Friday 22 February 2008

Complaint

Recently, someone from the France 24's the Observers site wanted to interview me about my recent post about Kosovo (whose comment can be read at the bottom of all the comments). He sent me an email inviting me to be a member of the site.

I don't really want another profile on the net, 'cause I'm happy with what I've got. That's why I replied to him telling him I wanted an interview without mentioning the other proposition, hoping he would understand that I just wanted an interview.

However, I did get a profile I did not ask for. See here (you can tell me whether you think I should keep it). I realise now that I should have explicitly told him that I did not want a profile; I was naïve enough to think he would understand what I was implying when I did not mention that I wanted him to make a profile for me.

Not only that, much of my recent blog post got transcribed here, under the title "We've earned our independence". Not only that, the person who transcribed my blog post there interpreted some of my words in a way I did not suggest or imply:

Alan Jakšić, a Serbo-Croatian now living in London, recognises that preventing the region's autonomy is impossible but wonders what will happen to the Serbian minority in Kosovo and worries that their situation may be similar to that of Palestine.


I believe the writer was interpreting these words I wrote: "there's really nothing I can do to stop them". When I wrote that, I meant that I can't oppose the the will of the Kosovo Albanians. I never suggested that it's imposible to prevent the region's "autonomy" (hasn't the writer been watching the news lately? "Independence" is the buzz word, Duh…).

Obviously, I am alarmed that someone has made a profile for me I didn't ask for (in fact, I couldn't find where to log in to that "account"!). Uncomfortable that someone added an interpretation of my words that I never suggested nor implied. And bothered that my blog post got transcribed onto a page titled "We've earned our independence".

I left two comments under that article and sent an angry email to the man who made the profile

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here is a great OP/ED:
http://www.kansascity.com/273/story/498418.html

It is important that the West remains united in fully supporting Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.

The Western powers must stand up to any threats from Belgrade and Moscow and support full membership for Kosovo in the United Nations.

At the same time, firm guarantees must be given by both the European Union and NATO that the Serbian minority will be protected and given full rights in a newly independent Kosovo, as already pledged by Kosovo’s Prime Minister.

It is especially important that there is no retribution by ethnic Albanians that would encourage increased nationalism in Serbia or even an attempt by Serbs in Republika Srpska to break away from Bosnia.

More than 90 percent of Kosovo’s 2.1 million residents are ethnic Albanians; Serbs make up a tiny minority.

There is no realistic alternative to independence for the province, a political reality that both Serbia and Russia must accept.


Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., and Sally McNamara, the Heritage Foundation

Anonymous said...

Alan, sadly that's what happens on the Internet. And in spite of the positive comments you had about it, maybe you ought to be careful about having a real photo at your Blogger profile. Paranoid I may be but last week I was watching that programme about Nigerian 419 scammers lifting photos off the internet to use in frauds.

Anonymous said...

alan, overwhelming number of croat'ns have not abhored serb symbols until 1918.

actually, they joined serbia and formed one country.
and, lo and behold, accepted even the serb king as head of the new state.

that had been a noble idea; however, the same yr SHS had been established, croats began to be killed, jailed because they objected serb occupation of croatia.

supilo, trumbic werer bitterly disappointed. but too late to do anything about the trap serbs set for bosnia, kosovo, vojvodina, and croatia.
what we got had been de facto greater serbia.
and only after assassination of stjepan radic and two more croat'n delegates to belgrad parliament, ustasha org arose.

i am wondering why u assiduously omit the most astounding facts and the genesis of hatred for serb for all of its neighbors.
let us not delude selves to believe that people hate serb just because they are serbs and, thus, their emblems, culture, lore, etc.

i repeat croats have not hated serbs nor their symbols.
it actually had been the other way around as our history and symbols denied the serbs the right to steal our lands!
bozh