** Topic: Zagreb Diary **
Response  18  of  67
** Written  3:48 PM  May  6, 1992 by wamkat in gn:yugo.antiwar **
Subject: Zagreb Diary

Zagreb Diary 6 May 1992

Yesterday evening I had a dinner at some artists here in Zagreb, one of them came from Mostar, so you can imagine where his mind was. Anyway we were talking about the role which artists can play now and after the war to get (financial) support for the ecological rebuilding of these countries. It must be possible to organise within a month after the final cease-fire a network from music and art festival around the world to raise money, from which projects can be finances who are aiming at ecological (re)construction of these countries and intercultural cooperation. 

We also were talking about a type of festival of fools to be organized next summer (so next year) on the island of Vis , when it still exist. I feel guilty that I am not on the Island at the moment to support the people there when they are waiting for the final deadline of the 15th this month. Croatian army has given that deadline to JNA on Vis, if they are not off the island by that time they will take it with force.

Ofcourse we came to talk about Sarajevo, now there is a cease-fire things are looking a little hopeful, but who knows. One of the guys told that Sarajevo had the best underground culture from all the cities in former Yugoslavia (I couldn't resist to say that the last month this underground culture has got a total other meaning, everybody lives in shelters (underground)). Nevertheless we went on talking about the underground culture there and the type of gravity, which is totally different from the graffiti here in Zagreb, which is football hooligan alike, one example. One night somebody wrote on the main post-office "This is Great Serbia", somebody wrote the next night "Fool, can't you see this is the post-office".

Shit, the radionews just mentioned that the fights has started again, detonations and machinegunfire were heard all over the city, so another cease-fire is broken. How many will follow. It is often balancing between black thinking and sparks of hope, that they will come to their senses. 

In Zagreb the mobilization goes on, more and more people I know are called up for the military duty and most of them go. The emotional pressure on them is high on their university and work. This mobilization as well as the regular bombattacks has also increased the controls by the police. Yesterday I was controlled 3 times, maybe it is my bag "Vis-Peace Island (In English and Croatian)". It has been long ago that I was in a country with such heavy police controls, can't say that I really like. Until now they were satisfied with my passport so it is no real problem, but it is always such a hassle I you are just walking and thinking and some agents are crying at you from the other side of the street in some strange languages, which I can't understand, and they get so angry when you don't react immediately, after seeing my pass they mostly are satisfied and rather not so un-polite anymore.

After I received a message that it maybe was a good idea to put the president from BiH up as nomination for the Nobel Peace prize we had a real discussion about it on ARK. According to the most he wasn't that clever in the last months. His country changed into a giant military base and every groups was arming themselfs and he didn't do anything else, beside saying Peace brothers, and hoping that no war would come over his republic. But still I think it would be a good idea. Tomorrow evening we are going to talk about it, and about our position towards the whole BiH war as a whole in the whole group, so also those people who are involved in ARK but only here once and a while. It is good to talk with each other to get our general opinion clear. And avoid mistakes that we are getting too much one-sided. There fore the concert for Bosnia tonight is a good thing, it takes place besides Zagreb, in Beograd, Skopje, Novi Sad, Ljubljana and Amsterdam. Thanks to Ljubljana who made the contacts the peace movements in former Yugoslavia are doing something together for the first time this year. It is needed that a more regular contact is established.

Joel from the states wrote us a messages yesterday that he will come in the summer, and that is beautifull, furtheron is seems that a lot of my friends will pass by in the coming months, I hope they don't forget to bring diskettes, coffee, dropjes (dutch candies) and some other things with them (like money, the prices are still raising and since hardly none of the agriculture is functioning anymore, only in the western parts, but the big food producing areas are in the warzones, the vegatables are getting less and less). The longer this take the bigger the problem will grow.

Love and peace from Zagreb

Wam ;-) I have to go back to work!

** End of text from gn:yugo.antiwar **