Living With the Albanians
In the current debate on the future of Kosovo, it is often overlooked that hundreds of thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians had fled the province under Albanian pressure well before the KLA terror campaign of 1996-1998. Under Tito, the Albanians’ share of the population thus rose from 64 percent in 1953 to 77 percent immediately following his death in 1980.
To understand the conditions that prompted the exodus of non-Albanians from Kosovo even in peacetime, we don’t need to look further than Cherry Hill, NJ. This prosperous Philadelphia suburb known for good schools is the home to the Duka brothers, three “Yugoslav” Albanians arrested in connection with the jihadist plot to attack Fort Dix.
As we now know, the extended Duka family (three brothers, a grandmother, parents, wives, children) was in the habit of slaughtering lambs in their backyard with a kitchen knife. There were numerous complaints about fetid diapers tossed into an open trash dumpster that sat in the driveway, near an array of cars and pickup trucks without registration or license plates. Roosters ran about their yard, and juveniles roamed the neighborhood, sometimes setting off fireworks.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that police cited the Dukas repeatedly on disorderly persons charges, including marijuana possession, improper behavior, prowling, disturbing the peace, and obstructing the administration of law; they were fined between $20 and $830 on various occasions. The brothers were also issued some 50 traffic citations between 1997 and 2006 for speeding, driving without licenses, driving while on the suspended list, failure to appear in court, and other charges. They parked oversize trucks on the streets and operated unauthorized roofing business from home. But despite the attention from Cherry Hill code enforcers and police officers—who were called to the Duka home at least 10 times over the last seven years—their lifestyle of choice continued unhindered until they and three other Muslims (one of them also Albanian) were arrested four weeks ago.
Because of the Dukas’ behavior at least two families decided to move from the tree-lined street. According to the Inquirer, “a couple who requested that their last name not be published because they fear reprisals said they were one of the families who moved”:
Patty, 35, said the Duka family moved into the four-bedroom Colonial next to them in 1999. “First, they cut down all the trees for firewood,” she said. Then came the barnyard animals and the watermelon vines growing between their houses. On weekends, dozens of visitors would arrive in vans with New York license plates, the couple said. “The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I looked out my kitchen window and saw the women slit a lamb’s throat with a kitchen knife,” Patty said. “I was so upset, I called my husband on the phone. He said to call the police and I said, ‘No, call the Realtor,’” she said.
That option is available when there is but one Albanian family in a street—and even then you withhold your last name in fear of reprisals. When you are one of very few non-Albanian families left in a street, you’ll have explosive devices tossed into your house. When there are just a few of you left in a village, you’ll be killed, your churches will be ransacked and dynamited, and even the remains of your ancestors desecrated.
It is noteworthy that, like hundreds of thousands of their kinsmen in Kosovo who have been puring into southern Serbia from Albania ever since 1941, the Dukas were illegal immigrants: they came from Mexico as children many years ago. Had they not indulged in jihadism, no doubt they would have been amnestied in a year or two.
That the Dukas were evidently able to preserve and celebrate their national culture and their time-honored traditions in such a pristine form after so many years in the United States is a credit to their community’s resilience. That they have remained here for so long, undisturbed by immigration officials, even though that culture and those traditions had differed from those of the majority community is a clear proof of America’s commitment to diversity and a credit to her tolerance.
As Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt commented on his township in the aftermath of the Duka case, “It’s a very progressive community.” True to his ideals, only last month Mr. Platt declared, at the ground-breaking ceremony for an Islamic house of worship in Cherry Hill, “We have many religions here . . . now, thank God, we’re going to have a mosque.”
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listen up buddy.. the only one disgracing albanians is you with your personal hate and the serb that wrote this and the others that trash talked albanians...
you go back and read the article... everyone who is albanian thinks this article is trash... n you are arguing with catholic albanians.. cause we said those people didnt do it in the name of all albanians.. they did it for islam...
like the article and other say that albanians are violent and stuff.. which is false!!!! and there were replies talking about what serbs did but it was deleted... and you think this is a attack on islam by us??
no this was a attack on all albanians.. and those people didnt do what they did in the name of albania!!! but for islam... thats a fact!!!
you hate us for no reason... sooo go shhushh
i cant believe u call ur self albanian... you are as bad as those people and the serb that wrote this!!!!!
I am not Albanian you silly girl! Go read my first reply and put an end to your hostility against Albanians, well 80 percent of the Albanians (MUSLIMS)
80% of albanians arent muslim!!! that fact is wrong!!! as wrong as this whole article that trash talks albanians.. and as wrong as the person who said skenderbeg was serbian...
the 80% the cia says.. also says this
"note: percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation; all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice "
albania has no official religion!!!!
and i was in tirane n shkoder and other parts... more churches than mosques.... so i guess its 80% christian...
the 80% muslim thing is sooo old!!!! from before 1967...
soooo go away with your dumb comments and false facts..
and also in a earlier post.. you mentioned i was from malsia... wrong!!! u are generalizing by thinking all catholic albanians are from there.. you are sooo wrong my buddy... i aint from there!!!! soooo again... shushhhh up you anti albanian hate!!! as bad as the guy who wrote this
The point is that Islam isn't a religion, it's a political party that's become a way of life for some.
A way of life that needs removal from America.
It's pretty obvious that Albanians are mostly Muslim (well over 60%) CIA's estimates could go down as well as UP. Albanians are largely ashamed of their bloody past and will lie their faces off to preserve some semblance of dignity - their only commodity worth preserving. However the European Interpol lists Albanians as the most predominant criminal element of Europe. None of the many names (used by the same Albanian) bothered to accept or decline the section I posted copied from the Interpol's most wanted - however since these Albanians are holders of Serbian passports they are listed as Serbians or Montengrins, but with these names you can't be anything else except an Albanian Muslim, read and enjoy:
Even the European Interpol seem confused having listed Albanians as Serbians, but I don’t remember that any Serbian name sounded so Albanian ever before. List of the Interpol’s most wanted in Austria: Albanian criminals exceeding the modest number of four, according to the Austrian Interpol: MORINA Drilon, REXHEPAJ Nazif, THERQAJ Ardian, GECAJ Ded, Spahiu Leonard, Hajredini Gentjan, MALAJ Arlind, LATIFI Lulzim, GURGUROVCI Ibrahim, ZYMERI Rrahim, AMETAJ Sabit, FRROKU Lek - all listed as citizens of Serbia. Shoot me if there is one Serbian name there.
As far as Skenderbeg, he was suspected of being Greek, Albanian and/or Serbian as well - he did switch his religion several times - converting to Islam, back to Christianity and back to Islam.
For the reader who wants to see some proof - get into the Interpol's most wanted lists for Greece, Austria, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Germany and you'll find between 60% and 90% of the top ten criminals being Albanians - is that proof enough?
As Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt commented on his township in the aftermath of the Duka case, “It’s a very progressive community.” True to his ideals, only last month Mr. Platt declared, at the ground-breaking ceremony for an Islamic house of worship in Cherry Hill, “We have many religions here . . . now, thank God, we’re going to have a mosque.”
Now there's an example of New Multi-Cultural Man.
One wonders if he'll tip off the mosque when the Feds one day come to town with search warrants.
Regrettable that this discussion opened so many scabs and devolved as it did.
What I took from Dr. Trifkovic's article was
1) the problem arising as unassimilable cultures come in contact, and
2) another example of the immigration problem we have on our southern border (the Dukas snuck in from Mejico)
Most of us can get along with anyone who obeys the law and comforms to the existing neighborhood standard.
Islam makes man turn evil religion of satan!
I've read some bad things about the KLA and the burning of churches in Kosovo, so it's a relief to learn from some of the posters here that Albanian muslims really are wonderful people. Perhaps they should be invited to take over part of the US. Why not Chicago? It would have to be renamed 'Chicaga', of course.
I leave in Albania. Born and it's been 25 years here now. From all the peoples I meet, nobody of them ever went to a mosque even if they are supposed to be called muslims. I don't see in our roads covered womens. I think that all those years of isolation and communism really took the religions away from us (Albania=the first atheist state in the world). You may call us whatever you want but calling us muslims extremists make me laugh.
It's the second time I see in this web page anti-albanian article. The writers as I saw don't know nothing about Albania. I don't know what's the real purpose with this articles but I can guess.
..and about serbs..when we were chatholics you were in siberia praising a who knows what god there.
Edli, do not boast...
Albanians come from Caucasus, (Ossetia, Ingushetia/Dagestan/Chechnya -- the Chechens call their country Ichkeria, and you call yours Shqiperia; strange eh?). You arrived in the Balkans long after the Slavs; around 15th century the Ottoman Turks brought you along.
Unlike most commentators I have been to Albania, and I have met interesting and charming Albanians - such as Prof. Arben Puto and writer Dritero Agolli. The difference between the culture and mentality of southerners from the coastal plains and their northern cousins in Kosovo is undeniable, and partly reflected in the unconcealed loathing of the former for the latter.
Well from your theory we may come even from scotland since they call their land in their gaelic native language Albany which sounds ridiculous to me. Caucasus have a place called Iberia too. That means that peoples of Spain and portugal come from there?
We call our land Shqiperia because of Shqiponje (Eagle)
Does in chechen language, Ichke mean eagle too?
..anyway we may come even from Tibet if you want, that is not the point. The point is to not post funny articles like this and call us muslim extremists or whatever goes in your mind to make propaganda. I didn't noticed before that the writer of this "article" is a serb. It's totally worthless debating.
Misplaced and mistaken as those negative attitudes are ("hatred" is the wrong word), they are understandable in the context of their experiences with the Croats; I've done my best, over the years, to indicate to the Serbs that identifying "Croatianism" (esp. in its 1941-45 incarnation) with Catholicism is historically wrong and geopolitically self-defeating.
RROFTË KOSOVA E PAVARUR, RROFTË ADEM HEROI BASHKË ME KREJT TË TJERTË QË E KAN DHANË JETEN PËR KOSOVEN!
I agree with Dr. Trifkovic that "identifying “Croatianism” with Catholicism is geopolitically self-defeating", but it is NOT historically wrong.
There is a good expression in Serbian language: "Pustio bih ja njega, ali on nece mene !". To paraphrase - Vatican's (symbol of Catholicism) policy towards the Serbs throughout the twentieth century has everything to do with the Serbian suspicion and mistrust towards Catholics. I do not need to remind Dr. Trifkovic of Croatian and the Vatican’s Rat-Lines and pope John Paul’s open call to NATO to bombs Serbs…., Notwithstanding I am surprised with the above Dr. Trifkovic’s remarks. Catholic and Orthodox Christians have to work together towards strengthening their relationship – but some historical facts must not be forgotten or even ignored for the sake of the future cooperation.
Being a very busy (female) national business owner, I took time today to read some of the heated and emotional responses on this site. I am Serbian. I consider myself a very intelligent, honest, and fair individual. I have read many articles which I feel were biased and unbiased. Having traveled to Yugoslavia (including Kosovo) in 1980's. I saw and read things then that disturbed me. If I speak out against the Albanians than I will be called biased and a hating Serb. So first let me say, I know that atrocities were committed by ALL. I also know that not ALL peoples of a nationality are BAD and of others GOOD.
It is easy in today's world of media to create a false truth. It is a documented fact the the Albanians, inluding the Kosovar Albanians (KLA) hired the PR firm of Ruder-Finn to sway public opinion for their side during the 1990's wars. They have enormous monies obtained from the drug trade and are considered (all documented) as the biggest Herione drug runners in Europe. They have destroyed 100's of 12th-15th Century Churches (Catholic and Orthodox) and Jewish Temples in Kosovo since they have taken over. Is this really civilized. These houses of worship are history, works of art... I ask why???? Was this necessary. During the occupation by the US and Un in Kosovo much more violence started to occur than before. When the Spanish foresnsic teams came in to get data on the atrocities they finally left with a report that the numbers that were put out were way out of line; they found nothing to justify the high numbers in the reports. Yes there were casualties but most were related to WAR. Drug money (which is massive) can buy and turn any story. For the Albanians or Albanian sympathizers who deny or refuse to believe that they are terrorists, well please get real and honest with yourselves. You cannot have it both ways. These Albanians are terrorists and the US government knows that they have been with Al Queda. Does this mean that all Albanians are bad? NO. Just like all Serbs are not bad and all Croats are not bad. But WE must be honest with ourselves and call a spade a spade.
I also want to address DANIEL, where he states that Serbs hate Catholics. Again, there may be some Serbs that hate catholics, just at some Croat Catholics hate Serbs (Orthodox). But not all Serbs hate Catholics. I will however, ask Daniel to get the Book. The Unholy Trinity by Mark Aaron and John Loftus which chronicles through documented US goverment documents the Catholic Churhes involvement in what were called the Nazi Rat Lines as well as the Catholic Churches involvment (Croation Catholic Priest in Vatican Father Draganovic) in the massacre of 1,000.000 Serbs, Jews, and Gypsy's in Jasenovac. Today there is a special section in the Holocoaust Musuem devoted and in recognition of this. By the Way my husband is Catholic!
Today in Serbia there are still 15+ nationalities that still reside in peace and mutual respect struggling to pull themselves out of economic, emotional and pyschological trauma of the bombings that our great President Bill Clinton ordered. Today the US has taken over the steel mills, industry, and other business and forein banks are coming in to get a piece of the action. L
So, I say let's get real and call a spade a spade and not be stupid this is globalization and certain powers will control. We need to get along because at the end fo the day we are all human beings that want the same thing (peace, health, happiness, properity).
Or we can continue to live with our heads in the sand and spiel out hatred and negative energy and blame the other guy and "Wag the Dog" (remember the movie). Or we as citizens of the universe can let go of the past, find some love in our hearts and say NO to the powers that try to divide us all.
From FrontPage Magazine.
"I landed in Kosovo on a flight from Istanbul directly into the Kosovo capital city of Pristina. This city is a showpiece for the Kosovo Albanians who often take visiting dignitaries and American politicians through a twisty roundabout path through the city, avoiding the many destroyed churches and other evidence of the less than tolerant attitudes so prevalent in the region. I went on a very different tour of Kosovo than what our politicians see. I didn't stick to only seeing the few good parts of Pristina, I went to other parts of Kosovo where Christians are forced to live in military-like compound ghettos, with the terror and fear of death if they ever set foot outside of their enclaves without protection. I saw a rogue and wild west region with very little self built infrastructure, and vast amounts of foreign money flowing in from Saudi Arabia and other nations hell bent on exporting their extremist ideals. The only real infrastructure I saw were remnants of Tito's Communist Yugoslavia, with the current flow of money primarily being dumped into new construction projects of Wahabi mosques and madrases. But what is scariest of all is that I saw America several generations from now if we continue to allow Islamism to spread through the socialist and naive policies so many American politicians have adopted.
From Pristina I headed for Gracanica, a small enclave of Christian Serbs who's ancestors have been living in Kosovo for thousands of years. Gracanica Monastery has been the site of Christian churches since the 6th century, yet when I arrived I was struck by the towering concrete walls adorned with coiled barbed wire and machine gun nests, all required now for the protection of the nuns and bishops who live there. The outside was also spotted with vehicle blockers reminiscent of Normandy Beach, with KFOR guards and vehicles patrolling to protect the Christians from Islamist attacks."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28597
Yes, 4 of the men accused in this plot are Albanian. Were they acting in the name of Albanians? Absolutely NOT.
As far as I'm concerned, they are individuals misguided by the ideals of religion. They are not representative of all Albanians
The slitting of the lamb's throat, that's not a cultural thing. That's a result of ignorance on their part to assume that they could do that here just as easily as they probably did it on the farm back home.
As for "Albanians are the most barbaric Muslims" as Mr. Boyich pointed out, if you bother to do any research of Albanians, the ancestry is CHRISTIAN. 500 years of Ottoman rule caused many to convert as a matter of survival and being able to function in society.
The article is written by a Serb so one shouldn't expect anything other than to try and make Albanians sound as bad as possible
Lastly, any one who truly knows anything about Albanians knows that the religion of TRUE Albanians is Albanianism.
Just remember, there are good and bad people in every race, religion and ethnicity.
Example : How "Albanism" was rescued ... -
"Govt to boost funding to promote moderate Islam"
PM Tony Blair said:
... "The religious faith of either country was as irrelevant to the decision as was the fact that the Kosovo Albanians we rescued were Muslims, suffering under a Serbian dictatorship, whose religion happened to be Christian Orthodox; ...
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20070604/ wl_uk_afp/ britainpolitics_ 070604135416
NOT REALLY MUSLIM? TELL LANTOS! "Just a reminder to the predominantly Muslim-led governments in this world that [Kosovo] is yet another example that the United States leads the way for the creation of a predominantly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe. This should be noted by both responsible leaders of Islamic governments, such as Indonesia, and also for jihadists of all color and hue. The United States' principles are universal, and, in this instance, the United States stands foursquare for the creation of an overwhelmingly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe." -- Rep. Tom Lantos, at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (which he chairs), April 17, 2007.
"Though, would it not serve the Eastern peoples best to remove the large chip situated on their collective shoulder?…"
Daniel, this is exactly what Serbs were saying for ages, both to Eastern and to Western Europeans, to everybody who wanted to listen! They themselves were following this idea also in ex-Yugoslavia. Even though they were clearly the victims and Croatians clearly those who committed unspeakable crimes between 1941 and 1945, the Serbs in their vast majority have forgiven Croatians - in their generosity and tollerance they never reminded Croatians of their crimes and most Serbs were prepared to do as if the past never happened or as if Croatians as a collective never supported those crimes. What is the result? 500000 Serbs expelled from Croatia (first from the cities, than from Kraina), new attrocities on Serbs 50 years after the Second World War.
I guess you will suspiciously ask now how comes that Serbs are so generous, no-haters while surrounded by evil chauvinisms. The question is both legtitimate and important. I believe one of the reasons for this unusual degree of tolerance and generosity towards others is actually because of weakness of Serbian position throughout centuries. Serbs are weak, soft, not good in confrontations, they try to please everybody, and therefore an ideal target for everyone who is not weak and soft. We have been bombed not because we are the most chauvinistic in the region, but because we were the weakest in the region, an ideal victim, someone who cannot defend himself and his property, and the perpetrators need not be afraid of punishement. It was just like in real life. But even the weakest and the softest will be fed up one day and decide to become more similar to their neighbours, when they realise that they have nothing to loose ...
If you believe that Croatians are "afraid" of Serbs or "Serbian -Russian axis" than you have fallen to their fascist propaganda that seeks to justify crimes against Serbs by speaking of non-existent "fear" ie by portraying themselves as historical victims which they are not (in reality they despise Serbs, deny them right to exist, consider them sub-human), and they try to appeal to Western anti-Russian sentiments by "Serbian- Russian axis" talk. Croatian "fear " of Serbs could be well compared with German "fear" of "Jewish conspiracy". It is an excuse for sadistic crime and robbery of Serbian property.
It is definitely wrong to speak of "hate" in case of the Serbs. I believe that today Serbs are afraid of Croatians and of everybody else in the region, because they experience that this allegedly tollerant and liberal West, tolerates and actively supports all chauvinisms of the region (Croatian, Albanian, of Bosnian Muslims, Hungarian) that seek to get satisfied on the expence of Serbian state and nation. This ranges from land grab to opportunity to completely revise the historical facts, especially those related to Nazi past of most of Serbias neighbours .
I do fully understand that "we" (Albanians, Serbs, Kosovo) are miniscule for you. I also don´t care about Timbuktu for instance. It means nothing to me, I don´t care what is going on there. However, Serbia doesn´t have the power to decide over the fate of Timbuktu ... I can only appeal to you, to your Christian love for truth and justice to influence your government to change the policy towards Serbia. We need your help.
As for Catholicism - Serbs really like Benedikt XVI, - I prey for him and hope he will live long. Because he is obviously trying to be close to Ortodox Christians. And because he obviously is not trying to appease Moslems by offering them morsels of Ortodox Christian countries. And because he fights for unity of all Christians which we do wish. I wish his spirit will spread across the Catholic church in Croatia, where clerus still frequently engage in inciting hate against Serbs and Ortodox in generall and in supporting everything that is against Serbia. They definitely need to stop doing it and it would be very helpful if Catholic people from Western Europe, for instance Germany or USA enagage more in explaining to Catholic Croatians that their hate in thoughts, words and doings against the Serbs and Jews (yes, they still cultivate it , even without Jews in Croatia) is against everything that Catholicism stands for. They might listen to you.
Thank you David Rolfe for your honest and truthful account what is really going on in Kosovo....
Truth – a bitter pill to swallow
It is very interesting that a racist article like “Living with the Albanians” is allowed to be posted online while the comments, which are not to the liking of somebody up there, are not. Truth is bitter, Messrs. Serbs, but you have to swallow it. You removed my comments because you do not like the truth. Here they are again although I am sure you are going to remove them. Do you know why? Because you try to hide the unerring weapon of the Albanians and their wellwishers. This weapon is the truth pure and simple It is very ridiculous that you hate the Albanians and love their hero Scanderbeg. Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks all claim Scanderbeg. Great men are the prey of wolves and jackals. Serbs and Montenegrins call him Djuradj, whereas the Greeks call him Jorgos hoping that the change of his name will convince the world that he is not Albanian.
And now back to my comments, with a few changes, on the article “Living with the Albanians”:
A really great article as far as racism and hatred of other peoples are concerned. This is what Serb authors have distinguished themselves for. Instead of writing about what the Serbs have done against other Balkan peoples, waking up his countrymen from their ultranationalist slumber and urging them to atone for their sins and crimes, the author engages in nitpicking as though the Serbs were free of faults. Racism, hatred, arrogance, la folie du grandeur, if combined, are equal to Serbian mentality. As long as they do not get rid of this mindset, they will always fail and become the laughing stock of the world. It is this mentality that has led the Serb nation to defeat after defeat. The Serb nation is the only nation that commemorates defeats. The Serbs take pride in defeats because they are a defeated, frustrated people, who God has always punished for the sins of their leaders. It is ruling cliques who have victimized and indoctrinated the poor innocent people of Serbia with hatred for their neighbors and sick national pride since the inception of the Serbian state. It is the same ruling cliques that have also distorted the history of the Serbian people. They still hide the historical fact that Karadjordje (1768?—1817), who led the Serbs against the Ottomans and later, in 1808, was proclaimed hereditary chief of the Serbs, was Albanian by origin. He hailed from a Mirdita tribe, the Kelmendis, who had settled at Srem, Voivodina, in the 17th century. It is regrettable to see the Serbs fight and die for lost causes for the sake of their leaders' ambitions. In Kosova, Miloshevic, told the Serbs: “You, Serbs, from now on and forever, nobody will ever dare beat you”. And the poor brainwashed Serbs, with the words of their Fuhrer on their lips, started four wars in the Balkans. They lost them all.
The article is like all the cheap articles that I have been reading and got sick of ever since I was at high school. Albanians can expect no better articles from such authors. But the problem is that there are still people who chew such trash and speak out about major issues that really count.
Lack of knowledge is the source of misunderstanding and disagreement. Lack of knowledge of the region makes people fall prey to Slavic style-tall tales, not like the tall tales and urban legends Americans are so familiar with and relish in.
The author says that “hundreds of thousands” of Albanians have been pouring into southern Serbia (Serbs used to call Kosova “Southern Serbia”) from Albania ever since 1941… ”. A BIG LIE (!) This statement reminds me of a Serbian lady I met some years ago at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard. We were attending a conference where the Albanian ambassador in Washington and the Macedonian and Yugoslav ambassadors at the United Nations discussed the Kosova situation in early 1998 after the massacre of civilians in Kosova by the Serb forces. After the conference, a lady from Serbia, American citizen, introduced herself to a friend of mine and me. She said: “I do not like Milosevic. He is a communist, but what about those hundreds of thousands of Albanians who came to Kosovo from Albania after World War II?” Her words surprised us. We said, “What? What do you mean? Hundreds of thousands of Albanians pouring into Kosova from Albania?” “Yes”, she said. “I have seen them in a documentary film.” My friend said: “Albania was the most isolated communist country in Europe, my lady. The border guards there shot those, who dared try to cross the border. Those who could succeed might have been four or five people a year, or less, or none.” “What documentary was it?” I asked. “American. It had been produced by Americans”, she answered. “You think that even Americans, if paid, do not lie? Aren’t some of them corruptible human beings?” my friend asked her.
The author also says that “in the current debate on the future of Kosovo, it is often overlooked that hundreds of thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians had fled the province under Albanian pressure well before the KLA terror campaign of 1996-1998. Under Tito, the Albanians' share of the population thus rose from 64 percent in 1953 to 77 percent immediately following his death in 1980.” ANOTHER BIG LIE. First of all, under pressure by the Yugoslav authorities, from the year 1945 to 1974 about 700 thousand Albanians were forced to leave for Turkey. The situation changed somewhat after Tito dismissed Rankovic (a Serb), the Yugoslav Interior minister, making a scapegoat of him by blaming him for massacring and deporting Albanians abroad as well as after the endorsement of the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution. It is so ridiculous to think that “hundreds of thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians fled the province” at a time when the Serbs controlled the state machinery, the police, the army and the courts. It was the Serbs who pulled the strings even after the year 1974. According to the author’s aberrations, Albanians must have been so exceptionally powerful as to challenge Yugoslav and Serbian rule.
To get to know the Albanians and the Serbs, I would recommend two books 1) “Kosovo – A Short History” by Noel Malcolm (New York University Press, Washington Square, New York, 1998) and 2) “The Albanians” (An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present) by Edwin E. Jacques (McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina and London).
In these two books, the authors have also depicted the great men of Albania through the centuries including Scanderbeg, who saved the Western civilization from the Ottoman onslaught. If it had not been for him and his leadership skills as a military strategist and diplomat, part of Europe, including Italy and Austria, if not further afield, would look different today.
Are you aware that the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the following poem dedicated to this Albanian hero of the 15th century? The poem can be found in his collection of poems titled “Tales of a Wayside Inn”.
S C A N D E R B E G
The battle is fought and won
By King Ladislaus the Hun,
In fire of hell and death's frost,
On the day of Pentecost.
And in rout before his path
From the field of battle red
Flee all that are not dead
Of the army of Amurath.
In the darkness of the night
Iskander, the pride and boast
Of that mighty Othman host,
With his routed Turks, takes flight
From the battle fought and lost
On the day of Pentecost;
Leaving behind him dead
The army of Amurath,
The vanguard as it led,
The rearguard as it fled,
Mown down in the bloody swath
Of the battle's aftermath.
But he cared not for Hospodars,
Nor for Baron or Voivode,
As on through the night he rode
And gazed at the fateful stars,
That were shining overhead
But smote his steed with his staff,
And smiled to himself, and said;
"This is the time to laugh."
In the middle of the night,
In a halt of the hurrying flight,
There came a Scribe of the King
Wearing his signet ring,
And said in a voice severe:
"This is the first dark blot
On thy name, George Castriot!
Alas why art thou here,
And the army of Amurath slain,
And left on the battle plain?"
And Iskander answered and said:
"They lie on the bloody sod
By the hoofs of horses trod;
But this was the decree
Of the watchers overhead;
For the war belongeth to God,
And in battle who are we,
Who are we, that shall withstand
The wind of his lifted hand?"
Then he bade them bind with chains
This man of books and brains;
And the Scribe said: "What misdeed
Have I done, that, without need,
Thou doest to me this thing?"
And Iskander answering
Said unto him: "Not one
Misdeed to me hast thou done;
But for fear that thou shouldst run
And hide thyself from me,
Have I done this unto thee.
"Now write me a writing, O Scribe,
And a blessing be on thy tribe!
A writing sealed with thy ring,
To King Amurath's Pasha
In the city of Croia,
The city moated and walled,
That he surrender the same
In the name of my master, the King;
For what is writ in his name
Can never be recalled."
And the Scribe bowed low in dread,
And unto Iskander said:
"Allah is great and just,
But we are as ashes and dust;
How shall I do this thing,
When I know that my guilty head
Will be forfeit to the King?"
Then swift as a shooting star
The curved and shining blade
Of Iskander's scimetar
From its sheath, with jewels bright,
Shot, as he thundered: "Write!"
And the trembling Scribe obeyed,
And wrote in the fitful glare
Of the bivouac fire apart,
With the chill of the midnight air
On his forehead white and bare,
And the chill of death in his heart.
Then again Iskander cried:
"Now follow whither I ride,
For here thou must not stay.
Thou shalt be as my dearest friend,
And honors without end
Shall surround thee on every side,
And attend thee night and day."
But the sullen Scribe replied
"Our pathways here divide;
Mine leadeth not thy way."
And even as he spoke
Fell a sudden scimetar-stroke,
When no one else was near;
And the Scribe sank to the ground,
As a stone, pushed from the brink
Of a black pool, might sink
With a sob and disappear;
And no one saw the deed;
And in the stillness around
No sound was heard but the sound
Of the hoofs of Iskander's steed,
As forward he sprang with a bound.
Then onward he rode and afar,
With scarce three hundred men,
Through river and forest and fen,
O'er the mountains of Argentar;
And his heart was merry within,
When he crossed the river Drin,
And saw in the gleam of the morn
The White Castle Ak-Hissar,
The city Croia called,
The city moated and walled,
The city where he was born,--
And above it the morning star.
Then his trumpeters in the van
On their silver bugles blew,
And in crowds about him ran
Albanian and Turkoman,
That the sound together drew.
And he feasted with his friends,
And when they were warm with wine,
He said: "O friends of mine,
Behold what fortune sends,
And what the fates design!
King Amurath commands
That my father's wide domain,
This city and all its lands,
Shall be given to me again."
Then to the Castle White
He rode in regal state,
And entered in at the gate
In all his arms bedight,
And gave to the Pasha
Who ruled in Croia
The writing of the King,
Sealed with his signet ring.
And the Pasha bowed his head,
And after a silence said:
"Allah is just and great!
I yield to the will divine,
The city and lands are thine;
Who shall contend with fate?"
Anon from the castle walls
The crescent banner falls,
And the crowd beholds instead,
Like a portent in the sky,
Iskander's banner fly,
The Black Eagle with double head;
And a shout ascends on high,
For men's souls are tired of the Turks,
And their wicked ways and works,
That have made of Ak-Hissar
A city of the plague;
And the loud, exultant cry
That echoes wide and far
Is: "Long live Scanderbeg!"
It was thus Iskander came
Once more unto his own;
And the tidings, like the flame
Of a conflagration blown
By the winds of summer, ran,
Till the land was in a blaze,
And the cities far and near,
Sayeth Ben Joshua Ben Meir,
In his Book of the Words of the Days,
"Were taken as a man
Would take the tip of his ear."
Emete
"The Serbs take pride in defeats because they are a defeated, frustrated people, who God has always punished for the sins of their leaders."
So you believe the NATO attacks on the Serbs were the work of God?
I must confess that I find that hard to believe.
"Because you try to hide the unerring weapon of the Albanians and their wellwishers. This weapon is the truth pure and simple"
Not only the "truth pure and simple", surely? The KLA also have the proceeds of organised crime.
EMETE, KLA, Albanians, Kosovars, whatever you call yourselves who are YOU?? Do you know? Don't worry, you guys have so much drug money coming in that you can buy any greedy politicians and newspapers to print whatever propaganda you want. So now are we to believe that the terrorists who were arrested in NJ are not Albanians? What, are they just misguided young men who somehow got swayed to AlQueda? I just don't get it. You have had such good press for 10 yrs (because of all the drug money donations) but now the real truth hurts. Serbs are not perfect as is human nature, but Serbs have NEVER been terrorists or Drug Runners.....and by the way how about having some respect for women..?! What's with that position in the muslim world. Get over your corrupt selves. Truth is Truth and you can't handle it because it is to honest.
It's sad that a Serb wrote this article full of hate. I feel sorry for him. When a dr by title is writing things like that.....imagine the others Serbs without education ...what can they do...and what did they do to Albanians from Kosovo. Shame on them. They need to have a catharsis (clean their spirits) and open their minds.
I am an Albanian but I don't hate Serbs. I think it's time for change. We have to get along with each other. The children both side have to live a normal life without hate and full of tolerance.
Enough DR Serb.
Recently, I saw an article from Switzerland of a young Swiss woman who was beaten to a pulp by Albanian immigrants. It showed her face, just soo black with bruises. She did NOT even know them! She was beaten for absolutely NO reason WHATSOEVER!! How can we explain this behavior? This is NOT an isolated incident either. It's just typical Albanian behavior. She didn't have her face beaten black by immigrants from somewhere in the tropics. It was purpetrated by "European" immigrants from ALBANIA. I've been told by people I know from NYC that they're just WILD acting. I mean the ones born here! Geeez! Maybe they need to find some jungle to live in, where they would feel more comfortable.
I FIND THAT POST BEFORE ME TO BE RACIST AND WITHOUT PROOF, I HAVE SO MANY ALBANIAN PEOPLE AROUND ME I TALK TO DAILY. THEY ARE GOOD FRIENDS, THEY HAVE GREAT FAMILY PRINCIPLES AND DO NOT WISH ANYONE HARM, THESE GUYS YOU SPEAK OF HAVE THEY BEEN CHARGED AND PROVEN TO BE ALBANIAN, WERE IS UR PROOF FOR THAT ONE.AND SURE IF WE WANT TO GENERALISE THINGS BOUT THE NEW YORK THING YOU HEARD IT MUST BE THE COMMUNITY THEY GREW UP IN NYC THEN,CAUSE IT MOST CERTAINLY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FROM THEIR FAMILY TEACHING THEM. DO YOU KNOW ANY ALBANIANS,WHAT IS GOSSIP/ ITS JUST THAT GOSSIP. HAVE YOU GOT PHOTOS OF THE GIRL AND THE NEWS PAPER WERE IT POSTS THEIR PICTURES AFTER THEY WERE ARRESTED AND CONVICTED OF THIS ASSAULT, I HAVE PERSONEL FRIENDS FROM ALBANIA AND BY NO MEANS HAVE I EVER FELT THREATENTED WHEN WALKING DOWN THE STREET PAST A GROUP OF THEM AT NITE. I WISH YOU'S WOULD EVER STOP WITH THE GOSSIP AND SEE THE FULL PICTURE HERE, THERE IS GOOD AND BAD IN EVERY COUNTRY AND IT IS SOCEITY THAT CREATES THUGS AND MURDERS AND THIEVES AND WHATEVER ELSE YOU PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BLAME ON ALBANIANS, THEY ARE NOT ALL ALBANIANS THE MINORITY IS ALBANIAN CRIME, THE REST LOOK ON YOUR OWN DOORSTEP,AND UNLESS YOU CAN POST PICTURES THAT SHOW ALL ALBANIANS AS YOU ARE TRYING TO PORTRAY THEM AND I AM NOT TALKING BOUT 2 OR 3,I MEAN EVERY ALBANIOAN IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THEN LEAVE THEM ALONE AND LET THEM LIVE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, AND DONT GO THERE ON HOLIDAYS WHEN THEY BECOME ONE OF THE TOP RESORT AREAS TO VISIT,CAUSE YOU KNOW YOU'S WILL, GOOD FUTURE TO ALL ALBANIANS AND KOSOVA MAY YOU'S FLOURISH AND GROW AND ALL UR FUTURES BE BRIGHT AND GREAT LIKE YOU DESRVE,
Srdja Trifkovic is a Serb who knows very much about Albanian and how bad they are. Yet, he seems not to know much about the Serbs and their "badness."
As one of commentators have cited and commented,
"“That option (moving) is available when there is but one Albanian family in a street—and even then you withhold your last name in fear of reprisals. When you are one of very few non-Albanian families left in a street, you’ll have explosive devices tossed into your house. When there are just a few of you left in a village, you’ll be killed, your churches will be ransacked and dynamited, and even the remains of your ancestors desecrated.” I think you can replace the word ‘Albanian’ with Muslim, and still retain the truth of it."
I think you can replace the word 'Albanian' with Serb in Croatia or Bosnia, and still retain the truth of it. As an Evangelical Christian, a Serb living in Serbia, I know that Evangelicals are branded as "cults/sects/Satanists" and verbally and physically persecuted, their ministers attacked, their buildings burned, all by the Eastern Orthodox "Christian" majority and yet you want hear Mr. Trifkovic (of "Srpske dveri" fame) write about that.
The only difference between Albanians and Serbs is that the former slaughter lambs, while the letter slaughter pigs (for every feast and holiday)...
I am sick and tired of Albanians trying to hide their Moslem heritage and equlizing Islam with Terrorism and Crime. That has to stop. IS IT THAT WRONG TO BE A MOSLEM????? Is being a Moslem equal to being a terrorist? No wonder why you like that IDIOT BUSH...SHAME ON YOU....
And one more thing....you Albnians have to THINK THINK THINK very HARD what is more importnat to youj...your nation or ISLAM
....IT IS NOT POSIBLE TO HAVE BOTH...ISLAM IS no1 - IN A RESPECTFUL WAY....WHAT DO YOU WANTT???!? bE AMERICAN STOOGES AND POOODLES? SO BE IT.....TO YOUR DETRIMENAT
Accana kam hakke....SORRY BUT THTS HOW IT IS...Inshallah and you will see the truth
salam
umm ziad, get it right.. not all Albanians are muslim!!! we have a lot that are catholic or orthodox, and we think that we are albanian!! its these fundamentalist think that they are muslim before anything..
think a little harder, the people that planned that dont consider themselfs Albanian.. so dont talk about all Albanians being muslim, when we arent!! get it right!!
you are almost as insulting as this article!!
OK...you dont have to be MOSLEMS....IF THATS INSULTING TO YOU....THATS FINE!!!!! AND I CAN SEE FROM UOUR ARTICLE THAT ITS WRONG TO BE MOSLEM...BECAUSE MOSLEMS ARE TERORISTS RIGHT??/
THE WAY YOU SIDED WITH bush, american BUTCHER.....IN TIRANA... MAKES ME SICK. I guesss u disregard the fact that he killed so many MOSLEMS??/ THATS FINE......Inshallah .....WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
YOU SOLD YOURSELFS TO george bush....cheeply
I always respected Albanians fight Russians and Srbeains and Cristiansts....always....untill georeg bush came to Albania.....now...for you no respect....ZERO
Accana kam hakke...BUT THATS HOWIT IS
BETTER CHOOSE ------ AMERICA OR ISLAM? CANT HAVE BOTH
SALAM TO ALL.....FROM ZIAD Ismayilzada
FROM الشام ash-Shām
i am telling you not albanians are muslim... we are mostly christians. herk off like you make your muslim people look crazzy!!
im not muslim so i will never choose muslim.. i choose Albania!! and Jesus!!
and excuse me george bush kill muslims? yeah ok thats why muslims blow theirselfs up in iraq!!! and killed americans!! and always killed people!!! you can go to hell for your allah.. but dont you dare say that all Albanians are muslims you turskih arab freak!!
Sweetvajze!
Who is a freak? SO BEING A MOSLEM IS A FRAEK??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/ SO WHY YOU ACCEPT MONEY FROM MOSLEMS IF YOU HATE MOSLEMS???????????
Inshallah …..WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
YOU SOLD YOURSELFS TO george bush….cheeply
ZIAD Ismayilzada
FROM الشام ash-Shām
I have currently albanian boyfriend who is really a wonderful and caring person. I never really cared about religious reltionships but when people are entering Europe they must concern themselves and integrate in that country where they live.
I feel sorry fro those who have suffered under political and financial problems in past...i mean as albania in general. Its an beatiful country to be in but lots still needs to be done there...
BUT...I AS WESTERN INHABITANT, LIVING LEGALLY DONT LIKE THOSE WHO DOESNT WANT TO INTEGRATE AND BRING THEIR SHIT FROM BALKANY ....IS THAT A WAY TO REACH EUROPE...DRUGS, PROSTITUESS, MAFFIA...ITS A SHAME FOR YOUR PARENTS WHO HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT THEIR SUNS AND DAUGHTERS TO LIVE IN BETTER WAY...
Rockhard you have no idea what a jew would do if they read what you wrote they would spit in your face, because that is a complete lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVsuRcbObc4
My god its appalling to see how stupid people are!
Serbs are the good guys!
Albanians are liars and killers! THEY COVERED UP EVERYTHING ALL THERE "INNOCENTS" IS FAKE!!
Does anyone here use a dictionary? I teach history and English literature to twelve-year-olds, and none of them writes this badly. If these illiterate comments reflect the level of critical thinking skills common to the Balkans, the region can only anticipate another thousand years of murder, rape, and brutality.