| Kosovo ministers address Pat Robertson about Kosovo's independence |
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30 October 2006 Dear Mr. Robertson:Grace and peace to you in Jesus’ name! We the undersigned are national pastors and foreign missionaries serving in Kosovo. We represent several nations of the world and a wide range of denominations and doctrines within the evangelical spectrum. We are writing to express our deep concern at reports we have read in various media outlets as well as on the website of Bishop Artemije of the Serbian Orthodox Church. According to these reports (see text and links pasted below), the bishop met with you to inform you of the “destruction of Christian civilization” here and to warn that to grant independence to Kosovo would be to “permit the establishment of an Islamic state”. In light of these warnings, the bishop claims that you promised to exert your influence to help keep Kosovo in Serbia. Mr. Robertson, we who are on the ground working to spread the Gospel in Kosovo are convinced that the bishop has shown you a distorted picture. We would like to share with you some of our observations and to plead with you to listen to our perspective before taking any action in this matter. First of all, we find it troubling that Bishop Artemije of all people would turn to American evangelical leaders for help. This same bishop has consistently proven as fierce a foe of evangelicals here in the former Yugoslavia as any Muslim leader. In an article in a Serbian Orthodox publication, he anathematized anyone who set foot in a Protestant church. Our brothers and sisters in Serbia still suffer discrimination and sometimes outright persecution as a result of the influence of church leaders such as Bishop Artemije. We wonder whether the bishop considers his efforts to stamp out evangelicalism as part of his defense against the destruction of Christianity in this part of the world. Today in predominantly Muslim Kosovo, evangelicals have more legal rights than in predominantly Orthodox Christian Serbia. In fact, Both parliaments passed religious laws in the past year. The Kosovo law provides one of the strongest guarantees of religious liberty in all Europe, recognizing the Protestant community by name. The Serbian law favors the Orthodox Church and serves to legitimize longstanding discrimination of evangelicals. The bishop’s claim that an independent Kosovo would become an Al Qaeda base also strikes those of us here on the ground as absurd. Kosovar Albanians are by and large more pro-American than Americans themselves. The stars and stripes flies side by side with the Albanian two-headed eagle all across Kosovo. This past year, thousands of local people gathered in cities, towns and villages on the Fourth of July to share in America’s joy then again on the 11th of September to share in America’s mourning. A popular saying here is, “God in heaven; America on earth!” Bishop Artemije has every right to speak out against the destruction of Serb religious sites and the persecution of Serbs. We join with him in condemning these attacks in the strongest possible terms. Nationalism is unquestionably an ugly, idolatrous force that has left in its wake countless victims of every ethnicity here in the Balkans. However, the bishop’s effort to depict this nationalism as “Islamic terrorism” is both deceptive and damaging. If attacks on Serbs and their churches are Islamic terrorism, then how should one describe the attacks on the Albanian population and their places of worship in 1998 and 1999? Or how does one account for the fact that these “Islamic terrorists” have never touched Albanian Catholic or Protestant places of worship? We do not deny that there are Islamic fundamentalists working to gain influence here in Kosovo – as there are in the USA, Britain and just about everywhere else in the world. At the moment, these extremists are few in number and are strongly opposed by the vast majority of the population. But please hear us, Mr. Robertson! If you publicly oppose the independence of Kosovo you will play directly into Islamists’ hands in two important ways. First of all, the radical Muslims here would love nothing more than to find evidence of a link between evangelicals and the extreme nationalist elements of the Serbian Church. Crosses carved into the ruins of Albanian homes bombed and burned during the war reinforced the perception that Serb paramilitaries carried out their atrocities with the blessing of the Church. We hope that you will not make a statement that would cause us to be accused of sharing in the guilt for those atrocities. Secondly, if you were successful in persuading the U.S. to oppose Kosovo’s independence, this would prove to be a huge victory for Islamic extremists. Then they would say, “You trusted in America, but America has betrayed you!” In the aftermath of such an event, a deeply disillusioned population would be ripe for Islamist propaganda. Already the publicity arising from this case has resulted in serious threats against evangelical believers here in Kosovo. Mr. Robertson, you can be absolutely certain that if you align yourself with Bishop Artemije’s agenda, your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Kosovo will pay a very high price . If the Orthodox website and the Financial Times are misrepresenting your statements or intentions, for the sake of the Gospel in Kosovo we urge you to make a strong public denial in order to correct the misconceptions these article have caused. We plead with you in the name of Jesus not to give ammunition to the enemies of the Gospel! God bless you,
Mark Edwards Organization: CrossWorld Home country: USA
Mark and Celeste Yocom Organization: Calvary Chapel Home Country: USA
Pastor Bukurije Nikqi Church: Fellowship of Jesus Pejë-Istog, Kosova
Jeff and Linda McLaughlin Organization: Fullness of Time Ministries Home country: USA
Matthew and Rachael Piercey Organization: Youth With A Mission Home country: USA
Jeff and Deb Diehl Organization: CrossWorld Home country: USA
Dave Lowrance, Missions Team Leader Richfield Community Church, Yorba Linda, CA Home country: USA
Seongmin Lee Abudant Life Church, Prishtinë Home country: South Korea
Yeonhee Kim Abundant Life Church, Prishtinë Home country: South Korea
Irun Park Abundant Life Church Home country: South Korea
Joshua Miekley "Vepra e Bashkimit te Vellezerve te Krishtere te Shqiperise" Foundation
Home country: USA
Pastor Driton Gashi Eternity Church Gjakova, Kosova
Pastor Astrit Morina Eternity Church Gjakova, Kosova
Don and Marti Denham Organization: Lift Kosova Home country: USA
Gary and Michele Gallina Organization: Assemblies of God Home country: USA
Ransom and Linda Pyle Organization: International Teams Home country: USA
Matt and Judy Krebs Organization: Eastern Mennonite Missions Home country: USA
David Thomas Organization: Pioneers Home country: USA
Mark and Mary Orfila Organization: Assemblies of God Home country: USA
Steve Davis Organization: Association of International Missions Home country: UK
Steve Frey Organization: Assemblies of God Home country: USA
Donna Robinson Organization: International Mission Board
Home country: USA Church of the Nazarene Prishtinë, Kosova
Jeff and Diane Geaslen Organization: Apostolic Team Ministries Home country: USA
John and Ruth Chestnut Organization: Christian Church/ Churches of Christ Home country: USA
Mark Brinkman Organization: Christian and Missionary Alliance Home country: USA
Gregor Menga Organization: Frontiers Home country: Albania
Altin Zefi Organization: Campus Crusade for Christ Home country: Albania
Robin & Mirjana Essex Organization: Elim New Life Foundation Home countries: UK and Albania
Jason Stryd Organization: Horizons International Home country: USA
Pastor Driton Krasniqi Fellowship of the Lord’s People Prishtinë, Kosova
Pastor Artur Krasniqi Fellowship of the Lord’s People Prishtinë, Kosova
David and Kristen Dyer Organization: Operation Mobilization
Home countries: Australia and Norway Organization: Bashkësia e Besimit Biblik Home country: Germany
William Prime Organization: Global Neighbors, Inc. Home country: Canada
Brad and Abigail Byrd Organization: Radstock Home countries: USA and UK
Primrose Leahy Organization: European Christian Mission International Home country: Republic of Ireland
Ernie and Suzy Penner Organization: Greater Europe Mission Home countries: Canada and USA Financial Times article http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e81e0fc4-540d-11db-8a2a-0000779e2340.html US evangelists 'join campaign to keep Kosovo within Serbia' By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: October 5 2006 03:00 | Last updated: October 5 2006 03:00
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, outspoken and influential televangelists in the US, are joining forces with Serbia's Christian Orthodox church to campaign against independence for the mainly Muslim province of Kosovo, according to the spiritual leader of the Serb minority there.
Bishop Artemije, the most senior Orthodox cleric in Kosovo, said the two Christian broadcasters had promised to alert their followers and exert their influence.
"They point out that they have friends at the highest level of government and will urge them to help us so that Kosovo remains in the borders of Serbia," he said.
Diplomats in Washington say that whipping up Christian fervour in the US reflects the increasingly vitriolic and intolerant debate within Kosovo that occasionally spills over into violence.
Efforts on both sides are intensifying as the ethnic Albanian majority - overwhelmingly secular but with a majority tracing Muslim roots - lobbies hard for full independence.
Martti Ahtisaari, the United Nations mediator, is due to present his recommendations on final status by the end of the year. Kosovo has been a ward of the international community since 1999, when Nato bombed Serbia and occupied the province to stop further ethnic cleansing of the ethnic Albanians.
In an interview with the FT during his third visit to the US this year, Bishop Artemije set out the argument shaping the Serb case - that independence would provide a base for an "extremist Islamic jihad" and endanger the Balkans, Europe and the US.
Followers of the puritanical Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam and al-Qaeda jihadists would be drawn there, he said. Already the province, under UN rule, was the "black hole" of Europe, run by criminal gangs trading in people, guns and drugs, while murderers and desecrators of churches and cemeteries were trying to "eradicate" the Christian community.
"It is unbelievable to see the US on one side declaring war on terror around the world and on the other side tolerating it in Kosovo," he said.
Mr Falwell, a Baptist minister and Moral Majority founder, and Mr Robertson, the Christian broadcaster, have courted controversy in portraying what they see as the threat to the western world emanating from the nature of Islam.
In 2002 Mr Falwell provoked outrage among Muslims by calling the prophet Mohammed a "terrorist". His comments led to deaths among rioters in the Indian city of Mumbai and he later apologised.
Mr Robertson is on record as saying that Islam "is anything but peaceful", subjecting unbelievers to forced conversion or death. "It's just that simple," he said. Neither responded to FT queries about their reported offers of help to the Serbs.
While earlier this year it was commonly believed that the US backed full independence for Kosovo, analysts and diplomats believe there has been a recent shift towards a form of "conditional" independence that falls short of full sovereignty.
Asked if he felt he was making progress in his lobbying, Bishop Artemije answered: "We are still sowing the seeds and we have to wait for the final gathering of the crop." He also said that since July he had felt "a different breeze" crossing the Atlantic. "All of this shows we are following the right path," he said, urging the international community to let negotiations continue beyond this year. He endorsed Belgrade's call for substantial autonomy for Kosovo.
Bishop Artemije cited an aide to Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, as saying he believed Kosovo would get "some form of independence".
Diplomats said Boris Tadic, Serbian president, made a strong impression last month on Mr Cheney and Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state.
He projected Serbia as an ally in the "war on terror" while warning that independence for Kosovo could hand power at the next elections - probably in December - to the anti-western Radicals and Socialists.
Serbia has a growing military relationship with the US and is to send a small contingent of medics to Afghanistan and possibly personnel to Lebanon. Analysts say these are remarkable developments for an army still going through reforms since the atrocities committed against ethnic Albanian Muslims in the late 1990s.
Independent academic experts on Kosovo are highly sceptical of the notion that a new state would provide Islamist extremists with a foothold on the edge of Europe.
But they do recognise the danger of Kosovo becoming a weak state reliant on international aid and prone to exploitation by criminal gangs involved in drugs and human trafficking.
Anna Di Lellio, former adviser to Agim Ceku, the Kosovo Albanian prime minister, warned that a partially independent Kosovo could come to resemble the West Bank - with all the attendant political violence.
Stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US is eager to draw down its 1,700 troops and police stationed inKosovo.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Press Department of the Diocese of Ras- Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija Meeting between Bishop Artemije and Pat Robertson, Diocese of Ras Prizren - Press Department On the first day of his visit to the USA His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Raška and Prizren, together with other members of his delegation, consisting of Prof. Miroljub Jevtic, Mr. Dragan Velic and Protos Simeon, Abbot of the Monastery of Banjska, visited Mr. Pat Robertson, Protestant pastor and Christian activist, who is closely involved in social, political and spiritual happenings in America today. Pat Robertson is well-known in the entire United States of America for his speeches, lectures, commentaries and answers to various questions which define American culture and civilization of this day.
Through the exceptionally powerful TV network CBN he exxerts a very great influence on tens of millions of Americans who closely follow his opinions and positions on various issues and who, being closely involved in politics, are in a position to impact a significant segment of American administration.
It is a great pity and a mistake on the part of our administration that people like Pat Robertson have not been identified as factors capable of helping us change the unjustly negative image of Serbia and the Serbian people which, unfortunately, is still prevalent in the public opinion of the world. This brings us to the question of inertia and indiffierence of several administrations, which have in recent times been at the helm of our state and which have failed to identify and understand the value of lobby activities-so necessary in the world of great powers today. For decades now, unsparing of money or effort, the Croats, the Muslims and the Albanians have been actively and assiduously engaged in this matter, and the results of their work are evident and are always to our detriment.
Well acquainted with the current situation and fully aware of global dimensions of the danger which radical Islam represents, bent as it is on establishing its power in all not yet islamized parts of the world, Pat Robertson easily recognized the elements of jihad and the Wahhabi ideology in the activities of Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija. He is also aware of the negative consequences which the independence of Kosovo and Metohija will bring in its wake.
In a very precise analysis of the situation, Bishop Artemije drew the attention of Pat Robertson to the fact that a growing number of representatives of American administration and public at large agree with this conclusion. The one remaining unassailable bastion is the State Department which is, at the same time, the chief architect of the US policy concerning Kosovo and Metohija. The Statement Department has retained Clinton’s approach to resolving the problem of Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Clinton’s neo-liberal personnel structure. The persistent refusal on the part of the State Department to confront seriously the terrorist character of the Albanian administration in Kosovo and Metohija, and even of a large part of the Albanian population, among whom the radical Wahhabi elements are on the rise, can further jeopardize the safety of Europe and even America through the strengthening of the so-called White Al Qaeda, whose members are recruited from among European-born Muslims. White Muslims are already engaged in acts of terrorism in and …
After hearing detailed descriptions of the destruction of Christian civilization and ethnic cleansing of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, concluding that that “Islam is a terrible curse, a scourge which has afflicted this world, Pat Robertson exclaimed: “We unleashed this curse upon the world!”. He add that it was “absolutely scandalous that we should permit the establishment of an Islamic state in Kosovo and Metohija by robbing a sovereign state of part of its territory, with the aid of American money to boot.”
After the conversation with Pat Robertson, Bishop Artemije, and Jim Jatras, representative of VENABLE, the firm engaged to conduct lobby activities on behalf of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, were interviewed by CBN. CBN intends to visit Kosovo and Metohija as well as by the end of this year and to make a comparative analysis of radical Islamic activities in these two areas. Pat Robertson has personally undertaken to correct the prevalent false image of Albanian Muslims in Kosovo and Metohija and to recruit forces to fight against the continuing destruction of Christianity in this area which has been Christian for so many centuries.
Press Department : Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija
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