Archives for January 2016

Bowie: A World Class Humanitarian

January 13, 2016 by dgreca

By David L Phillips*/
I met David Bowie in 1994, during the war in Bosnia. Bowie was deeply troubled by ethnic cleansing of Bosniak Muslims by Croats and Serbs. He used his celebrity discreetly yet effectively to raise awareness about events in Bosnia. I knew Bowie as a humanitarian and a man of principle.
Bowie and I met at the Imperial War Museum in London. I was accompanied by Haris Silajdzic, Bosnia’s Prime Minister. Arrangements were made by Bob Summer, the former CEO of SONY Music, and his wife Susan.
The purpose of our meeting was to view a painting owned by Bowie called “Croatians and Muslim.” The painting depicted two Croatian men raping a Muslim woman, while pushing her head into a toilet. Bowie described the painting as “evocative and devastating.”
The image was so troubling that the Imperial War Museum disowned it. Bowie stepped into the controversy, buying the art work from the Scottish painter, Peter Towson, for $28,000. Art, whether visual or musical, was a call to action.
With the help of Bowie’s publicist, we lined-up dozens of media meetings at the Dorchester Hotel. Silajdzic went from room to room, 10 minutes each, doing television interviews.
Bob and Susan hosted a small private dinner. Bowie was there. Brian Eno, the musician and master recording engineer, attended with Anthea. Peter Towson was present. Other personalities in the British rock scene were also seated.
The dinner conversation focused on the siege of Sarajevo. Not unlike what’s happening today in the Syrian town of Madaya, Sarajevo was encircled. Serbian artillery fired indiscriminately. Snipers took deadly aim. Residents had no food or water.
We talked about the impact of Towson’s painting. Guests expressed horror at the systematic use of sexual violence against Bosniak Muslims. We explored organizing a series of meetings to establish rape a war crime.
Bowie thought the siege of Sarajevo could be broken by holding a concert, and offered to perform.
Safe passage was his pre-condition. The journey to Sarajevo was a scary trip in 1994. Driving from Croatia over Mt. Igman was treacherous. The road was built on crumbling limestone. There were many road blocks and land mines. Alternatively, the UN provided a shuttle service from Zagreb to Sarajevo using old Antanov propeller planes. The shuttle service was sarcastically called “Maybe Airlines.” Flights were often canceled. Some took off, but never landed.
Silajdzic proposed dates for Bowie’s concert in the spring. The UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations suggested we travel by helicopter. I kept trying to confirm arrangements with Bowie, but he wouldn’t commit. Bowie later revealed his phobia for helicopters.
The Sarajevo concert never happened. Bosnian Serb forces intensified their attacks against UN safe areas. The slaughter continued through the following summer when 8,000 men and boys were killed in Srebrenica.
I ran into Bowie backstage at Carnegie Hall a few years later. He was performing at a fund raising event for Tibet House.
We reminisced about Bosnia; discussed the Dayton Peace Agreement. He updated me on Brian Eno’s charity called “War Child,” a music school for war traumatized youth in Croatia.
In his book, A Year, Eno wrote: “Incidentally one of the connections we made was this guy named David Phillips, from an organization called the Congressional Human Rights Foundation, and he has proven extremely helpful: sort of taking Anthea and War Child under his wing, introducing her to all sorts of useful contacts.”
I was honored to help. Bowie and Eno are good people. They are humble stars who helped mobilize the music industry in response to Bosnia, and to promote peace and human rights in other violent corners of the world.
The world knows Bowie as an innovator in the fields of music, fashion, and drama. David Bowie was also a world class humanitarian. He was strong, yet understated. He was principled, yet discreet. Bowie gave voice to the voiceless, using many instruments at his disposal to bend the arc of history towards justice.

*Mr. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights.

*The Huffington Post, January 13, 2016/

FAIK KONITZA

January 13, 2016 by dgreca

BY FAN S. NOLI/
First of all, I want to thank you for inviting me to come to this memorial service. This gives me a good opportunity to talk to you at some length about Faik Konitza and the problems in which he was interested.

CAUSE OF FAIK KONITZA’S DEATH

Faik Konitza had been suffering from high blood pressure for ten years and was under the care of his friend Dr. Oden, one of the most distinguished physicians in Washington. Like all Albanians, blessed with a good appetite, Konitza did not follow his doctor’s advice, and this is the reason that he died unexpectedly though he was not very old and appeared to be in the very best of health.

WAS NOT ALONE WHEN HE DIED
Faik Konitza had a stroke on Monday, December 14, 1942, at about five o’clock in the afternoon. His servant, Mrs. Hattie Williams, helped him to his bad and telephoned at once for his secretary, Mrs. Charlotte Graham to, and for Dr. Oden. The latter came at once at once saw that Faik Konitza was a very sick man; therefore he advised Mrs. Graham to stay with Faik Konitza and to let him know of any new developments. Mrs. Graham stayed with him all of that night and it seemed to her that he was sleeping peacefully. When she approached his bed to wake him up at about eight in the morning, she saw that Konitza had already passed away in his sleep. Mrs. Graham immediately informed Dr. Oden, the Department of Sate and myself. As you see , it is not true that Konitza died alone, with nobody at his side during his last moments.
THE FUNERAL EXPENSES
As soon as I received the sad news I got in touch with Mr. Vasil Pani, acting president and treasurer of Vatra, Mr. Peter Tyko and Dr. Andrew Elia, and we decided that the funeral would take place on Sunday, December 20, in Boston, Mass. There wasn’t much time, so we four took all the responsibility. Tuesday evening, December 15, Mr. Vasil Pani, Mr.Peter Tyko and I had a meeting at my home, and we decided to ask the various branches of Vatra to contribute the money necessary to the funeral. Vatra’s members answered promptly and generously. They collected not only the money for the funeral but also enough to pay all of Konitza’s personal bills and to put his library in storage.
When King Zog heard of Konitza’s death he sent a cable to Vatra, expressing his desire to settle the funeral expenses himself. But the members of Vatra felt that the King should not be asked for any contribution because they wanted to be the ones to pay their last tribute to their departed leader.

THE FUNERAL
Dr. Andrew Elia took charge of the details of the funeral, and performed his task with devotion as an old friend of Faik Konitza. In the general confusion of that tragic event, somehow or other, a misunderstanding arose from a long distance telephone conversation between Washington and Boston, to the effect that Faik Konitza’s body would be sent to Albania by the American Government at the end of the war. Of course all Albanians were delighted by this piece of news, and it was for this reason that I mentioned it in my funeral oration in order to express our appreciation and gratitude to the State Department. We are all sorry for this unfortunate misunderstanding.

KONITZA’S LIBRARY
There has been a rumor that we have not taken care of Konitza’s library. This is not true. After his death, his secretary stayed in the apartment and looked after Konitza’s rare and valuable books which he had collected with the zeal of a true book-lover. On the day of the funeral Vatra delegates from all over the United States took steps to save these books. A few days later, Mr. Vasil Pani and Mr. Peter Tyko went to Washington and pecked the library into thirty-two wooden boxes which they stored in Vatra’s name at the Fidelity Storage of Washington, where we pay twelve dollars a month rent. The library will remain there until the end of the war, when it will be sent to Albania, according to Faik Konitza’s expressed desire.

KONITZA’S LAST WORD’S
According to his secretary, Konitza repeated these words several times on his death-bed:”There is no answer.” What was this answer that Konitza was expecting? At first we thought that he was worrying about an answer from the State Department concerning the recognition of an Albanian government in exile under the leadership of King Zog. We know definitely that he was contemplating writing such a letter, because he had mentioned it in a telephone conversation to Dr. Elia but death prevented him from carrying out his intention. What really happened was this: Faik Konitza had asked the King, a few days before he died, for appropriate credentials in view of the situation prevailing in Washington. So this was the answer that Konitza was expecting when the end came.

KONITZA’S LAST ACT
We had thought that Konitza’s last act was a request to the State Department for the recognition of an Albanian government in exile. Instead, we now know that we made jointly on November 19th (1942), which was the declaration for a United Front. And I want to say a few words today about this United Front. First, let me tell you that the United Front is not just a whim of mine, as Mr. Chekrezi maintains. Not am I its originator. It was suggested to me by my friend, Mr. Tajar Zavalani, of London. Later on I discussed it Mr. Chekrezi, who approved of it whole-heartedly, and asked me to win Konitza for it, which I did. We agreed to meet with Faik Konitza and discuss the details. The very next day, however, without informing us of his change of heart, Mr. Chekrezi began to attack us in his paper for boosting King Zog, although he himself had assured us that he had no objections to the King’s leadership.

THE UNITED FRONT
The United Front, dropped by Mr. Chekrezi, was taken up by the Albanians of America in general with enthusiasm. For instance, it was unanimously approved by Vatra’s convention. It was also approved by Mr. Chekrezi’s organization with a joker. This joker was used by the latter to sabotage the United Front at the meeting of the two committees of “Vatra” and “Free Albania” that met on the 12th of July, 1942, in the hall of at George’s Church in Boston. But the popularity of the United Front was proved beyond a doubt by the mass meeting, held in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Worchester. Furthermore, the last camping of Vatra gave us added evidence that the people want the United Front which we advocate and not the civil war that Chekrezi is preaching. The people certainly showed this when they gave Mr. Chekrezi about one fifth of what he had demanded. Such facts as these prove clearly that the United Front enjoys the full support of our people as a whole.
THE DANGER OF PARTITION
Before last December some of us may have had doubts about the necessity of the United Front. But Mr. Eden’s last declaration in the House of Commons has left no room for doubt. From this declaration we learn that partition of Albania is a real and not an imaginary danger. Mr. Eden told us very plainly these three things: First that Albania has no frontiers; second, that the fate of Albania will be settled by Yugoslavia and Greece, who openly advocate the partition of Albania; third, that Albania will not be represented at the Peace Conference which is going to discuss that partition. The worst of it is that this third implication is found not only in Mr. Eden’s declarations but also in Mr. Hull’s and Mr. Molotov’s declarations concerning Albania. I hope with all my heart that Albania’s international situation is not as black as I see it. But Mr. Eden’s declaration made me much more pessimistic than I was when I talked to you here in New York eight months ago, on the 13th of June 1942. Only people who are unable to understand the full implication of Mr. Eden’s declaration can afford to be optimistic. Perhaps we ought to be grateful to him for being so frank and for warning us of the dangers that hang over Albania, while the declarations of Mr. Hull and Mr. Molotov might have lulled us to sleep in a fool’s paradise. From this point of view, Mr. Eden’s declaration is as momentous as the secret treaty of London concerning the partition of Albania, which was published by Lenin in 1917.
THE GOVERNMENT IN EXILE
Now that we fully realize the dangers we must unite to avert them. In the first place, we must have an Albanian government, represented at the Peace Conference, to protect the right of Albania and prevent its partition. Of course, the recognition of an Albanian government in exile is not an easy matter because Albania’s enemies are very strong. But with a United Front we have at least a fighting chance; without it we have hardly a chance. Therefore whoever opposes the United Front is unwittingly an enemy of Albania and helps those who would dismember the country. The time has come for you to make your choice and do something about it.
NO TIME TO LOSE
It is necessary to organize the United Front without delay because peace may come very quickly. It is quite possible that the downfall of Germany may be as unexpected as that of France. Usually both French and German generals stop fighting when they see that there is no longer any hope for victory. Thus the Germans stopped fighting in 1918 and thus the French stopped fighting in 1940. Therefore we have time to lose. The official recognition on an Albanian government in exile is a matter of the first importance. It cannot wait. It is a matter of life or death for Albania.

NO PERSONAL AMBITION
The opponents of the United Front seem to believe that this idea is motivated by personal ambitions, so I will take this opportunity to tell you what my ambitions really are. They have nothing to do with political offices because Albania has already given me all the offices I could dream of. Once is enough. I have no desire to repeat the experiment. On the other hand, I hope I have made it quite clear that I am not a candidate for any office the United Front might offer me. My present ambitions happen to be along lines in which Faik Konitza excelled-namely literature of Skanderbeg, Ali Pasha of Janina and Mehmed Ali of Egypt. Speaking about literature reminds me of the poem on Skanderbeg, written by the American poet, Longfellow, to which Konitza called our attention about 26 years ago. Longfellow, mentions the flag of Scanderbeg in this poem –that Flag discovered by Faik Konitza-so I will conclude by reciting this masterpiece, which I translated into Albanian and dedicated to him many years ago with these words:
“TO Faik Konitza
The Master of our Mother Tongue
And the Knight of our National
Crusade
As a token of respect
This Work is Dedicated
By a Comrade in Arms”
to which…
(Bishop Noli’s address at the Memorial Service for Faik Konitza in New York, March 7, 1943, delivered in Albanian-Reprinted from Dielli No. 5571, June 19, 1943)

FAN S. NOLI

January 13, 2016 by dgreca

Fan Noli- pre-eminent and multi-talented figure of Albanian literature, culture, religious life and politics
By Robert Elsie/
Fan Noli (1882-1965), also known as Theophan Stylian Noli, was not only an outstanding leader of the Albanian-American community, but also a pre-eminent and multi-talented figure of Albanian literature, culture, religious life and politics. Noli was born in the village of Ibrik Tepe (Alb. Qyteza), south of Edirne (Adrianopole) in European Turkey on 6 January 1882. His father Stylian Noli had been a noted cantor in the Orthodox church and had instilled in his son a love for Orthodox music and Byzantine tradition. Fan Noli attended the Greek secondary school in Edirne, and in 1900, after a short stay in Constantinople, settled in Athens where he managed to find occasional and badly-paying jobs as a copyist, prompter and actor. It was with one such itinerant theatre company touring Greek-speaking settlements in the eastern Mediterranean that Noli first arrived in Egypt. Abandoning the company in Alexandria, he found work from March 1903 to March 1905 as a Greek teacher and as a church cantor in Shibîn el Khôm and from March 1905 to April 1906 in El Faiyûm where a small Albanian colony had settled. Here he wrote a number of articles in Greek and translated Sami Frashëri’s Shqipëria – Ç’ka qënë, ç’është e ç’do të bëhetë? (Albanian – what was it, what is it and what will become of it?) into Greek, works which were published at the Albanian press in Sofia. In Egypt, Noli learned more about the traditions of Byzantine music which so fascinated him from his teacher, the monk Nilos, and resolved to become an Orthodox priest himself. He also came into contact with the nationalist leaders of the Albanian community such as Spiro Dine (1846?-1922), Jani Vruho (1863-1931) and Athanas Tashko (1863-1915) who encouraged him to emigrate to America where he could make better use of his talents. The young Noli agreed.
In April 1906, with a second-class steamer ticket which was paid for by Spiro Dine, Fan Noli set off via Naples for the New World and arrived in New York on May 10. After three months in Buffalo where he worked in a lumber mill, Noli arrived in Boston. There publisher Sotir Peci (1873-1932) gave him a job at a minimal salary as deputy editor of the Boston newspaper Kombi (The nation), where he worked until May 1907 and in which he published articles and editorials under the pseudonym Ali Baba Qyteza. These were financially and personally difficult months for Noli, who did not feel at home in America at all and seriously considered emigrating to Bucharest. Gradually, however, he found his roots in the Albanian community and on 6 January 1907 co-founded the Besa-Besën (The pledge) society in Boston.
In this period, Orthodox Albanians in America were growing increasingly impatient with Greek control of the church. Tension reached its climax in 1907 when a Greek Orthodox priest refused to officiate at the burial of an Albanian in Hudson, Massachusetts on the grounds that, as a nationalist, the deceased was automatically excommunicated. Noli saw his calling and convoked a meeting of Orthodox Albanians from throughout New England at which delegates resolved to set up an autocephalic, i.e. autonomous, Albanian Orthodox Church with Noli as its first clergyman. On 9 February 1908 at the age of twenty-six, Fan Noli was made a deacon in Brooklyn and on 8 March 1908 Platon, the Russian Orthodox Archbishop of New York, ordained him as an Orthodox priest. A mere two weeks later, on 22 March 1908, the young Noli proudly celebrated the liturgy in Albanian for the first time at the Knights of Honor Hall in Boston. This act constituted the first step towards the official organization and recognition of an Albanian Autocephalic Orthodox Church.
From February 1909 to July 1911, Noli edited the newspaper Dielli (The sun), mouthpiece of the Albanian community in Boston. On 10 August 1911, he set off for Europe for four months where he held church services in Albanian for the colonies in Kishinev, Odessa, Bucharest and Sofia. Together with Faik bey Konitza who had arrived in the United States in 1909, he founded the Pan-Albanian Vatra (The hearth) Federation of America on 28 April 1912, which was soon destined to become the most powerful and significant Albanian organization in America. Fan Noli had now become the recognized leader of the Albanian Orthodox community and was an established writer and journalist of the nationalist movement. In November 1912, Albania was declared independent, and the thirty-year-old Noli, having graduated with a B.A. from Harvard University, hurriedly returned to Europe. In March 1913, among other activities, he attended the Albanian Congress of Trieste which was organized by his friend and rival Faik bey Konitza.
In July 1913 Fan Noli visited Albania for the first time, and there, on 10 March 1914, he held the country’s first Orthodox church service in Albanian in the presence of Prince Wilhelm zu Wied who had arrived in Durrës only three days earlier aboard an Austro-Hungarian vessel. In August of 1914 Noli was in Vienna for a time, but as the clouds of war darkened, he returned in May 1915 to the United States. From 21 December 1915 to 6 July 1916 he was again editor-in-chief of the Boston Dielli (The sun), now a daily newspaper. In July 1917 he once more became president of the Vatra federation which, in view of the chaotic situation and political vacuum in Albania, now regarded itself as a sort of Albanian government in exile. In September 1918 Noli founded the English-language monthly Adriatic Review which was financed by the federation to spread information about Albania and its cause. Noli edited the journal for the first six months and was succeeded in 1919 by Constantine Chekrezi (1892-1959). With Vatra funds collected under Noli’s direction, Albanian-American delegates were sent to Paris, London and Washington to promote international recognition of Albanian independence. On 24 March 1918, Noli was appointed administrator of the Albanian Orthodox Church in the United States and in early July of that year attended a conference on oppressed peoples in Mount Vernon, Virginia, where he met President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), champion of minority rights in Europe. On 27 July 1919, Noli was appointed Bishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, now finally an independent diocese. In the following year, in view of his growing stature as a political and religious leader of the Albanian community and as a talented writer, orator and political commentator, it was only fitting that he be selected to head an Albanian delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva where he was successful in having Albania admitted on 17 December 1920. Noli rightly regarded Albania’s admission to the League of Nations as his greatest political achievement. Membership in that body gave Albania worldwide recognition for the first time and was in retrospect no doubt more important than Ismail Qemal bey Vlora’s declaration of independence in 1912. In a commentary on 23 July 1924, the Manchester Guardian described Fan Noli as a “man who would have been remarkable in any country. An accomplished diplomat, an expert in international politics, a skilful debater, from the outset he made a deep impression in Geneva. He knocked down his Balkan opponents in a masterly fashion, but always with a broad smile. He is a man of vast culture who has read everything worth reading in English and French.” Noli’s success at the League of Nations established him as the leading figure in Albanian political life. From Geneva, he returned to Albania and from 1921 to 1922 represented the Vatra Federation in the Albanian parliament there. In 1922, he was appointed foreign minister in the government of Xhafer bey Ypi (1880-1940) but resigned several months later. On 21 November 1923, Noli was consecrated Bishop of Korça and Metropolitan of Durrës. He was now both head of the Orthodox Church in Albania and leader of a liberal political party, the main opposition to the conservative forces of Ahmet Zogu (1895-1961), who were supported primarily by the feudal landowners and the middle class. On 23 February 1924 an attempt was made in parliament on the life of Ahmet Zogu and two months later, on 22 April 1924, nationalist figure and deputy Avni Rustemi (1895-1924) was assassinated, allegedly by Zogist forces. At Rustemi’s funeral, Fan Noli gave a fiery oration which provoked the liberal opposition into such a fury that Zogu was obliged to flee to Yugoslavia in the so-called June Revolution.
On 17 July 1924, Fan Noli was officially proclaimed prime minister and shortly afterwards Regent of Albania. For six months, he led a democratic government which tried desperately to cope with the catastrophic economic and political problems facing the young Albanian state. His twenty-point programme for the modernization and democratization of Albania, including agrarian reform, proved however to be too rash and too idealistic for a backward country with no parliamentary traditions. In a letter to an English friend, he was later to note the reasons for his failure: “By insisting on the agrarian reforms I aroused the wrath of the landed aristocracy; by failing to carry them out I lost the support of the peasant masses.” With the overthrow of his government by Zogist forces on Christmas Eve 1924, Noli left Albania for good and spent several months in Italy at the invitation of Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). When the Duce finally reached agreement with Zogu on oil concessions in Albania, Noli and his followers were given to understand that their presence in Italy was no longer desired. Noli subsequently spent several years in northern Europe, primarily in Germany and Austria. In November 1927 he visited Russia as a Balkan delegate to a congress of ‘Friends of the Soviet Union’ marking the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, and in 1930, having obtained a six-month visa, he returned to the United States. Back in Boston, Noli founded the weekly periodical Republika (The republic), the name of which alone was in open defiance of Ahmet Zogu who on 1 September 1928 had proclaimed himself Zog I, King of the Albanians. Republika was also published in opposition to Dielli (The sun), now under the control of Faik Konitza who had come to terms with King Zog and become Albanian minister plenipotentiary in Washington. After six months, Noli was forced to return to Europe when his visa expired and his Republika was taken over by Anastas Tashko until it ceased publication in 1932. With the help of his followers, he was able to return from Germany to the United States in 1932 and was granted permanent resident status. He withdrew from political life and henceforth resumed his duties as head of the Albanian Autocephalic Orthodox Church. In December 1933, Noli fell seriously ill and was unable to pay for the medical treatment he so desperately needed until he received a gift of 3,000 gold franks from Albania, which was ironically enough from his archenemy Ahmet Zogu. This gesture, as intended, led to a certain reconciliation between Noli and Zogu and pacified Noli’s now often tenuous relations with Faik Konitza. In 1935, he returned to one of his earlier passions – music – and, at the age of fifty-three, registered at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, from which he graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Music. On 12 April 1937, Noli’s great dream of an Albanian national church was fulfilled when the Patriarch of Constantinople officially recognized the Albanian Autocephalic Orthodox Church. Not satisfied with ecclesiastical duties alone, Noli turned to post-graduate studies at Boston University, finishing a doctorate there in 1945 with a dissertation on Scanderbeg. In the early years following the Second World War, Noli maintained reasonably good relations with the new communist regime in Tirana and used his influence to try to persuade the American government to recognize the latter. His reputation as the ‘red bishop’ indeed caused a good deal of enmity and polarization in emigré circles in America. In 1953, at the age of seventy-one, Fan Noli was presented with the sum of $20,000 from the Vatra Federation, with which he bought a house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he died on 13 March 1965 at the age of eighty-three.
Politics and religion were not the only fields in which Fan Noli made a name for himself. He was also a dramatist, poet, historian, musicologist and in particular an excellent translator who made a significant contribution to the development of the Albanian literary language.
Noli’s first literary work was a three-act drama entitled Israilitë dhe Filistinë, Boston 1907 (Israelites and Philistines). This forty-eight page tragedy written in 1902 is based on the Book of Judges 13-16 in the Old Testament, the famous story of Samson and Delilah. Published at a time when Albanian theatre was in its infancy, it is one of the rare Albanian plays of the period not gushing with sentimentality before reaching a superficial melodramatic conclusion. Such were the tastes of the period, however, and Noli’s play found little favour with the public. Not only was the subject matter too distant and philosophical, but his language was too archaic or dialectal for the public to enjoy.
On his ordainment as an Orthodox priest and his celebration of the first Orthodox liturgy in Albanian in 1908, Noli recognized the need for liturgical texts in Albanian and set about translating Orthodox rituals and liturgies, which were published in two volumes: Librë e shërbesave të shënta të kishës orthodoxe, Boston 1909 (Book of holy services of the Orthodox Church), and the 315-page Libre é te krémtevé te medha te kishes orthodoxe, Boston 1911 (Book of great ceremonies of the Orthodox Church). Other religious translations followed, in an elegant and solemn language befitting such venerable Byzantine traditions. Noli indeed considered these translations to be his most rewarding achievement.
Fan Noli’s most popular work today is a scholarly history of the life and times of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg. A 285-page Albanian version was published as Historia e Skënderbeut (Gjerq Kastriotit), mbretit të Shqipërisë 1412-1468, Boston 1921 (The history of Scanderbeg (George Castrioti), king of Albania 1412-1468), and an English version, the fruits of his doctoral dissertation at Boston University in 1945, as George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405-1468), New York 1947. Another scholarly work in English which mirrors both his fascination with great figures of the past (Jesus, Julius Caesar, Scanderbeg and Napoleon) and his love of music is the 117-page Beethoven and the French revolution, New York 1947.
Noli has not been forgotten as a poet though his powerful declamatory verse is far from prolific. It was collected in a volume with the simple title Albumi, Boston 1948 (The album), which he published on the occasion of his forty years of residence in the United States. Albumi contains primarily political verse reflecting his abiding nationalist aspirations and the social and political passions of the twenties and thirties.
Fan Noli’s main contribution to Albanian literature, however, was as a stylist, as seen especially in his translations. Together with Faik bey Konitza, Noli may indeed be regarded as one of the greatest stylists in the Tosk dialect of the Albanian language. His experience as an actor and orator, and his familiarity with other great languages of culture, Greek, English and French in particular, enabled him to develop Albanian into a language of refinement and flowing elegance. Noli translated poetry of various nineteenth-century European and American authors, and most often managed, with the ear of the musician he was, to reflect the style, taste and rhythmical nuances of the originals.
Though he wrote comparatively little in the way of literature per se, Fan Noli remains nonetheless a literary giant. He was instrumental in helping the Albanian language reach its full literary and creative potential.(Dial-Arciv)

A DUHET TË FESTOJMË FESTA PAGANE?

January 13, 2016 by dgreca

Opinion nga Gëzim Llojdia/
1.Regjimi iku 25 vjet më parë ,tradita e tij për festimin e vitit të ri ende jeton. Duke lënë në heshtje Krishtlindjet,regjimi zgjodhi festën pagane të vitit të ri. Ngrehinat e shenjta të njerëzisë : kishat dhe xhamit,teqerat prej shkurtit të vitit 1967 ishin shuar nga defterët. Ose kishin ndryshuar edhe destinacion duke u kthyer në vatra kulture. Festa e vitit të ri, në regjimin e krizës,për familjet shqiptare, ishte një rreze për tu furnizuar me produkte ushqimore .Ngase gjithë vitit ato mungonin ose merreshin vecse me tollonë .Ose me lista nga Këshilli popullor. Produkte si mish dhe fruta .Radhët tipike të sistemit. Nga ora tre e mëngjesit. Shkurt :histori e radhëve. Arshiu, e lë të shoqen në radhë dhe u nisë nga qyteza e vogël drejt qytetit të madh 4o km vajtje- ardhje . Bleu vezë dhe u kthye .Të shoqen e gjeti ende në radhë .
-Hajde dil nga radha se i bleva vezët,i tha.
Pas viteve ’90,rifilluan festimet për ditën e ardhjes së Krishtit.Mirëpo festa pagane e vitit të ri nuk u la në harresë nga asnjë qeveri. Shpërblime për punonjësit,për pensionistët dhe dhurata për fëmijët, të vobektit,familjet në nevojë e kanë bërë këtë festë tashmë komerciale. Shpenzimet, që zënë në buxhetin familjar shpenzimet e vitit të ri janë të tepër të kostueshme .Shqiptarët ndryshe nga tradita e popujve të tjerë dhe ato të traditave pagane,mbyllen 4 ditë brenda hapin TV ,hanë e pinë sikur të jenë në ditën fundit të kiametit. E nesërmja gdhinë me mbeturinat kapicë me njerzë të lodhur nga konsumimi i ushqimeve dhe pijeve alkolike. Kjo traditë, ka 50 vjet dhe vijon edhe 25 vitet e ndryshimit të sistemit. Kujt i kushtohet kjo festë me këto shpenzime marramendëse, përveç kohëve të hershme të paganizmit?A duhet festuar në këto përmasa dhe me këto shpenzime?Festimi i vitit të ri ,duke i hequr komercializmin mund të kthehet në një festë pa shumë shpenzime .Ikja e një dite dhe fshirja nga kalendarët harrohet nuk sjell asgjë. Magazitë dyqanet,furrat e bukës dhe të gjithë njësit e shitjeve rihapen sërish,mirëpo pyetja që ngrihet është .Përse duhen blerë kaq shumë produkte kur njësit tregtare rihapen një ditë më pas? Çfarë është kaq e gabuar me atë .Si qasjet me pushime dhe blerësit në minutën e fundit në rrëmujë nëpër qendrat për të blerë dhurata për të gjithë në listën e tyre. Një panoramë e tillë tregon se festa e ka humbur kuptimin e saj . Blerja dhuratë “stimulon një derdhje të madhe të financave në krijimin e produkteve të përkushtuar për një qëllim të vetëm. Reklamimi është sulmuar nga të gjitha nivelet e-mail, internet, radio, televizion. Shitjet e çmendura inkurajojnë njerëzit që të blejnë më shumë, të shpenzojnë më shumë. E gjithë kjo trazirë e ndezur në mënyrë të pashmangshme duk përfundon në një natë duke thënë, “Gëzuar Festat!
Çfarë feste pagane? Bota e tregtisë është mjaft e lumtur për të gjitha shitjet e vlefshme. Nga çdo anë jemi të bombarduar me propagandë, duke na thënë për të gjitha gjërat e reja dhe të shtrenjta që ne dhe ju ne do të duhet për ta bërë këtë ditë të paharrueshëm. E dimë, se çfarë duan, reklamuesit: paratë tona. Kemi të trashëguar festa pagane si ajo e vjeljes së rrushit,e verës, e qethjes së bagëtive ,festa e drithërave etj .Tashmë kjo traditë është shuar. Ndryshe ngjet te fqinjët tanë si p.sh Itali,Greqi, që në fshatra ende jetohet me traditat e lashta, por më shumë festohen ditët e shenjtorëve lokal apo festat e vjeljeve së prodhimit. Këto festime janë pa shumë shpenzime,por me gatime të bërë nga duart e tyre dhe prodhimet.Në katundet tona shqiptarë festime janë takimet e brezave shumica në muajin gusht. Shqiptarët origjinal në kërkim të riteve të reja pagane.
2.
Si festua për herë të parë vitit i ri?Regjistrimi më i hershëm i një festimi për vitin e ri besohet të ketë qenë në Mesopotami, c. 2000 B.C. dhe u festua në kohën e ekuinoksit të pranverës, në mes të marsit. Një shumëllojshmëri e datave të tjera të lidhura me stinët janë përdorur edhe nga kultura të ndryshme të lashta, shkruan Borgna Brunner. Egjiptianët, fenikasit dhe persianët e fillonin vitin e tyre të ri në ekuinoksin e vjeshtës dhe grekët e festuan atë në solsticin e dimrit. Herën e parë viti i ri u festua më 1 janar në Romë në vitin 153 p.e,s. Kujt i përkiste festa pagane kur ende në Romë muaji janar nuk kishte ekzistuar në kalendar dhe në fakt, muaji janar nuk ka ekzistuar as deri rreth viteve 700 pes, kur mbreti i dytë i Romës, Numa Pontilius, shtoi muajt janar dhe shkurt.
Duke qenë një festë pagane në Evropë mesjetare, megjithatë, festimet shoqërueset viti i ri u konsideruan pagane dhe jo i krishterë dhe Këshilli i Tours ka shfuqizuar datën 1 janar si fillimi i vitit. Në kohë të ndryshme dhe në vende të ndryshme në të gjithë Evropën e krishterë mesjetare, viti i ri u festua më 25 dhjetor,ditën e lindjes së Jezusit.
Që është një festë që lind nga asgjëja dhe i kushtohet hiçmosgjë këtë ta përforcojnë të dhënat se deri në vitin 1582, reforma me kalendarin gregorian ka restauruar 1 janar si ditën e vitit të ri. Edhe pse shumica e vendeve katolike e miratoi kalendarin gregorian pothuajse menjëherë, ai u miratua vetëm gradualisht në mesin e vendeve protestante. Britanikët, për shembull, nuk e ka miratuar kalendarin e reformuar deri 1752. Deri atëherë, Perandoria Britanike ende e festonte vitin e ri, në muajin mars.
Poeti Robert Bërns në vitin 1796 edicionin e librit, thuri një këngë ,më së shumti ato këndohen në prag të festës së vitit të ri.Berns e shkroi dhe e përmirësoi këngën që e kishte dëgjuar dëgjuar të kënduar nga një plak nga zona Ayrshire të Skocisë.
Viti i ri është festë më e rëndësishme në Japoni, dhe është një simbol i ripërtëritjes. Në mesnatë më 31 dhjetor, tempuj budiste u bien gonget të tyre 108 herë, në një përpjekje për të dëbuar 108 lloje të dobësisë njerëzore. Dita e Vitit të Ri në vetvete është një ditë gëzimi dhe nuk ka punë për të bërë. Dërgimi i kartave te Vitit të Ri është një traditë, mëse popullore me vulën e postës nga një datë të caktuar, zyra japonez postare garanton shpërndarjen e kartave të Vitit të Ri më 1 janar.Ka një traditë tjetër në Spanjë. Rituali spanjoll në prag të Vitit të Ri është te hash rrush në orën dymbëdhjetë në mesnatë. Tradita ka për qëllim për të siguruar dymbëdhjetë muaj të lumtur në vitin e pasardhës. Më i çuditshëm mbetet rituali grek. Në ditën e Vitit të Ri është Festivali i Shën Vasilit, një nga themeluesit e Kishës Ortodokse Greke. Një nga ushqimet tradicionale qe shërbehet është Vassilopitta, ose tortë e Shën Vasilit.

Kosovë-PDK, thirrje për dialog

January 13, 2016 by dgreca

-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës thekson nevojën për normalizimin e plotë të situatës politike dhe krijimin e kushteve për funksionimin e institucioneve të vendit, në pajtim me Kushtëtutën, ligjet dhe normat demokratike/
PRISHTINË, 13 Janar 2016-B.Jashari/ Partia Demokratike e Kosovës bën thirrje për dialog brenda institucioneve të vendit. Kryesia e Partisë Demokratike të Kosovës mbajti mbledhjen e rregullt, në të cilën u diskutua për zhvillimet e fundit në vend. Mbledhja e nisur ditën e djeshme ka vazhduar edhe sot dhe ka përfunduar pak më parë, bëjnë të ditur në këto momente burime nga PDK.
Ndërsa, komunikata e sapodërguar, thekson se pas debatit dhe diskutimeve, Kryesia e Partisë Demokratike të Kosovës, doli më këto qëndrime:
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës thekson nevojën për normalizimin e plotë të situatës politike dhe krijimin e kushteve për funksionimin e institucioneve të vendit, në pajtim me Kushtëtutën, ligjet dhe normat demokratike.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës shpreh besimin se zgjidhja e situatës aktuale duhet të bëhet përmes dialogut politik në institucionet e Kosovës dhe i bën thirrje gjithë spektrit politik për dialog institucional ndërpartiak, pa përjashtim.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës do të fuqizojë partneritetin ndërkombëtar, në funksion të forcimit të shtetit, si dhe për zbatimin e Marrëveshjeve ndërkombëtare, në përputhje më ligjet dhe Kushtetutën e Republikës së Kosovës.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës e konsideron me prioritet të veçantë angazhimin për zbatimin e Marrëveshjes së Stabilizim Asocimit, liberalizimin e vizave për qytetarët e vendit dhe proceset e integrimit euro-atlantik.
-Partia e Demokratike e Kosovës angazhohet që sa më parë të krijohen Forcat e Armatosura të Kosovës.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës angazhohet për implementimin e programit të Qeverisë dhe fuqizimin e partneritetit qeverisës me Lidhjen Demokratike të Kosovës dhe partnerët e tjerë të koalicionit qeverisës, në funksion të zhvillimit ekonomik të vendit dhe rritjes së mirëqenies së qytetarëve tanë.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës do të respektojë marrëveshjen politike me partnerët e koalicionit dhe në pajtim me procedurat kushtetuese do të nominojë kandidatin për President të Republikës së Kosovës, që do të zgjedhet në Kuvendin e Kosovës, sipas afateve kushtetuese.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës kundërshton aktet e dhunës të ushtruara ndaj institucioneve shtetërore dhe organeve të rendit, si dhe fton qytetarët që të distancohen nga të gjitha aktet e dhunës.
-Partia Demokratike e Kosovës do të zhvillojë aktivitete më të gjera dhe më intensive në terren me të gjitha strukturat e saj, e përkushtuar për të treguar se rruga e vetme e forcimit të sovranitetit, zhvillimit ekonomik dhe fuqizimit të shtetit tonë është respektimi i institucioneve legjitime, thellimi i partneritetit me SHBA-në dhe BE-në, bashkëpunimi me fqinjtë dhe shtetet e tjera demokratike të botës, si dhe integrimi i shtetit tonë në strukturat euro-atlantike.(Foto nga Behlul Jashari: Selia e Partise Demokratike ne Prishtine)