August 1998

“To understand a conflict – and, thus, help solve it – we need to know something about at least three things: Attitudes, Behaviour and the root Causes of the conflict. That’s the ABC. Most media simply report on behaviour and ignore the two other dimensions. This is why people in general feel that they don’t understand much of it all, in spite of watching and listening carefully to news reports. And when media cover conflict behaviour, many seem to use the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid. What you have heard about human rights in Kosovo/a is a good example of KISS journalism,” says Jan Oberg, head of TFF’s Conflict-Mitigation team upon returning from yet another mission to Belgrade, Prishtina and Skopje. “I want to make it clear that I consider the Serb government guilty of extremely serious and systematic human rights violations in the Kosovo province. Over the years,...

  Lund, August 25, 1998 – “The standard media background to the conflict tells us that it all started in 1989 when Slobodan Milosevic, then President of Serbia, repealed the autonomous status granted the Kosovo province in the 1974 constitution. This is wrong and propagated by journalists who have not bothered to study root causes, attitudes or other complexities. It’s a typical example of KISS reporting – ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid.’ But the deliberate choice of this particular political action as ‘the cause of all of the trouble’ conveys the image that the Serb side alone is to blame,” says Jan Oberg who has been engaged in this conflict since 1992. “This is an age-old conflict between two peoples who are much more different and segregated than any other two peoples or nations in ex-Yugoslavia. The basic causes of conflict were and remain: 1) historically based inter-ethnic mistrust, b) economic...

  Lund, August 23, 1998 – “There are dangerously many half truths and biases in the reporting from Kosovo/a. The generalised media image of the conflict shapes public opinion which in turn threatens to push politicians into action that will have counterproductive effects on the ground,” says Jan Oberg, head of TFF’s Conflict-Mitigation team, upon returning from yet another mission to Belgrade, Prishtina and Skopje. “The standard media story about Kosovo the last six months goes like this: ‘Kosovo is a province in Serbia inhabited by about 2 million people, 90 per cent of whom are Albanians and 10 per cent Serbs. The dissolution of Tito’s Yugoslavia started in 1989 when Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic repealed the autonomy which the province had enjoyed since 1974. The region is characterised by extreme poverty and systematic human rights violations by Serbian authorities against the Albanians, to the extent that one is justified...

“Look at what happens in Kosovo and you would like to believe that all good powers worked for PREVENTION of this tragedy but that, unfortunately, tragedies happen. Governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations are already overloaded with ongoing conflicts and catastrophes; budgets are tight etc. Admittedly these are very complex problems; and just as all diseases cannot be prevented, we can’t expect all wars to be prevented. According to this theory, if things go wrong it is the parties’ fault and if they go well it is thanks to the international community and a few shuttling envoys or diplomats. World media naively corroborate this theory: We watch how diplomats, envoys, and delegations fly around, hold press conferences, meet their kin in palaces or make solemn declarations if they don’t issue threats. In short, do all they can to stop wars and force people to negotiation tables, don’t they? Well, no outbreak...

I år är det tjugofyra år sedan den turkiska interventionen på Cypern som ledde till att ön delades. Grek- och turkcyprioter har sedan dess levt åtskilda på var sin sida om den buffertzon som skär tvärs igenom ön. För grekcyprioterna var interventionen och den efterföljande ockupationen av norra Cypern en nationell katastrof. Hundratusentals grekcyprioter tvingades lämna sina hem i norr och lever som flyktingar på den södra delen av ön. För den turkcypriotiska minoriteten däremot sågs interventionen, eller “fredsoperationen” som den kallas av turkcyprioterna, som en räddning undan Cyperns hotande anslutning till Grekland. Målet om enosis delades vid denna tid av den dåvarande militärjuntan i Aten och de kuppmakare som några dagar tidigare störtat den cypriotiske presidenten Makarios. Den 20 juli varje år firar turkcyprioterna därför denna dag, “Fred och frihetsdagen”, likt en nationaldag. Till skillnad från grekcyprioterna har turkcyprioterna accepterat öns delning och funnit sig tillrätta på den norra...