March 17 - St. Patrick’s Day

I'm sharing this from memory, so I wouldn't be surprised if I forget something.

In 2004, two Albanian children drowned and very quickly the story spread through Kosovo that they had been chased into the river by Serbian teenagers.

Shortly afterwards, a Serbian waitress at a cafe in Pec was brutally beaten, allegedly by two Albanian girls. She later died.

In both cases it was eventually proven the other ethnic group was not involved in any way, shape or form.

These events were abused by the media in Kosovo and Serbia and consequently riots erupted across Kosovo.

Public comments from officials both sides fueled the conflict and within a matter of days, Kosovo was completely shut down.

The Serbs, who were far outnumbered, quickly went into hiding while protests grew into riots, and riots into targetted campaigns of destruction.

In a series of events we have seen many times (the Mohammed cartoons, race riots in Australia, religious riots in Northern Ireland, skinhead riots in Russia, etc, etc, etc.) extremists took hold of people's emotions and led them down a dark path.

On March 17, 2004, more than 35 Orthodox Churches in Kosovo were either damaged or completely destroyed. The Serbian district of Prizren, one of the only multiethnic cities that survived the Milosevic era, finally fell. The Serbian quarter was razed and burned and thousands of Serbian civilians were forced to flee for their lives.


The situation was not as dramatic, but was present, everywhere in Kosovo.

In Serbia, protests also turned into riots in cities across the country. Violent attacks against non-Serbs escalated, especially in Vojvodina and the Sandzak. Belgrade's only mosque was burned down, as was another mosque in Nis.


Airports in Serbia and Kosovo were blocked with tourists and international workers trying to flee. All signs indicated a full scale war was well on its way.

Then, slowly, emotions began to calm and the situation began to improve.

March 17th - I hope you are all wearing something green today as it is ST. PATRICK'S DAY

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17 to honor Patrick, Ireland's patron saint. Almost 1500 years ago the patron saint and national hero of Ireland was born to a Gaelic family who had migrated to Britain. The child was called Succat, which means "war like". Since Britain was part of the Roman Empire and had become Christian, the child was baptized and called Patricius, meaning "noble." For 16 years, Patrick lived a normal life as the son of a prosperous landowner and magistrate. Captured and forced into slavery, Patrick spent 6 years herding sheep. What is known is that he escaped. What is also known, is that after a period of time, Patrick returned to Ireland to do missionary work. On his return to Ireland, Patrick was a missionary who worked for 40 years in Ireland, preaching, baptizing, and establishing churches, schools and colleges.

How to celebrate St. Patrick's Day:

*Wear green
*Pin a shamrock to your hat
*Speak with a brogue
*Wear brogues
*Drink Irish beer and spirits
*Wish your friends and family "Top o' the morning to ye" and every so often cry out "Erin go bragh!" (Ireland forever)
*If you're a mayor, dye your town's rivers green and paint your lane markers green.

Notable events on March 18: Everyone wakes up with a headache