Kosovo Has Wiped All Memory of Non-violent Resistance

Gene Sharp, author of many publications on civil resistance, has classified non-violent methods of action into three types: first, "non-violent protests" involving symbolic acts of opposition, to show that those who resist are both against and for something; second, "non-cooperation methods", which refer to social, economic and political forms of non-cooperation; and, third, "non-violent interference", which implies actions designed to change the situation through psychological, physical, social, economic and political interference.

Using Sharp's distinctions, it is clear that Kosovo Albanians experienced an escalation of state violence and oppression when applying the first type of non-violent method, which was characterized by non-violent protests that relied on symbolic acts of peaceful opposition - to show that those who resisted were both against and for something.

Between November 1988 and March 1989, Kosovo Albanians showed that they were against the abolition of Kosovo's autonomy as granted under the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, by the Serbian authorities under Slobodan Milosevic.

They protested through marches, strikes, appeals, petitions and other peaceful actions.

The Serbian government reacted brutally and abolished Kosovo's autonomy regardless, while killing dozens of demonstrators and incarcerating and isolating hundreds of others.

In response to this repression, Kosovo Albanians engaged in peaceful forms of opposition. They founded a host of political parties, defeating the monopoly of the old League of Communists. They organized a petition with about 400,000 signatures, "For Democracy, Against Violence".

They engaged in symbolic actions through "The Burial of Violence", attended by about 50,000...