Byzantine Blog

Kninjas’ Fury

Recent article When will World Confront the Undead of Croatia? by Julia Gorin published in the Baltimore Sun has revealed the shocking degree of Croat collective state of denial and the pigheaded resolve to act as if their country, built upon the bones of Ustasha victims, old and new is somehow eternally exonerated of all responsibility and must, therefore, always be presented in the most flattering light, as the champion of liberty, democracy and human rights. None of which it really is.

Croat daily Vecernji List has provided a glance at some of the Croat fury Julia’s article was met with — enraged over the fact an American mainstream newspaper would dare to write about Croatia in less than flattering terms, Croats apparently slipped into the mass-hysteria and instantly went in the harassment mode, laying a virtual siege on The Sun’s editors, journalists, even secretary — threatening, demanding explanations and apologies.

Scribe, Musician and One Hundred Midgets

On January 18 and 19, Croat Jadranka Jureško-Kero based in New York, wrote two articles for Croatian Vecernji List, first entitled “The Baltimore Sun Slanders,” and second under the title “Julia Gorin’s Slanders” — titles that must’ve been pulled straight out of Kero’s derrière, since neither of her articles contains a single line pointing to ONE “slanderous” piece of information Julia’s article is supposedly brimming with.

In her January 18 piece, Kero cites certain Frank Bilaver of “American HDZ” (Franjo Tudjman’s ultranationalist right wing political party — the very undead themselves) saying that some hundred Croats, members of the same party, have sent their letters on that day to the Baltimore Sun editors in order to “warn them that Croat community will not buy that newspaper, and you’ll just see how quickly will they issue an apology” after that.

The author also claimed that someone by the name of Nenad Bach, a Croat musician, “personally spoke with Julia Gorin, warning her of the injustice of her writings” (once again failing to show which part of Julia’s article is incorrect and therefore “unjust”; unless, of course, the “injustice” in Croatia simply means “correct, but contrary to how we see ourselves”).

The very next day, same Croat scribe contradicted her earlier claims, now saying that no one from either The Baltimore Sun or American Council for Kosovo (?!) was willing to give the overzealous Croat musician Julia Gorin’s personal phone number and home address (!!!). It remains unclear who lied the day before, musician or the scribe, but the very idea that anyone in their right mind would be so boorish to actually think it’s perfectly alright to harass and bully the author of the article he doesn’t like is entirely beyond comprehension.

Imagine the Impertinence!

In the article published by Vecernji List on January 19, Kero also wrote:

[Croat Embassy worker in the U.S.] Neven Jurica claims they are regularly following the articles about Croatia in American media and react when necessary. Diaspora doesn’t stop calling Baltimore Sun. Their journalists claim that no article in the history of the newspaper has prompted so many reactions and letters by the readers. Rondra J. Matthews, the Baltimore Sun president was not in the mood to speak with Vecernji List journalists. She was not willing to comment on the number of reactions, but has, impertinently, hung up the phone.

So, the president of the reputable American newspaper was “impertinent” because she refused to be abused by a Nobody who feels her Croatness gives her the right to chew others’ ears off. How awfully rude and impolite, wouldn’t you agree?

In the same article, Kero also says that same musician, Nenad Bach, has phoned (e.g. harassed) the Baltimore Sun editor Franz Schneiderman too, in order to give him a piece of his mind as well. Mr. Schneiderman, fortunately for him, wasn’t scolded for impertinence by the Croat scribe; otherwise, God only knows what could have happened to his career afterwards.

On January 20, 2007, The Baltimore Sun published three letters — one by press attaché for Croatia’s embassy to the United States, one by the Serbian-American, Michael Pravica, whose 68 relatives were killed by the Croat Ustashas during their WWII genocide, and one by another Baltimore Sun contributor and Balkan expert, Christopher Deliso, who also wrote to commend The Sun for publishing Julia Gorin’s “very brave and factually impeccable article.” Personally, I think Croat musician, scribe and thugs who attempted a lynching of an American journalist should be grateful for managing to squeeze by without being slapped with the lawsuit for harassment and abuse of the media representatives, but next time they launch a similar crusade in order to shut someone up they might not be so lucky.

Croats Eager to Repeat the Storm in States

Meanwhile, Julia took time to respond to the letter of Croat press attaché:

My editor at the Baltimore Sun tells me that the secretary, who has been there for ages, has never in all her years in the newspaper business, witnessed the storm that my article last week elicited. In case you missed it, the piece was titled “When Will World Confront the Undead of Croatia?” and it called attention to the fact that not only has Croatia not sufficiently acknowledged its zealous Nazi past of WW2, but the past followed it into the 1990s — and the criminals of that decade are widely celebrated by Croatians even today.

Apparently, this was the first piece of mainstream American journalism that didn’t place the blame for the 1990s Balkan wars squarely on Serb shoulders. For unlike the Serbs — who are accustomed to being vilified in the press on a daily basis for 15 years now — the hundreds of Croats, Croat defenders and Serbophobes I heard from were breathless in their fury and disbelief. [...]

Complete reply by Julia Gorin to letter from Croat Embassy »

Vitriolic Filth

In addition, Julia also started posting some of the letters she has received (and here’s Part II and Part III of the Ape-Fest) over the past week from Croats on her blog. The vulgarity, ferociousness and sheer brutality these letters reek of can rarely be seen nowadays. For all the vitriolic filth Croats poured their hearts and souls in over Julia’s excellent article, no one, not a single Croat foaming at their mouth over this has been able to point to one concrete provable error, mistake, or incorrect piece of information in Julia’s article — sadly, it’s all true, factual and easy to confirm through dozens of reputable Western sources. The Croats simply can’t help hating her for telling the truth, they keep bellowing it’s somehow “all wrong” and they want her to just shut up.

In the end, if anyone deserves profuse apologies for having to suffer the obscene threats, vicious insults, harassment and bullying because, unlike the greatest majority of her colleagues, she dared to be true to her profession and has honored American journalism with her honesty and courage, it is no other than Julia Gorin herself.

When, Indeed?

For further proof of the real need for the world to finally confront the undead of Croatia, take a look at CBC video The Battle of the Medak Pocket that describes in the Canadian soldier’s own words the horrors Croats perpetrated against the Serbs in the 1990s: Part 1, Part 2.