Message de la Serbie! - Message from Serbia!

[Jo�l Beddows]

Bonjour CANDRAMA,

Un message affiché par notre collègue André-G. Bourassa sur QUEATRE.

Mais où sont les universitaires et les artistes pour dénoncer cette
guerre absurde?

Joël Beddows
Université de Toronto
___________________________________________________________________

Bonjour!
Une collègue me fait parvenir ce mot d'un ami sur la situation des
artistes yougoslaves. Il n'est pas dans les politiques de Queatre de
sortir du champ théâtral proprement dit car cela nous mènerait dans
toutes
les directions. De lus, il y a parmi vous des gens d'une tremtaine de
pays, dont plusieurs subissent aussi des pressions politiques, voire
militaires, de toutes sortes. Mais le texte ici soumis est fait surtout
de
réflexion, de doutes et d'hypothèses. Peut-être p'ourrez-vous continuer
à
dialoguer avec cet homme de théâtre, Dagan Klaic, et contribuer à faire
surgir un peu de lumière sur ce conflit en ces jours des Pâques
chrétiennes et juives. Le texte est en anglais.
Amitiés, André G. Bourassa
>
> J'ai reçu ce texte d'un ami yougoslave installé à Amsterdam. J'ai
pensé
> qu'il méritait peut être d'être mis sur Queatre. Dragan Klaic est
d'accord.
> Cela donne une autre vision des choses.. Celle-ci s'ajoute à la
déclaration
> de l'Association des artistes   de théâtre yougoslaves
> qui a été diffusée il y a quelques jours.
>
> >Reply-To: <balakla at worldonline.nl>
> >From: "Bala/Klaic" <balakla at worldonline.nl>
> >
> >A Bridge Too Far
> >
> >The Petrovaradin bridge was destroyed this morning at 5 am. My wife
woke me
> >up with the news she just heard on the BBC radio. I thought it was
the
> >newer railway/highway bridge but when I finally succeeded to phone to
Novi
> >Sad in the evening, I heard it was the old metal bridge connecting
the
> >center with Petrovaradin and the old fortress above, on the other
side of
> >Danube. Why that bridge? It was build in haste in the winter of
1944-45 by
> >the German POWs under the supervision of the Red Army engineers and a

> >railway line was added to renew the connection with Belgrade, 80 km
south.
> >So in my childhood, with each train passing the ramp would go down
and the
> >traffic would pile up on both sides. It wasn't that much traffic. I
> >remember the uneasiness I felt every time crossing the bridge even in
the
> >day time: the wooden planks of the side board got lose and rotten and
one
> >could see the water underneath. I feared I'll step in the void and
even
> >sink into Danube, little as I was. In the early sixties, a new bridge
was
> >built 2 km down the river and the railway track was displaced too.
The old
> >bridge got a face lift and served all these years as a busy
connection, a
> >way to enter straight into the center of Novi Sad from the Srem side.
In
> >the years before I had a  driver's license I was crossing it often on
foot
> >in the sunset, going to the fortress for a stroll or to some of the
inns on
> >the Petrovaradin side with wild Gypsy music -  only to return in the
small
> >hours, admiring the dawn above the city.
> >
> >Ugly as it was, this bridge was part of my childhood and adolescence.

> >The consequence of the bombing is that windows are broken in that
part of
> >town and  there is no running water around, even the large hospital
on the
> >nearby hills of Fruska  Gora, some 900 beds, is without water. This
is not
> >making the awful lot of Kosovo Albanians easier. It is not  prompting
the
> >brave  Novi Sad citizens to start an uprising against Milosevic. Of
course
> >not, Milosevic is stronger than ever and as popular as he was in
1988-89.
> >Moreover, many  decent Serbs will hate NATO, W. Europe, USA for the
next 50
> >years and the self-destructive, obsessive ideology of Serbian
nationalism
> >has been fed richly by this past week's attacks and has seen all its
> >favorite myths reinforced with new arguments and examples.  If only
NATO
> >bombed Milosevic's fleet in the Adriatic in September 1991 when it
started
> >pounding Dubrovnik, well before Vukovar and the horrors of Bosnia &
> >Herzegovina, the ongoing Balkan war could have been stopped at an
early
> >stage. If only  a fraction of 1% of what NATO is spending in this
campaign
> >now has been spent instead to  support the emerging forces of the
civil
> >society and the independent media  Serbia would have a different
future.
> >
> >A military escalation wont halt the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo nor
speed up
> >the return of the refugees. This senseless violence should  stop at
once.
> >The politicians and generals have committed  great errors in
judgment. They
> >should call further bombings off and step aside for a while. How
about a
> >conference with 50 Balkan scholars from the Western and Eastern
Europe
> >getting together and using their collective knowledge to envisage
some sort
> >of future without war and terror, to restart a dialogue. The
politicians
> >can in the meantime vote budgets for the humanitarian aid much needed
in
> >the region and entrust the generals to implement it. We know how good
they
> >can be at it.
> >
> >Dragan Klaic
> >
> >
> >
> >Dr D Klaic is Professor of University of Amsterdam and Director of
Theater
> >Instituut Nederland.
> >
> >e mail: dragank at tin.nl
> >
>
>