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9 - Serbian Jerusalem

Inventing a Holy Land in Europe’s Periphery, 1982–2019

from Part IV - Serbia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2021

By
Vjekoslav Perica
Edited by
Nadim N. Rouhana  and
Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Nadim N. Rouhana
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Queen Mary University of London
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Summary

The chapter examines discourses of comparison between Kosovo and Jerusalem invented by the Serbian nationalist movement arguably amidst the Yugoslav crisis in the 1980s. Serbian religious nationalism claims the territory of Kosovo as a holy land in ways that parallel Israeli claims to Jerusalem. This argument excludes the majority ethnic Muslim Albanians who live in Kosovo and claim political independence. Further, Serbs see themselves as collective victims like the Jews. Citing Israel as a role model for religious nationalist struggle and imitating Israeli policies toward Palestinian Muslims, Serbian claims are based on mythical historic rights, ancient religious claims, and preserved historic sites. The struggle for Kosovo as Jerusalem is cemented by religion and carried on by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which backed ethnic cleansing in the Balkan wars of the 1990s using these arguments. Counting on Israeli support for the Serbian cause, as evidenced by state and non-state visits of Israelis to Serbia, Serbian nationalism aims at making the conflict over Kosovo global.

Keywords

Kosovo conflictformer YugoslaviaSerbian religious nationalismSerbian Orthodox ChurchVuk DraskovicSlobodan MilosevicBalkan wars of the 1990sIsraeli religious nationalismCroatian nationalismAlbanian nationalism
Type
Chapter
Information
When Politics are Sacralized
Comparative Perspectives on Religious Claims and Nationalism
 , pp. 215 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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