What America Is Doing Right: Kosovo, Part 2

For decades now the US government has had a system for categorizing terrorist organizations. Some groups classified as “designated terrorist organizations” include Hamas, Hezbollah, and Kurdistan Workers’ Party. It is very uncommon, but sometimes a designated terrorist organization can be de-listed. The Irish Republican Army and Kosovo Liberation Army are two such examples.

The Kosovo Liberation Army was founded in the early 1990′s in response to the genocide taking place against Albanians. They bombed police stations and cafes where Serbian officials were, and in the process many civilians were killed. Although these acts were a reaction against a genocide, the US government considered them to be terrorist activities and listed the KLA as a designated terrorist organization.

But in 1999, the United States intervened in Kosovo to stop the genocide, effectually embracing the KLA’s cause. Not that they condoned the bombings that killed civilians as well as Serbian officials. However, they did recognize that even this “terrorist organization” was fighting for a legitimate cause, and it was de-listed as a designated terrorist organization. After the Kosovo War ended, the KLA became the Kosovo Protection Corps, which worked with NATO to provide security to the province.

Terrorist activities should always be condemned. No situation, no matter how dire, justifies terrorism. However, the motives behind terrorist activity should always be examined closely. The United States helped stop a genocide by fighting for the same cause as a designated terrorist organization, and in the end this “terrorist organization” helped build a stable government.

Another group that was de-listed as a designated terrorist organization by the US government is the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO. According to its original charter its goal was to liberate Palestine through armed struggle, and it sought to accomplish this through attacks against Israeli officials and civilians. However, at the 1991 Madrid Conference, the US de-listed the PLO as a designated terrorist organization, and in 1993 the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist. Today, the United Nations recognizes it as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Like the KLA, this former terrorist organization that fought against a genocide is now working to form a stable government.

Perhaps the US will learn from its victory in Kosovo and, while condemning terrorism, fight for the PLO’s cause in Israel and Palestine. Who knows, they might stop another genocide.

About the author

I grew up in conservative Christian circles in the American South, and majored in theology at an Alabama Southern Baptist college. Without really understanding why, I believed that Muslims were to be avoided at all costs, and we have to unilaterally support Israel. Like many young adults, after college I wasn't sure at all of what I wanted to do with my life, so I traveled to the Middle East for a year and a half. Most of the people I met were descendants of the Palestinian refugees forced out of their homeland in 1948, when Israel was recreated. I fell in love with Arab culture, and realized that on the world scene, Arabs have no voice. Living in the Middle East gave me fresh new eyes to read the Bible, and interacting with Arab Christians, especially Palestinian Christians who live in Jordan, caused me to question all the dogmas regarding Israel with which I had grown up.

Living in the Middle East also gave me the courage I needed to pursue my lifelong dream of being an author. My first book, A Theology of Chaos, will come out this next spring. I plan to use the profits from it to support organizations in the Middle East that are fighting for justice. I have written some short stories as well, which you can find on smashwords.com under my full name, Margaret Elysia McColley.

I now live in New York City, where emergency procedures for a potential terrorist attack are constantly updated, and where the sharp divide between Christians, Muslims, and Jews can be clearly seen on posters in the subways. My goal in life is simple: to end terrorism in my lifetime, by giving a voice to social injustices that compel terrorists to violence.

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