but this time I respect its hesitation ,in fact again I feel a dilemma whether to be happy  for the Muslim Albanians or scared from this door , I guess the best thing is to be happy and cautious at the same time

I think next week Cairo's position from Kosovo independence will be clear more.

27 comments:

  1. u know, i like it this way, I mean egypt not declaring Kosoco yet,
    because i wont feel happy if Egypt was divided.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Blue,it makes feel me good , no body will be happy if Egypt is divided and insh Allah it will not be divided

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shame on people who claim to be muslims and still can write such a comments. Through this you are supporting Serbia a country who did a de facto genocide against Muslim population of Kosova few years back. More than 50 % of Kosova's Muslims were forced to leave the country because of Serbia's agression. Instead of supporting your brothers who live in this country, you cry for dividing Serbia. Kosovo was never part of Serbia. IT WAS OCCUPIED BY SERBIA. Shame on. May Allah forgive you.
    THis is a reall absurd. Instead of getting support from Muslim Countries, we (Muslim Kosovars) are getting support from Christian countries. Shame on you brothers from Egypt. May Allah forgive you.

    A dissapointed brother from Kosova

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Halil, the disappointed brother from Kosovo , first of all let me say I am happy that you got your independence but
    please read my post again do you find me crying on Serbia or care about them !!?? I am speaking about a fearful danger surrounding Egypt right now , with my all respect those Christian western countries do not help because of humanitarian reasons but because America wants to elimante the Russian power in Europe
    May Allah forgive us all , but this what we call in the Arabic proverb "ِ A right thing used for void"
    with my all respect I will not happy if South of Sudan takes its independence or Iraq was divided
    this is Why Egypt and some Muslim countries are afraid from recognizing your new country because we are very close from division ,please check my archive about this important danger

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is absolutely crazy when millions of Kosovars were about to thrown from there ancestor's land the Egyptian tiny press ignored all that and was more interested in soccer or football, movies and movie stars. They have some coverage for the tiny Christian country enclave of Timor. Covering the Moslems in Kosovars? are you kidding? The Kisovar Moslems should care less than Egypt recognize them or not? They can put that in the toilet. The most crucial thing is when Kosovo got independent and no body have recognize it yet. Now many countries have recognize it. Few days ago Croatia, Bulgaria and Macedonia recognized Kosovo. So the Moslems in Kosovo does not depend whether Secular Egypt recognize it or not. They never were friendly or sympathetic to the Moslems there when they were slaughtered. Baklava is more important.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Sherif, may be Egypt was wrong when it recognized the independence of East Timor , but please read my post again to understand what I am talking about,to understand the Egyptian and Arabic Islamic view
    about the West again dear they do not give a damn for the Muslims of Kosovo,America is doing this only to get some points in its new cold war with Russia , no more no less
    You want to speak about Muslims fine , there are Kashmir , there are the forgotten Muslims of Burma , there are the Iraqi and Palestinian Muslims , can you please why the west did not stand with them ??
    Why is there no Palestinian State ??
    My dear this is this a game of politics

    ReplyDelete
  7. Shame on Egypt for this kind of selfish stance. But it is also silly and short sighted and it will come as a boomerang.

    If Kosova is a precedent, then you are stuck with a precedent coz I don't see how this thing is being undone. We both know that international precedents are created by powers larger than Kosova or even Egypt. It would have been better if the Islamic countries went with the Western justification that Kosova is one of a kind, but since you dispute that, then I guess Kosova is a precedent and you should bear all the consequences of your own making.

    You know, at the end of the day it doesn't matter much to Kosova what Egypt does, but it's just sad to see Muslim countries always being divided like this on matters of importance.

    Maybe Egypt will reconsider recongition once Israel does recongize us first.

    Salam!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Niti, it is not about Kosovo in Particular, again we are with us Muslims ,but we are on the break of being divided in Sub countries , every time they will say it is precedent
    Niti I think Israel has recognized you already
    Some day you will understand

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ashame to Egypt not recognizing Kosovo.
    (@Zenobia: Please do not excuse this shameful stance with the fear of Egyptian division, common quit living in fear brother)
    No matter what it takes a good muslim has to stand by what is the right thing to do. Pride stand further up in my book than fear, dont know about in your book. Egypt not acknoledging Kosovos independence is keeping other muslim OIC countries from doing so too?
    Therefore keeping investment and help away from our brothers in Kosovo. Kosovo is in a very bad economic situation right now and investement are very welcome.
    Salam

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ashame to Egypt not recognizing Kosovo.
    (@Zenobia: Please do not excuse this shameful stance with the fear of Egyptian division, common quit living in fear brother)
    No matter what it takes a good muslim has to stand by what is the right thing to do. Pride stand further up in my book than fear, dont know about in your book. Egypt not acknoledging Kosovo's independence is keeping other muslim OIC countries from doing so too?
    Therefore keeping investment and help away from our brothers in Kosovo. Kosovo is in a very bad economic situation right now and investement are very welcome.
    Salam

    ReplyDelete
  11. @anonymous, your sister Zeinobia is not afraid and Egypt is with Kosovo despite its official position now , look my dear friend Egypt and other Arab countries now are on the brick of division , the Muslims in Kosovo deserve their state but now the west will use this as double edged weapon against us. My dear since when the West and American stand with the Muslims think again ??
    This will not keep the Arab Muslim investment for Kosovo with my all respect , the Muslims who really want to help will not wait for international recognition.
    God knows how we wanted this independence for Kosovo and how when Ibrahim Rugova has passed away "May Allah bless his soul" I felt so sad but latter we found out there is a gap in the international laws that stood beside you and that gap can divide our Islamic nations in to tiny fragments
    My dear do not be surprised or shocked but you need the official Egyptian recognition to become an independent State because you are an independent state already with your struggle.

    ReplyDelete
  12. i am egyptian muslim and i support our serbian brothers

    death to albanian

    kosovo serbian for ever

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you thinking firstly what are you saying?!!!! Don't you realise we in Kosovo are propbably more than 90% muslims and you want death upon us??? Haraam ya!! If you are muslim you would think carefully what you write about other muslims, we are muslims just like you don't judge others because you like serbians or have political affairs with them!!

      Shame on you egyptian muslim wallahi you really made me so angry by your statement....if you so much hate us albanians why you are so proud of the king muhammad ali??? Who is albanian if you didn't know that!!

      So shut your mouth and keep your anger inside you if you have something agains us albanian muslims and rather go with christian serbs! May Allah judge all people who are against other muslims. Amin

      Delete
  13. @the Egyptian Muslim anonymous, are you kidding me ??

    ReplyDelete
  14. ana batkalem begad we balash habal ba2a

    el 3alam betoo3 albanya dool 7aramiya , we sara2o ard el serb el mazlomeen , ana mardash en balady tet2asem we bardash en el belad el tanya bardo tet2asem .

    balash habal ba2a we 5aleena fe nafsena , we niseety en homa 3'azo beladna ma3a el atrak el zebala we ateelo feena wala eih

    we 3ala fekra , serbia de kano beysa3doona lama kona ben7areb el kayan el sehyoony we el alban kano beysa3dohom .

    fakary fe mo5ek we balash tegry wara el 3awatef , masla7et masr aham men ay 7aga fel dinya mashy

    ReplyDelete
  15. Halil Ibrahimi,

    My opinion is that your points of view are absolutely wrong because you are saying that Serbia occupied the Kosovo and did genocide to the Albanians from Kosovo.

    First of all, the first Serbian state was established in 9th century, guess where, right in Kosovo, when there was not even a sign of Albanians (check the world history if you like) and Ilirs, the ancient tribe, which Albanians claims that they are their forefathers, was settled in the region which is Albania today.

    After the World War I there was around 100.000 Albanians on Kosovo and now days there is about 2 million of them. So, tell me please, how come that for the less than 100 years Albanian population multiplied almost 10 times?

    Explanation is that, during the Tito era and after (last 60 years since the World War II), it was aloud to the Albanians from Albania to move in to Kosovo. So, that means that Albanians occupied the Kosovo (check the world history again).

    What to say about the crimes that Albanians committed to the Serbs during that time (reaping, killing, kidnapping...) when several hundred of thousands of Serbs were displaced from Kosovo and it was continuing after 1999?

    And speaking about the love of USA to Albanians from Kosovo, why don't you ask them why they dropped tons of bombs with uranium on Kosovo and no where else in Serbia. They bombed us “only” with the regular bombs (not accounting the cassette bombs).

    Having on mind that I'm Serb, whose living in Cairo now a days and that I'm pretty familiar with the political conditions in the region, I do completely share the points of view of Zeinobia about the facts that Egypt did not recognized the so called “state of Kosovo". Egypt, as the leader of Arab and Islamic countries, ruling the responsible foreign policy and can not aloud such a thing (Sudan with Darfur and South Sudan, Iraq, Palestine etc.) and because the Israel's and USA plans to settle the Palestinians on the Sinai.

    And finally, Americans does not like Albanians. They just have their own interests in the region and that's it and just care about them selves.

    There is lot of more things to say but maybe some other time.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It's very sad that you take this anti-Serbian stance when Serbs have always been a friend to Egypt, since the 1880s unofficially and since 1920 officially. Perhaps this article will shed more light on your "Muslim brothers and sisters from Kosovo"

    KOSOVO-CATHOLICS Feb-9-2009 (890 words) xxxi

    In Kosovo, whole families return to Catholic faith

    By Victor Gaetan
    Catholic News Service

    PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNS) -- Although armed conflict in Kosovo ended nearly a decade ago, the capital city still feels like a place hit recently by war or natural disaster. Electricity goes out often, water is strictly rationed, U.N. jeeps are ubiquitous and people look harried.

    Along the main road leading to Pristina, every other lot is full of old cars, stolen from other European countries and picked clean or abandoned by families who fled the war.

    But during Sunday Masses at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, an active Catholic community packs the pews. There are families and old people, a full-voiced choir, eight young altar servers and long lines to receive the Eucharist.

    The church, located in a working-class neighborhood, was built in the 1960s after the communist regime demolished the Catholic cathedral in the city's center.

    "We are small but very alive. Children from every grade are in catechism (classes)," said Father Albert Jakaj, 30, whose identical twin is a priest in Montenegro. "People are coming back to their old faith. We have whole families coming back to their roots."

    The priest described a small village where 10 families came to him asking to receive the sacraments: "They want to be back with their traditional faith. It's not conversion but a strong returning."

    Kosovar Albanians "have lived through a national crisis that centered on national identity as well as on religious identity. ... But our Catholic roots are very old," he said.

    During the communist period, Kosovo was an autonomous region of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia. Serbians claimed control over Kosovo although more than 90 percent of its citizens were ethnic Albanian Muslims who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule, but a sizeable minority of Kosovar Albanians remained Catholic.

    Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Albanian Muslims and Catholics often worked together against Serb control, which was associated with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

    In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia to convince it to relinquish control of Kosovo to the United Nations. In February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia.

    Today, Kosovo's Catholic population is approximately 65,000 in a country with roughly 2 million people. Another 60,000 Kosovar Catholics are outside the country, mainly for work.

    The Catholic community tries to share its values while building positive relations with other communities. One way it does this is through schools.

    The Loyola-Gymnasium Prizren, which opened in 2005, has 600 students, more than 80 percent from Muslim backgrounds. Its executive director is German Jesuit Father Walter Happel, but Loyola does not offer religion classes.

    Pal Bala, legal adviser at Loyola and a parishioner at St. Anthony's Church, said: "Everyone sees the difference between our school and secular schools or other religious schools right away. We promote equal education for boys and girls. We promote respect, love and justice. We have Franciscan nuns at the school working side by side with lay staff. And we have high standards that promote meritocracy among students.

    "As Catholics, we demonstrate our values within the community. Through this kind of work, we convince people about the rightness of our beliefs," Bala said.

    Evidence of the Catholic Church's confidence in its future is reflected in plans to construct a new Pristina cathedral, named after Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an ethnic Albanian. The current and former presidents of Kosovo, both Muslims, have publicly supported the plan.

    Msgr. Shan Zefi, chancellor of the Prizren-based Catholic apostolic administration, noted that the Catholic Church was well-represented in the Kosovo government.

    "There's no doubt the government sees us as an asset and source of hope, since we represent a link with Western democratic values," he said.

    Msgr. Zefi noted that "some Muslim clergy appear unhappy about the current wave of baptisms. But they know the converts weren't proper Muslims and must be free to make their own choices.

    "Our relations with the Islamic community are better than with the nationalistic Orthodox church," he said, noting that the Catholic Church hopes to play a mediating role between Muslims and Orthodox.

    Most Catholic Kosovars say they have had positive relations with their Muslim neighbors for years.

    "My father is Muslim and his parents, going back, maintain a combination of Muslim and Christian practices. They are known as 'crypto-Catholics' because, although the men go to the mosque on Fridays, the family follows Christian principles at home. Children are baptized at home. Sunday is considered holy. My paternal grandparents lit candles for Christian holy days," said St. Anthony's parishioner Mihane Nartile Salihu.

    "In the morning, my father and his family say prayers in Arabic, but at night, they say the Our Father and Hail Mary in Albanian," Salihu said. "Like Christians, the whole family eats together ... while in strict Muslim homes, men and women eat separately."

    "This double identity developed under Ottoman rule because as a Christian you suffered ostracism and higher taxes, but calling yourself a Muslim had a lot of advantages, so many people declared themselves to tax collectors as Muslims but kept Catholic tradition at home," she said.

    Father Jakaj said this cultural history contributes to more understanding between the religious groups and makes the process of revitalizing the church a matter of recovering latent identity.

    - - -

    Contributing to this story was Jonathan Luxmoore in Oxford, England.

    END

    http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900620.htm

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ye Well said!

    Egypt will recognize when Israel and the russinas do. I mena what is wrong with the goverment there. They take orders from Russia and abandon their friends in the ballkans. We will not forget. Egyptian goverment will never surpress the good will of albanians towards the egyptians or the other way around. May god grant egyptians prosperity and never be made to suffer under an occupation like Kosovo had to endure

    ReplyDelete
  18. My dear egyptians!

    Go on and don't support your albanian brothers, but don't forget that it was one great albanian your King Mohammad Ali Pasha that created your modern state that you have now.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Zeinobia,
    I see your point: fear of middle east disintegration. I understand your point but I think you need to blame yourself (I mean Arab world) more then anybody else. Think about it – if all countries in OIC have one voice, one real aim uniting all Muslim countries I am sure there is no country in the world to make your fear happen. But I think since Egypt – I mean the government of Egypt has betrayed Palestinian brothers there is no question that your government cares less about Kosovo. But what really I do not understand is why your government is taking sides against Kosovo in International Court? This means something more serious is brewing in your government and the people of Kosovo needs an explanation.

    Kosovo has never been part of Serbia and never is going to be (please read the book “Kosovo: A Short History by Noel Malcolm and you will understand that.
    Kosovo is today an independent state and will remain so regardless if your government will recognize it or not. The modern Egypt is established by Albanian ( perhaps some rot causes of your government stance can be found on that legacy) and we as Albanian will know how to govern Kosovo as well. I always have heard good things about Egypt from my parents and grand parents but your government actions has changed my mind completely: Any shopping I do now I check if the goods are made in your country and if so I do not buy them: there are plenty of alternatives.

    Tofik from Albania

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kosovo is an unique case.I don't think it's a western strategy to divide Arab countries

    and tofik from Albania...PERFECT EXPLANATION

    ReplyDelete
  21. i am horrified by many of the comments on this topic, and it is sad that many of you find it appropriate to comment and dispute about matters that you are so evidently ignorant of. if any of you had a clue about the history of serbia you would know that kosovo is its heart and every serbian citizen knows this, and everybody else can say what they wish because it doesn;t mean anything, it is not yours to recognize or approve of, kosovo is in our hearts.

    ReplyDelete
  22. How can you say something like that.
    If you feel a muslim and a citizen of Egypt how dare to say that you dont support Independent Kosovo.
    Kosovo has 90% albanian muslims population and Egypt is the shame of all this scene supporting the genocide that serbia did in Kosovo and Bosnia. All these people and non-government organisations in Egypt should protest and force the government to Recognize Kosovo as soon as possible because its a shame for such a big nation and country to go against a nation in europe that has nothing against egypt plus have many things in common. you should just know that you are with the wrong side!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Kosovo is a part of Serbia more than 750 years ... and over .... and Albania emerged much later ..... because that Albania can't take it because Kosovo belongs to Serbia and has always been part of Serbia.
    Albania did not exist in 1389 when Kosovo was part of Serbia.
    Please people read history,read....
    Now in Kosovo just are living only Albanians because they only kill the Serbs, it is people who only know how to kill.
    Let Allah give to all those countries that have recognized Kosovo experience as well as Serbian, an experience that someone takes the earth...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dear Zeinobia,

    My greetings from Kosovo.

    Related to the issue of division of countries that prior have been created.
    Speaking of occupation(annexation) of Kosovo from Serbia after the London treaty (mostly with support of Russia).

    Their intention were to get access to Adriatic sea. So, Serbia has made plans to invade half entire Albania, macedonia and northern Greece to have control on Thessaloníki (Salonika, ثيسالونيكي) port.

    The only problem that Serbia had in Kosovo is that Albanians in Kosovo resisted actively assimilation, and deportation of Albanians as it was done earlier with two places so-called Sandzak of Yenibazar and Sandzak of Nish. The albanian inhabitants that used to live there until 1889 were about ranging from 280 000 up to 350 000, all of them either were deported or asimilated. This how the Serbia has changed the demographic map of the area. After Ottoman empire serbia gained control of Kosovo and in Kosovo in year 1900 by Ottoman census there were about 740 000 albanians. After WWII due to all activities carried by serbians in Kosovo there were only 500 000 Albanians left. Most of people deported from these areas is in Turkey and few of them in USA.

    After WWII I recall a time when the Serbians have put into our schools nervous gas that Serbia has bought it from Israel. The plan was so, we were split among nationalities in schools and then only Albanian pupils were affected by this gas. They have closed our schools, they have kicked Albanians from their jobs, We couldn't speak freely in Albanian in streets, the daily newspaper were shut down and so on.
    So, any nation treated so, has right for self-determination.

    Salam

    ReplyDelete
  25. I realize that mu comment comes a bit late. This conversation is well and over. But, due to the serious misinformation going on, I feel it deserves some truth.
    Serbs came to Balkans in the late 6th century whilst Albanians are indigenous population of the land. Before Serbs came there, the land belonged to the kingdom of Dardania, which was an ancient Albanian Illyrian population. Serbia occupied Kosova after the fall of Ottoman empire. That was followed by genocide and mass expulsion. There were more than 24 Serbian program-mes for the destruction of Albanian element from Kosova. They all failed. Today that historical tragedy is reversed and we don't need anyone's approval to be free. What is disturbing is to see Egyptians , whom we gave the great Muhammad Ali, the creator of modern Egypt and for thousands of Albanian warriors who fell for the freedom of Egypt. And this is how Egyptians pay us back? By siding with Serbia that has been killing muslims for more than hundred of uears , in Bosnia, Sanjak and Kosova? Thanks a lot and I wish you a splendid time with your brother Serbs and brother Russians who are massacring scores of Muslims in Chechnya.
    Kosova was again occupied

    ReplyDelete
  26. kosovo is albaniastop serbian teror

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for your comment
Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted
The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.