Monday, January 31, 2011

Kokkalis Program at Harvard: Upcoming Events

Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Continuity and Change in Southeastern Europe
An international conference co-hosted with and held at Harvard’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. Co-sponsored with the Southeastern Europe Study Group, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. For more information, click here.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3
6:00 p.m.
Continuity and Change in Southeastern Europe Keynote Address: Europe and the US in a New World
Dr. Stanley Hoffmann, Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor of International Relations, Harvard University
Lower Auditorium, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies
27 Kirkland St. at Cabot Way
Cocktail reception to follow at adjacent Adolphus Busch Hall

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4
9:45 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Continuity and Change in Southeastern Europe: Panel Presentations
Multi-disciplinary, global thinkers present on topics of major importance to Southeast Europe.
Lower Auditorium, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies
27 Kirkland St. at Cabot Way
I) Institutional Legacies: Tracing Historical Continuities
Chair: Dr. Florian Bieber, Editor-in-Chief, Nationalities Papers
II) Domestic-International Relationships in Political Reform in Southeastern Europe
Chair: Dr. Paula Pickering, Associate Professor, Department of Government, College of William and Mary
III) Gender, Nation and Globalization
Chair: Dr. Kristen Ghodsee, Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies, Bowdoin College

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11
4:00 p.m.
An address by H.E. Ivo Josipović , president of the Republic of Croatia
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-sponsored with the Harvard Institute of Politics

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14
4:15 p.m.
The New Sick Man of Europe? Greece in Crisis
Iason Athanasiadis, freelance writer, photographer, political analyst, and television producer
WAPPP Cason Seminar Room (T-102), Taubman Building, Harvard Kennedy School
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

ISMAIL KADARE LITERARY EVENT IN BOSTON

On the occasion of his 75th birthday, an Ismail Kadare Literary Event will be held on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 6:00 PM at Anthony’s Pier 4 Restaurant on Boston’s historic waterfront. A previous event about the world class Albanian writer and Nobel Prize nominee had been organized at Anthony’s Pier 4 Restaurant exactly 10 years ago.

The literary evening will feature personal memoirs about Kadare and short readings of his works in Albanian, English and French.

The Kadare event is open to the public and co-sponsored by the Pan-Albanian Federation VATRA (The Hearth),Frosina Information Network,Chamëria Human Rights, and Anthony’s Pier 4 Restaurant.

Light refreshments will be served.

To RSVP, please contact E. Joseph at 617-482-2002 or edlirajoseph@gmail.com

***

MBRËMJE LETRARE PËR SHKRIMTARIN ISMAIL KADARE NË BOSTON

Me rastin e përvjetorit të lindjes së shkrimtarit Ismail Kadare një veprimtari letrare do të organizohet ditën e Shtunë, me 29 janar 2011 ora 18:00 tek Restoranti Anthony’s Pier 4 në bregdetin historik të qytetit të Bostonit. Një veprimtari e ngjashme për shkrimtarin e madh me famë botërore u organizua pikërisht 10 vjet më parë në të njëjtin vend.

Në mbrëmjen letrare miq të Kadaresë do të sjellin kujtime të ndryshme për të, ndërsa nga pjesëmarrësit do të paraqiten lexime të shkurtra nga proza dhe poezia e shkrimtarit në shqip, anglisht dhe frengjisht.

Mbrëmja është e hapur për publikun dhe organizohet me mbështetjen e Federatës Pan-Shqiptare VATRA, Rrjetit Informues Frosina, Të Drejtat e Njeriut Çamëria si dhe të Restorantit Anthony’s Pier 4.

Në aktivitet do të ofrohen edhe pije të lehta.

Ju lutem konfirmoni pjesëmarrjen tuaj tek numri i telefonit 617-482-2002 ose tek adresa edlirajoseph@gmail.com


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Latest oCmprehensive immigration data

For the most recent comprehensive USA immigration data and information, please visit the following link:

www.immigrationresearch-info.org

Friday, January 21, 2011

BBC Video Clips About Albania

I extend thanks to my wife, Jane, who called my attention to a couple of BBC video clips at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12253481


Check out the one titled "Three killed as Albanian police clash with protesters."

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Video footage of King Zog and Queen Geraldine

For some fascinating video footage of King Zog and Queen Geraldine from many years ago, visit "Royal Exiles: King Zog and his wife..." at

http://wn.com/King_Zog_of_Albania

Marketing and printing tips from son Jeff

When I founded Frosina some 15 years ago as a non-profit Albanian immigrant and cultural resource, my older son, Jeff, a VP at a printing company, donated the printing of all of Frosina's business stationary - letterheads, 2nd sheets, mailing envelopes, business calling cards, news release forms, mailing labels, memos, and whatever else was required to introduce Frosina to the public as professional business entity. Because Jeff's services - gratis - were so important to Frosina's introduction and development, I'm pleased to post news and marketing tips from his company, ARTCO, that are both timely and informative to all readers - in business or otherwise. Below is a good case in point.

Read on...

***



Commit to Prosper in 2011

As the economy recovers and consumers regain confidence, print will be all about high-quality, high-impact marketing in 2011.

Companies that moved away from print in favor of digital media as they struggled with insufficient resources during the economic downturn are now returning to traditional marketing—and with good reason. Print is versatile and accessible to everyone, regardless of age or income. There are fewer print pieces in the mailbox each day, so consumers pay more attention. And words on paper are still perceived as more credible than those distributed electronically. Expect to see high-value brands taking advantage of benefits unique to print in the coming year—special papers, finishes, colors, sizes, formats, folds, die-cuts, personalization, and other specialty printing techniques.

Pairing print with new media will take your next marketing campaign to a new level. Just as we have learned to incorporate online marketing, social media, and iPad applications into our marketing mix, a fresh wave of technologies has emerged. While “augmented reality” may sound like something out of a sci-fi flick, it is a printing technology available today that will add fun and interactivity to your marketing materials. All a user needs to interact with augmented materials is a smart phone. Consider adding a Quick Response (QR) code—a bar code that can be scanned using a smart phone to direct the reader to your website (or other Web-based destination)—to your next printed piece.

While these new marketing methods can improve your ability to deliver a compelling message, you need to be aware of the potential downside. Although print has been around for centuries, new technologies come and go, making it difficult to determine which ones merit a place in your long-term marketing strategy. For example, QR codes require a smart phone, which not everyone has. E-mails face increasing firewall scrutiny, and personalized URLs (PURLs) can cause privacy concerns.

Talk to us, your print communication experts. We’ll help you preserve your traditional print strategy while incorporating new technologies to create a comprehensive marketing plan for 2011 and beyond.


Jeff Christo
ARTCO
155 Will Drive
Canton, MA 02021
E-Mail: sales@artco.biz
Website: www.artco.biz

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

INFORMATIVE MASS BESA NEWS!!

Here's a bunch of interesting news from MASS BESA for the Albanian community and others that are worth looking into!

***

Albanian first, English second / Ne fillim ne Shqip, pastaj ne Anglisht

Te Dashur Miq,

Shoqata Shqiptare Amerikane ne Massachusetts, MAASBESA deshiron t’ju paraqesi me listen e njoftimeve dhe evenimenteve per sezonin Dimer 2011.

1) Darke e Komunitetit Shqiptar me Kryetarin e Bashkise se Bostonit Thomas Menino- Te Marten, dt. 1 Shkurt, 2011 ne oren 6 PM te restoranti Vlora

Anetare te komunitetit shqiptar do te mbajne nje darke me Kryetarin e Bashkise se Bostonit, Thomas Menino diten e marte, dt. 1 Shkurt 2011 te restoranti Vlora. Darka do te mbahet per nje diskutim te rritjes se influences dhe zhvillimit te komunitetit Shqiptar ne Boston. Nqs. jeni te interesuar te merrni pjese, ju lutem kontaktoni Mark Kosmo te adresa mark.kosmo@maasbesa.org. Darka kushton $100 per person, dhe vendet jane te kufizuara per 30 persona .

2) Regjistrimi per klasa te Shkolla e Trashimigimes dhe Gjuhes Shqipe Besa eshte ende i hapur

Klasat e ofruara te shkolla e Trashegimise dhe Gjuhes Shqipe Besa do te fillojne diten e djele, ne 22 Janar 2011. Regjistrimet jane ende te hapuara per klasat e femijeve te mbajtura te djelen dhe klasat e te rriturve te mbajtura Shtunen. Shkolla sa po permbushi vitin e 4 te funksionimit, po kemi nevoje per mbeshtetje dhe rregjistrime per vazhdimsine e suksesit te saj. Per me shume infomacione, ju lutem kontaktoni drejtoreshen e shkolles, znj. Elisabeta Nasi ne emailin shkolla@maasbesa.org ose numrin e tel. 617-606-1735.

3) DVD-ja e Festivalit te Pare Folklorik Shqiptar ne Massachusetts tashme ne shitje

DVD-ja e Festivalit te Pare Shqiptar ne Massachusetts, qe u mbajt ne daten 5 Qershor, 2010, ka dale tashme ne shitje. Deshirojme te falenderojme Grupin e Valleve Bashkimi per punen e zellte qe u krye per produksionin e kesaj DVD-je. DVD-ja kushton vetem $10, dhe sherben si nje dhurate e kendshme per familjen, miqte dhe veten tuaj. Performancat e DVD-se ju dergojne ne nje udhetim imagjinar neper trojet e Shqiperise, duke perfshire Kosoven, Camerine dhe Arberine, me vallet e grupeve te talentuara si dhe nen zerat hyjnore te Aurela Gaces dhe Xhoni Athanas. Per te blere DVD-ne ju lutem vitizoni www.maasbesa.org/dvd ose kontaktoni 617-419-0617.

4) Festimet e Pavarsise se Kosoves fillojne ne javen e 17 Shkurt, 2011

Shoqata Kosovare e Bostonit deshiron te ju ftoj ne festimet e shpalljes se Pavarsise se Kosoves. Ne daten 17 Shkurt, Shoqata do te ngreje flamurin Kosovar ne sheshin Government Center ne Boston, ne oren 12:00. Naten e Shtune ne daten 19 Shkurt, do te shtrohet nje darke per te celebruar pavarsine e Kosoves te restorant Angelica’s ne Middleton. Cmimi eshte $50 per te rritur, $25 per femijet nen 13 vjec dhe falas per femijet nen 4 vjec. Te ftuar do te jene kengetaret: Aida Ndoci, Bujar Uka, dhe Arsim Mataj. Ketu mund te gjeni fletpalosjen dhe informacione me te gjera, ose mund te kontaktoni Albion Calaj ne emailin albioncalaj@yahoo.com ose 617-953-8519.

5) Mbledhje fondesh humanitare per permbytjet e qytetit te Shkodres

Shume organizata ne NY po mbledhin leke dhe ndihma per qytetaret e Shkodres per t’i ndihmuar ne keto dite te veshtira. Cdo dhurim parash shkon te Kryqi I Kuq Shqiptar, i cili po asiston Shkodren me ushqime dhe nevoja baze ne keto dite te veshtira. Cdo ndihme do te ishte nje dhurate e vertet per atdhetaret tane ne Shkoder. Per me shume info vizitoni faqet e internetiti: -- Project Albania dhe Kryqi i Kuq Shqiptar.

6) AlbWorld Tashme ne Boston

AlbWorld TV Massachusetts transmetohet ne BNN TV ne Boston te merkurave ne oren 5.00 PM. Gjithashtu ju bejme me dije qe ne se dikush eshte i interesuar qe te jape njoftime te ndryshme, informacione personale apo ne sherbim te komunitetit shqiptar eshte i mirepritur . Kush te jete i/e intersuar mund te kontaktoni zt. Arben Kamberi ne emailin BotaShqiptareW@aol.com ose numrin e tel: 508-410-1534.

7) Takimi Vjetor i MAASBESA

Se shpejti do MAASBESA do te mblidhet per takimin e hapur vjetor per te zgjedhur bordin e ri drejtues si dhe oficeret. Takimi do te mbahet nga fundi i Shkurtit ose ne Mars. Data do te behet e ditur me vone, po ne do te kishim deshiren t’ju inkurajonim qe te merrni pjese dhe te jeni akoma me aktiv ne komunitetin tone. Jemi gjithmone te interesuar per anetare te rinj, te cilet kane deshire te marrin pjese ne krijimin e aktiviteteve tona dhe per te dhene idete e tyra ne funksionimin e shoqates sone. Gjithashtu ju inkurajojme te BEHENI ANTAR ZYRTAR.

Shpresojme t’ju shikojme sa me shpejt,

Sinqerisht,
MAAS BESA



====================================================================



Dear Friends,

The Massachusetts Albanian American Society would like to call your attention to the following events and news items:

1) Albanian Community Dinner with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino on Tuesday February 1 at 6:00PM at Vlora Restuarant

A dinner will be held with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the Albanian Community on Tuesday February 1 at 6:00PM at Vlora Restaurant in the Back Bay. If you are interested to attend send an email to mark.kosmo@maasbesa.org The cost of the dinner is $100. First come first serve -- seating is limited to around 30 people. Come and support our efforts to expand the influence of the Albanian community in Massachusetts as we discuss a variety of issues with Mayor Menino.

2) Registration for the BESA Albanian Language and Heritage School Spring Semester

Classes for the BESA Albanian Language and Heritage School begin the weekend of January 22nd. Please contact the School Coordinator, Elisabeta Nasi, if you or anyone you know isinterested. Classes are held for both children and adults on Saturdays and Sunday. The School has just completed its 4th year of operation, but we need your support and enrollment of adults and children's in classes in order to sustain it. Elisabeta Nasi can be reached at shkolla@maasbesa.org or 617-606-1735.

3) DVD of the First Massachusetts Albanian Folk Festival for Sale

The DVD for the First Massachusetts Albanian Folk Festival held in Boston on June 5th, 2010 is now available HERE. We would like to thank the Bashkimi Dance Group for its efforts in producing this DVD. It makes an excellent gift for yourself, relatives, or friends -- and it only costs $10 for three hours of thrilling entertainment. The performances of this show will take you on an imaginary journey throughout all Albanian lands, including Kosovo, Chameria, and Arberia. You will witness graceful dances from talented dance groups and beautiful songs from well known singers such as Aurela Gace and Xhoni Athanas, all accompanied by colorful traditional costumes and the melodic sounds of different traditional instruments.

4) Kosova Independence Celebration on Saturday February 19th

The Kosovar Society of Boston would like to invite you to its annual Independence Celebration on Saturday February 19th at Angelica's in Middleton. The cost is $50 for adults, $25, for children under 13, and free for children under 4. The entertainment will feature Aida Ndoci, Bujar Uka, and Arsim Mataj. You can click HERE for the flyer for complete information or contact Albion Calaj at AlbionCalaj@yahoo.com or 617-953-8519.

5) Fundraisers for Flood Victims in Albania

There are a serious of fundraisers planned in New York City to assist victims of the recent floods in Albania. All donations go to the Albanian Red Cross. We have been asked to help support these activities in New York and encourage you to consider donating and informing others about these activities in New York. For more information you may visit these links -- Project Albania and Red Cross Albania.

6) AlbWorld TV Now in Boston

AlbWorld TV Massachusetts is now being broadcast in Boston on Boston Neighborhood Network TV every Wednesday at 5pm. You can watch it on TV or at the BNN Web-site. All are welcome to provide information, advertisements, and other information of interest to the Albanian Community. For more information contact Arben Kamberi, www.AlbanianWorld.US, BotaShqiptareW@aol.com, or call 508-410-1534.

7) Annual Meeting of MAASBESA

The Annual Meeting of MAASBESA to elect a new Board of Directors and Officers will be held some time in February or March -- we encourage all of you to consider getting more involved and to participate not only in our activities but also in the management and planning of the organization's activities. We always want new people to get involved in the community in order to better strengthen our collective efforts. We especially need someone with good web technology skills to get more involved and also someone with a good financial background. In the meantime we encourage all of you to BECOME A MEMBER OF MAASBESA.

Sincerely,
MAAS BESA

Monday, January 10, 2011

Ismail Kadare in The New Yorker magazine

I meant to post this as soon as I read it but, regrettably, got all caught up in the Holiday Season and have been unable to do so until now.

There's a very flattering article (accompanied by an unusual caricature) about Ismail Kadare in the December 20 & 27, 2010 edition of The New Yorker magazine that I believe might enhance chances to win his long sought Nobel Prize in Literature.

I don't know how successful I'll be, but I'll make an effort to get authorization from The New Yorker to post the Kadare article to the Frosina Blog at www.frosina.org/blog/ or perhaps, just to get reprints.

Stay tuned...

Van Christo

Friday, January 7, 2011

Floods in Albania

Greetings,

As 2011 begins, many of us have much to be grateful for – good health,
safe homes and a certain measure of prosperity. As most of you may know,
Albania has been hit by devastating floods these past months and many
families have been suffering through the holiday season. Imagine if today
you could transform the life of even one family for the better by sharing
even a small measure of what you have.

A few of us were hoping to do just that. We started Project Albania as a
nonprofit, charitable organization (www.projectalbania.com) which aims to
fundraise on behalf of the Albanian Red Cross, currently the largest
organization working in the regions hardest hit by the floods. We are a
small group but we are focused on legitimacy and accountability. With the
help of AACC we are reaching out to you.

We request your support and backing! Please help spread the word and don't
hesitate to contact us if you have any questions and/or ideas regarding
this initiative!

And lastly, if you have room for one more special gift please donate:
http://projectalbania.com/project_floodrelief.shtml

All the best in 2011,

Bora Repishti
Jona Repishti
Elira Coja
--
Project Albania
www.projectalbania.com

"Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During World War II"

Now On Exhibit in NYC

Memory fails us, art lives on, like little frozen moments or time capsules that speak to our eyes rather than our ears. Where words fall apart, images live on, taking on their own lives without the need to decode or translate or even define. And sometimes the narrative of human courage and dignity, often overlooked in the face of tragedies and vice, are best told as they are today: captured vignettes, documented moments, preserved portraits that, when strung together, tell us the histories we crave to hear, but feel unprivileged to impart.

It's been said that "the story of Albania's Muslims, and what they did during World War II, is one of the great untold stories of the world." In recent years, these private heroisms have been revitalized through the lens of Jewish-American photographer Norman H. Gershman and his collected images and oral histories that make up the traveling portrait exhibit called Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During World War II, now currently on display in New York's Soho Photo Gallery until January 29th.

The story is quite an extraordinary one. When Hitler's troops began invading the Balkan States in the early 1940s, Muslims across Albania took an estimated 2,000 Jewish refugees into their homes en masse and welcomed them not as refugees, but as guests. They disguised these Jews as Muslims, took them to mosque, called them Muslim names, gave them Muslim passports, hid them when they needed to, and then ferried them to inaccessible mountain hamlets. "In fact, Albania is the only Nazi-occupied country that sheltered Jews," says Gershman. The Jewish population in Albania grew by ten-fold during World War II, and it became the only country in occupied Europe to have more Jews at the end of the war than at the beginning. Records from the International School for Holocaust Studies show that not one Albanian Jew or any of the other thousands of refugees were given up to the Nazis by Albanian Muslims. "They did this in the name of their religion," Gershman said. "They absolutely had no prejudice what so ever."

That is because these Muslims held themselves accountable to what Albanians call Besa, which is still upheld as the highest ethical code in the country. "Besa is a code of honor deeply rooted in Albanian culture and incorporated in the faith of Albanian Muslims," the gallery explained in the show's press release. "It dictates a moral behavior so absolute that non-adherence brings shame and dishonor to oneself and one's family. Besa demands that one take responsibility for the lives of others in their time of need. This Islamic behavior of compassion and mercy celebrates the sanctity of life and a view of the other- the stranger- as one's own close family member."

"Most remarkably, this was all done with the consent and support of the entire country. Thousands of Jews, hidden in plain sight- everyone knew- and no one told."

And no one told for a long time "because of the shutters that went down on Albania so soon after 1945 and the draconian Communist regime," Holocaust historian Deborah Dwork told Jim Axelrod on CBS's Sunday Morning. "For the next half century, Albania was completely cut off from everyone, even from other Communist regime countries. And by the time the shutters lifted, what happened half a century ago was not so urgent as people's everyday needs right then and there."

"When I first learned of the World War II rescue of Jews in Muslim Albania and Kosovo, my reaction was visceral," Gershman said, who learned about the story from a member of Israel's Yad Vashem, a memorial dedicated to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. "Muslims who saved Jews? I must record this forgotten event with my camera and tell the story through the various family histories I was to meet. As a Jew and a Sufi, my spiritual connect with the beauty of Islam and Judaism is seamless."

Over a five-year period that began in 2002, Gershman traveled to Albania to document these surviving Muslim families and collect their stories, both through pictures and words. A man who worked for the Albania-Israel Friendship Society carried a small notebook with the names and addresses of these Muslim families, and with that, an interpreter, a driver and an assistant, Gershman crisscrossed the country, finding these families in cities, villages, even at the end of gravel roads. Yad Vashem knew of 63 families on record, but Gershman's trek led him to more than 150. "I travelled all through Albania and Kosovo where I met the rescuer's children, who are in their sixties or even older, the rescuers' widows, and in some cases the rescuer himself." He took their portraits and began with the same question: What is your story?

"I asked them, 'Why did you do this? What was in the Quar'an that you did this?' They would only smile. Some of them said, 'We have saved lives to go to paradise."

"There was no government conspiracy, no underground railroad, no organized resistance of any kind-" Gershman said, "only individual Albanians, acting alone, to save the lives of people whose lives were in immediate danger. My portraits of these people, and their stories, are meant to reflect their humanity, their dignity, their religious and moral convictions, and their quiet courage."

The saddest part of many of these families' stories were the endings when Soviet communism cut off all communication between the Jews that fled to Israel or their native countries and the Muslims that stayed. Many of them ended with "... and then all contact was lost. We never heard from them again. Please help us find them so we can return items they left in our trust."

"I came back with pictures and stories that are different from the ones you read in the papers every day." Together, the images say more than words can about courage, compassion, faith, and intercultural companionship. "They're not perfect pictures," he said. "But what's important is for these people to reflect themselves." It's a message he believes needs to be understood now more than ever.

"The paranoia that's sweeping the country regarding Muslims is absolutely nuts," he said. "I defy of anybody sees my pictures, especially in the West, and say that these people are militants or supporters of violence. These photographs show quite a different story."

It's a story that has gone on to reach further than Gershman could alone. Since a 2006 endorsement from former President Jimmy Carter and its first showing at Yad Vashem in 2007, the world has seen more than 75 exhibitions of Besa, including at the United Nations. In 2008, Syracuse University Press published the images and stories in a photobook that shares the same name as the exhibition.

When its showing at Soho Photo Gallery wraps up at the end of this month, it will travel to a new one in England's House of Commons. Gershman attributes much of the show's success to the fact that it contradicts popular misconceptions of not only Muslims, but also of intercultural relationships between Muslims and Jews.

"The exhibitions," a press release said, "were shot in black and white, fittingly chosen as each of the subjects and their families understood that when it comes to saving a life, there can be no shades of grey."

Albanian Talk This Evening in Newton

Just read about this talk in the paper, maybe you want to pass the info around even though it is short notice.

Photojournalist Barry Pell to discuss his experiences in Albania when he lived and taught there in 2009-2010. Publc welcome, reservations suggested, call 617-244-6400.

It is at the EPOCH Assisted Living, 615 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, Friday January 7 at 6:30.

VAK

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Albanian Jews reject new chief rabbi

Thanks to a quick-witted, prominent Albanian-American intellectual, the following is a repudiation by Albania's Jews of Tirana's new Chief Rabbi. Read on...

***

Albanian Jews and Shlomo Amar

Albanian Jews reject appointment of new chief rabbi
By GIL SHEFLER

01/06/2011 05:03

Members of the local Jewish community complain the position created without consultation, and declare that they refuse to recognize his authority.
Talkbacks (1)

Last month, the Albanian government appointed Rabbi Yoel Kaplan as the former communist country’s first chief rabbi, amid much fanfare.

But in an angry letter recently sent to The Jerusalem Post, members of the local Jewish community complained the position had been created without consultation, and declared that they refused to recognize his authority.

“We completely alienate ourselves from this illicit and incorrect act, which was carried out in total discordance to the historical and religious traditions and principles of our nation,” stated the letter, which was signed by 34 of the country’s estimated 150 Jews.

“We strongly appeal and urge all the Albanian institutions and the international Jewish organizations to preliminary consult the Albanian-Jewish community before taking any action that would directly impact its dignity and community life, since we do not recognize Rabbi Yoel Kaplan as Albania’s Chief Rabbi.”

The signatories also alleged that Sokol Pirra, who helped facilitate Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar’s visit to Albania and who the signatories said had lobbied to create the position, was an impostor.

“Mr. Sokol Pirra is not the representative of our community,” they declared. “He is not even one of its members, because his connections to Judaism are very unclear at least, not to say inexistent.”

Kaplan, who had initially been unaware of the letter’s existence, responded to its criticism of his appointment in an e-mail this week, saying his critics within the community misunderstood his mission.

“The people behind the letter fear losing their role as unofficial representatives of Israeli-Albanian commercial ties,” he said. “Of course, such fears need not exist. My clear and sole goal is reinforcing Jewish life. Up until now, there have been gatherings for international Holocaust Remembrance Day and, at best, Israel’s Independence Day as well. We want to reinforce an active Jewish life throughout the year and establish an active community center.”

Jews have lived the area of present-day Albania for at least 1,300 years. Under the communist regime, all religions were suppressed, but when Albania opened up to the world in 1991, the majority of the remaining 300 Jews were airlifted to Israel. Only a few, mostly living in the capital Tirana, where the country’s only functioning synagogue is located, remained behind.

Yossi Levi, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which was also sent a copy of the letter, said on Monday that it wasn’t the ministry’s position to comment on appointments of rabbis in Jewish communities overseas.

“This is up to local communities to decide,” he said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kaplan said he would continue to serve the community despite the criticism from some of its members.

“The letter is indeed charged, but now the Albanian community has joined other Jewish communities around the world: There are camps in favor and against,” he wrote in the e-mail. “A day will come where, God willing, I will bring them together.”

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Gëzim Alpion's response to Dick Marty's allegations about Kosova

For those of you who were unaware of it, here's a London Albanian academic's spirited rebuttal to Dick Marty’s allegations about Kosova organ trafficking...

***



UK academic response to Dick Marty’s allegations about Kosova organ trafficking

Gëzim Alpion (PhD, Dunelm, UK)

Department of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Birmingham, UK

http://www.sociology.bham.ac.uk/staff/alpion.shtml

Following allegations of organ trafficking in Kosova made by Carla Del Ponte, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in her 2008 book The Hunt: I and the War Criminals, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly appointed Swiss-born politician Dick Marty in June of the same year as its rapporteur to conduct an investigation. Marty’s draft report entitled ‘Inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosova’, which was endorsed by the Committee on 16 December 2010, will be debated by the Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on 25 January 2011.

Reading Marty’s 27-page document one wonders if the author and his followers have been living as hermits over the last two decades. Marty’s report is basically an endless catalogue of sensationalist speculations and insults.

Marty’s main concern is not necessarily the alleged trafficking of human organs or ‘the absence of a true civil society’ in Kosova. His report is part of concerted efforts by some European Serbophiles to speed up the rehabilitation of Serbia without first experiencing a necessary soul-searching that the Germans and the Japanese have gone through so that this nation too has a chance to confront its past and redeem itself.

Marty apparently believes that with Milosevic dead, Serbia is in the clear. Milosevic’s demise did not mark the end of Serbia’s chauvinistic policy. Marty and those who support and finance his gossip mongering expedition in the Balkans are doing the Serbs no favour in the long run by telling them that in the wars they triggered in the 1990s they were as much at the receiving end as their victims.

In order to exonerate the ‘victimised’ Serbs, following the failed example of his peer as a Swiss citizen, Carla Del Ponte, Marty is on the lookout for ‘bad Albanians’. As the only non-Slavic nation to suffer from the Balkan wars in the 1990s, Del Ponte and Marty apparently believe that it is easy and convenient to demonise the Albanians.

Marty, it seems, is not comfortable that the Albanian nation, that has traditionally been ignored by world powers, has now found strong and reliable allies in the United States, the United Kingdom and major West European countries, and that Albania and Kosova’s European integration is becoming a reality.

Marty is right to raise the issue of alleged mistreatment of prisoners of war; when properly documented, anyone perpetrating crimes, should be tried and punished according to international law. Marty seems to be strikingly ignorant of the sad truth, however, that war is not exactly a stroll in the park. Unfortunately, every war has its ugly incidents, and what someone like Marty preaches on human rights from the serenity of Switzerland or myself from England’s green and pleasant land would not hold sway among war survivors who have witnessed the raping of women, killing of their loved ones and mass expulsion from their ancient homeland because their only crime is being Albanians.

Marty’s main purpose is to denigrate the Albanian Kosovars’ fight for liberation from Serb occupation. This explains why, although a lawyer by training, Marty takes no prisoners. Marty conveniently ignores that the Albanians did not choose to fight; armed resistance was the last option they resorted to when it was obvious that their decades-long Gandhi-like resistance would never raise the consciousness of Serb colonialists.

Marty apparently has a strong disdain for farmers who resist tyranny, as it is clear from his remarks about the peasant status of the Albanian patriot Adem Jashari, who was killed by the Serb forces together with his extended family in March 1998. Marty’s phobia towards the ‘rustic’ is baffling given the contribution rendered by the peasant William Tell in establishing the Swiss Confederation in the fourteenth century.

Marty’s low esteem for Adem Jashari, Kosova’s William Tell, is linked with the fact that he was one of the founders of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) in 1996. Marty is bent on presenting Albanian Kosovars’ armed resistance as being from start to finish a 'terrorist' movement inspired and run by vicious gangs of criminals of the lowest kind. This explains why he never mentions that the KLA and other Kosova freedom fighting military units proved to be valiant NATO allies throughout the 1999 bombing campaign.

Marty is hardly telling Albanians anything they do not know by alleging that some of their politicians, including some former members of the KLA who turned to politics in the wake of the 1999 war, are corrupt. Being financially and even morally and politically corrupt while governing in the Balkans, however, and executing people with the purpose of extracting and selling their kidneys, are not the same. If Marty can prove that what he claims to have happened indeed did take place, such alleged monsters need to be apprehended and held accountable.

Even if he can prove this, however, Marty exposes himself to defamation charges by both Albania and Kosova with his report that appears to criminalise the entire Albanian nation. The only charge that Marty can possible levy against the ‘criminal’ Kosova Albanians is that having aspired for centuries for freedom and dignity they eventually decided to take control of their destiny in the 1990s.

Marty’s hostile attitude towards the Albanians epitomises the old Europe’s colonial mentality keen to see any freedom fighting movement as a terrorist activity because it results in a new geopolitical reality that undermines big powers’ economic and strategic interests.

Interestingly enough, Marty‘s patchy investigation does not go beyond Tirana’s Rinas Airport. Marty would do a great service to justice and human rights if his investigation went beyond Kosova and Albania. If cadaver kidney extractions indeed took place during the Balkan wars in the 1990s one would normally assume that there must have been very rich recipients outside the Balkans who were prepared to spend so much of their wealth to sponsor and benefit directly from this alleged criminal trade.

As it stands, Marty’s report is a tirade of unfounded accusations against the Albanian nation, and an attempt to cause frictions among Albanians in Kosova, and between the two neighbouring countries of Kosova and Albania. The publication of the report only two days before the announcement of the Kosova general election results is an attempt to undermine democratic processes in this fledgling state, sabotage Kosova’s international recognition and throw spikes in the road to reconciliation.

Kosovo’s independence is perfectly justifiable on many grounds including its overwhelming ethnic homogeneity and solidarity. All ethnic minorities taken together in Kosova have never reached at any time before the 1999 war 10% of the country’s overall population. In this respect, Kosova ranks just behind ‘monoethnic’ European societies like Poland and Norway and ahead of Slovakia, not to mention former Yugoslav republics, now independent states, such as Slovenia, Montenegro or Macedonia. Several centuries ago, Portugal became one of the early examples in modern times when a country gained independence on ethnic grounds, amongst other reasons.

As a new state Kosova needs all the help it can get from the international community to convince its ethnic minorities that they have a future together. Marty’s report will cause unnecessary anguish among ethnic groups in Kosova, especially among the Serbs who have historically been easily manipulated by political and religious warmongers in Belgrade.

Rather than swiftly endorsing Marty’s patchy, speculative, and sensationalist report, the Council of Europe’s Legal Affairs Committee needs to realise that Kosova’s independence is irreversible. The Albanians are not some 'black sheep' that a Swiss senator can keep out of Europe.

Europe has traditionally suffered from a short term memory span. One would hope that, as its newest state, Kosova will mark the end of the European amnesia. Lest we forget.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New ESOL Website in Boston

Forward this newsletter to a friend

Dear Friends and Allies,

English for New Bostonians (ENB) has a new website! Please visit www.englishfornewbostonians.org where you can learn about ENB’s unique public-private-community collaboration; our 26 ESOL funded programs; the impact of our work on immigrant families, communities and workplaces; available trainings and individual TA; and more. Next spring, this will be the go-to place for information and downloadable forms for ENB’s Request for Proposals. And, now you can donate directly to ENB and help support adults learning English in Boston! Please check out the site and let us know what you think, or if you have events you’d like to post. And feel free to forward this email along to anyone you think may find this website useful!

To go with the new website, ENB's staff has new email addresses, below:
Claudia Green, Exec. Director
Phone: 617-350-5480 x203
cgreen@englishfornewbostons.org

Lee Haller, Program Manager
Phone 617-350-5480 x207

lhaller@englishfornewbostonians.org

Franklin Peralta, Campaign Organizer
617-350-5480 x219
fperalta@englishfornewbostonians.org

Best wishes for a happy new year!

Claudia Green
Director of Workforce Development
and English for New Bostonians
MA Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
105 Chauncy St., Suite 901
Boston, MA 02111
617.350.5480 x203

Monday, January 3, 2011

To: lkab_cameri-arvaniti@yahoogroups.com
From: markgecaj@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 11:16:19 -0500
Subject: [LKAB_cameri-arvaniti] FW: Shliach Crowned Albania's First Chief Rabbi


Shliach Crowned Albania's First Chief Rabbi

Albania appointed its first ever chief rabbi on Monday in a ceremony attended by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Barisha and Israel's Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, held at a synagogue in the capital city of Tirana.

Rabbi Joel Kaplan assumed the newly created position becoming the official head of the tiny local Jewish community in Tirana which has had a presence in the Balkan country for 1,300 years but now numbers only 150 people. The position was created by the local government at the request of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), a Jewish organization based in Brussles, during a meeting it held with Barisha.

“The Rabbinical Centre of Europe’s mission is to assist any European Jewish communities, whether they are large of small, affiliated or non-affiliated,” Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg, RCE deputy head, said. “Albanian Jewry has a long and illustrious history and the current community needs a spiritual leader to ensure its vitality and continuity.”

***

For photos, visit
http://chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=21337


***

IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Thanks to a quick-witted, prominent Albanian-American intellectual, the following is a repudiation by Albania's Jews of Tirana's new Chief Rabbi. Read on...

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Albanian Jews and Shlomo Amar

Albanian Jews reject appointment of new chief rabbi
By GIL SHEFLER
01/06/2011 05:03

Members of the local Jewish community complain the position created without consultation, and declare that they refuse to recognize his authority.
Talkbacks (1)

Last month, the Albanian government appointed Rabbi Yoel Kaplan as the former communist country’s first chief rabbi, amid much fanfare.

But in an angry letter recently sent to The Jerusalem Post, members of the local Jewish community complained the position had been created without consultation, and declared that they refused to recognize his authority.

“We completely alienate ourselves from this illicit and incorrect act, which was carried out in total discordance to the historical and religious traditions and principles of our nation,” stated the letter, which was signed by 34 of the country’s estimated 150 Jews.

“We strongly appeal and urge all the Albanian institutions and the international Jewish organizations to preliminary consult the Albanian-Jewish community before taking any action that would directly impact its dignity and community life, since we do not recognize Rabbi Yoel Kaplan as Albania’s Chief Rabbi.”

The signatories also alleged that Sokol Pirra, who helped facilitate Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar’s visit to Albania and who the signatories said had lobbied to create the position, was an impostor.

“Mr. Sokol Pirra is not the representative of our community,” they declared. “He is not even one of its members, because his connections to Judaism are very unclear at least, not to say inexistent.”

Kaplan, who had initially been unaware of the letter’s existence, responded to its criticism of his appointment in an e-mail this week, saying his critics within the community misunderstood his mission.

“The people behind the letter fear losing their role as unofficial representatives of Israeli-Albanian commercial ties,” he said. “Of course, such fears need not exist. My clear and sole goal is reinforcing Jewish life. Up until now, there have been gatherings for international Holocaust Remembrance Day and, at best, Israel’s Independence Day as well. We want to reinforce an active Jewish life throughout the year and establish an active community center.”

Jews have lived the area of present-day Albania for at least 1,300 years. Under the communist regime, all religions were suppressed, but when Albania opened up to the world in 1991, the majority of the remaining 300 Jews were airlifted to Israel. Only a few, mostly living in the capital Tirana, where the country’s only functioning synagogue is located, remained behind.

Yossi Levi, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which was also sent a copy of the letter, said on Monday that it wasn’t the ministry’s position to comment on appointments of rabbis in Jewish communities overseas.

“This is up to local communities to decide,” he said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kaplan said he would continue to serve the community despite the criticism from some of its members.

“The letter is indeed charged, but now the Albanian community has joined other Jewish communities around the world: There are camps in favor and against,” he wrote in the e-mail. “A day will come where, God willing, I will bring them together.”