Dielli | The Sun

Albanian American Newspaper Devoted to the Intellectual and Cultural Advancement of the Albanians in America | Since 1909

21st Anniversary of 9/11 Observed in US, Kosovo, Albania with Tributes, Services and Reflections

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Rafaela Prifti/

President Biden paid tribute to “extraordinary Americans” on the 21st anniversary of the September 11 attacks in a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon. The president was joined by family members of the fallen and first responders on the day of the attack.

“It’s not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then,” President Biden said. “It’s something we have to do every single day. So this is a day not only to remember, but also is a day for renewal and resolve for each and every American in our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy.”

First lady Jill Biden addressed the National Memorial Observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. She said the attacks showed that “with courage and kindness we can be a light in that darkness.” In these moments, she said, our source of strength comes from our connection to one another. “So as we stand on this sacred and scarred earth, a record of our collective grief and a monument to the memories that live on each day, this is the legacy we must carry forward: Hope that defies hate.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband attended a commemoration ceremony at the National September 11th Memorial in New York.

President Biden noted that even after a year of ending the war in Afghanistan, launched in response to the terror attacks, his administration continues to pursue those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and the “commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end.”

Annual moments of tribute were carried out in New York City, the Pentagon, Pennsylvania and across the world. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and US Deputy Ambassador Alyson Grunder, paid homage at the “Kosova Remembers” memorial dedicated to the victims of September 11, 2001 attack. President Osmani noted that on that day America suffered a terrible act of terrorism yet it was an attack on all who believe in the values of freedom and democracy. Since then, she said, “Kosovo has joined the American people every day, joining forces in the defense of these values and the fight against terrorism.” In his commemorating tribute, President of Albania Bajram Begaj called attention to staying committed to preventing terrorist attacks and protecting democracy. “Today we honor all those who lost and gave their lives in the deadly terrorist attacks of 9/11 against the United States and democracy, which changed it forever. Recent cyber attacks on our vital infrastructure remind us that national security is a top priority. We must build and develop our national capabilities while strengthening ties with our partners and allies to protect the security of our countries and people,” said Albania’s President Begaj.

MEETING WITH NEW YORK GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL

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On Wednesday evening, Governor Kathy Hochul met with members and representatives of the Albanian community at Patsy’s Pizzeria in East Harlem. Patsy’s Pizza is a premier pizza chain of our compatriot Frank Brija.

The meeting reinforced the Governor’s commitment to ensure that the Albanian community has a seat at the table. The Pan Albanian Federation of America Vatra stands firmly in support of her collaborative approach to governing.

Vatra President Elmi Berisha thanked Governor Hochul for the Kosovo Independence Day ceremony, which is expected to be a continual event by the community. Earlier this year, the commemoration of the 14th Anniversary of Kosovo’s Independence Day marked the first time the Governor’s Office through its Bronx Representative at the time Sophia Zayas jointly with local elected officials hosted the event in the Bronx.

In keeping with the making-history theme, Kathy Hochul is New York’s first female Governor. Prior to winning state-wide office, Kathy was elected to and served at the U.S. House of Representatives as a Western New York Democrat in Congress from 2011 to 2013. Hochul has served as Lieutenant Governor of New York State from 2015 to 2021.

At the end of July, Governor Hochul visited with the members and representatives of the Albanian community. In her address, she acknowledged the “great Albanian community of over 100,000”, its respectable traditions and prominent figures, many of whom escaped the harsh realities of their home country like her own ancestors. Putting it in the context of the “American dream’, Governor Hochul said that the presence of communities like this strengthen our resolve to reach for bigger goals.

The July event, held on the newly dedicated Gjergj Kastrioti Skendyerbeu Street in the Bronx, was covered by Dielli.

Vatra’s Tribute Highlights Mother Teresa’s Legacy on the 25th Year of Her Passing

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Rafaela Prifti/

The remembrance of the 25th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death on 5 September 1997 was commemorated today in over a hundred countries worldwide. Throughout the holiday weekend, ceremonies and gatherings honored her work and legacy in service of God.

On Saturday, Vatra hosted a commemorative event to highlight the indelible footprint of Mother Teresa’s humanity.

She is affectionately referred to as the Albanian “Gonxhe” (Rosebud) in a nod to her birth name. In 1931 while teaching in Calcutta, she herself selected the name Terese – the Patron Saint of Missionaries – in recognition of her calling and commitment.  Twenty years later, she was allowed by the Pope to start her missionary houses. In 1965 Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted her to expand internationally from South America  to Europe, Africa and Asia.

MOTHER TERESA IN THE SOUTH BRONX AND HER NY CONNECTION

Her first house in the United States opened in the South Bronx in 1971 and moved into the Convent at St. Rita the following year. Since then, it has been serving as a homeless shelter and soup kitchen. Today, Cardinal Dolan joined the sisters giving Mass to remember their foundress with a day dedicated entirely to the service of the poor, in the style of the saint of the last. Mother Teresa stayed at the Bronx Mission for a few weeks in May and June of 1997. The mission later expanded its services to Harlem, where it runs a women’s shelter, and Brooklyn. Just months away from death, she flew from Rome to New York for a surprise visit. The news reports said that those associated with the event believe it should be listed as “a miracle’ attributed to Mother Teresa that speaks “volumes   about her connection to New York.”(New York Daily News, September 3, 2016)

On Saturday, just a few miles away from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, at Vatra’s main offices, members of the Albanian American community, scholars and Vatra officials honored her memory and reflected on the deep humanity of her life’s work. In his remarks, Elmi Berisha, President of Vatra, touched on the unique form of diplomacy she conducted by proudly maintaining who she was. “During the decades of communist self-isolation in Albania and severe ethnic repression of Albanians in Kosova, Mother Teresa’s pride in her ethnicity and inherited traditions carried an incredible significance on the world stage,” said Elmi Berisha. Dr. Paulin Marku echoed the qualities of the ultimate humanitarian who did not compromise her values in the face of cruelty. Under the communist regime, Mother Teresa was not allowed to pay respects to her mother and sister buried in Albania. As a scholar of Mother Teresa whom she calls “The Saint of Peripheries” in the eponymous book released last year, Dr. Ines Murzaku explored some of the ways Mother Teresa carried out her Gospel message.  Adding a personal touch to the iconic figure, veteran journalist Sinan Kamberaj shared some memories from meeting Mother Teresa at the Missionaries of Charity in mid 1990s. The Honorary president of Vatra, Agim Rexhaj, recalled paying respect to the Sisters at the Mission 25 years ago, as part of a Vatra delegation. He recognized a number of Vatrans like Marjan Cubi, late Zef Balaj, and many more that have been involved and have contributed generously to fundraising efforts and organizing drives to memorialize her. One such project is the Mother Teresa Cathedral in Prishtina. Throughout the years, the City Council and representatives of the Albanian American community have set street signs, statues and sculptures in her honor.  Dedications of Mother Teresa portraits and artwork are present in many spots in New York. (Peace Park, Dag Hammarskjold Square, UN General Assembly) In 2012 her figure was sculpted at the Washington National Cathedral. (Photo: Washington National Memorial) In her death, as in  her life, the extraordinary humanitarian transcends borders and barriers.

In the context of Vatra’s work and mission, honoring mother Teresa is tied to the meaning of the civil service, which through her work and words she did not consider to be a profession but rather a calling. 

MORE EVENTS

This month, James Towey, former cabinet member in the Bush administration and former President of Florida’s Ave Maria University, who served as Mother Teresa’s lawyer, advisor and devoted friend will release a new biography entitled “To Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa (Simon and Schuster).
A Saint for Our Time – a New documentary depicting the life and legacy of Mother Teresa, canonized by Pope Francis, premiered at the Vatican movie theater on Aug. 31. Screenings expected to be announced by the producers. 

President Biden Signs the Veterans Health Care Legislation

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by Rafaela Prifti/

PACT Act delivers Critical Health Care and Other Benefits for Veterans. It is considered to be the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years. PACT stands for Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics and honors Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson. It is named after the decorated combat medic, who served in Iraq and Kosovo, and died from a rare form of lung cancer two years ago.

“This historic legislation will help deliver more timely benefits and services to more than 5 million veterans—across all generations—who may have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country,” White House said. Danielle Robinson, the widow of Sergeant First Class Robinson, was a guest of the First Lady at an emotional ceremony in the White House.

“Ours is just one story. So many military families have had to fight this terrible emotional battle. So many veterans are still battling burn pit illnesses today,” Danielle Robinson said.

It is a sentiment that echoes the long struggles to ensure treatment for chronic illnesses that have plagued veterans exposed to burn pits, which were a commonplace in order to get rid of a wide variety of items, and dispose of chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste. Estimates of affected troops run to 3.5 million, according to reports. However, 70% of disability claims involving exposure to the pits were denied by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

President Biden’s son, Beau Biden passed away at 46 from brain cancer.  In a 2018 PBS interview Joe Biden said that his son’s fatal brain cancer may have been caused by exposure to military burn pits while serving in Iraq and Kosovo.

Ervin Dine, a Kosovo veteran and Vatra Executive Council Member told Dielli that he recalls the first experience with burn pits in Kosovo. “It was necessary in keeping with the hygiene, in particular when you are out there for 2 or 3 months straight at times. It is nauseating especially for the marines whose job is to mix in the burning waste.” Commenting on the approval of the bill, Dine said that “every area of life in 2022 is upgraded by advancement  including arms, aviation etc. and that needs to include the hygiene of service members.”.

The bipartisan law will direct officials to assume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers are linked to burn pit exposure, which would help veterans get disability payments without having to prove the illness was the result of the service. Although the provision involving burn pits has garnered the most attention, other health care services in the bill are expanded to benefit the veterans from the Vietnam War and more.

The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 86-11. The passing of the bill ended a brief stalemate that enraged supporters and saw veterans groups camp outside the Capitol. The legislation that passed last week is considered to be the largest expansion of veterans health care in more than three decades..

Elmi Berisha, Vatra President, reflected on the significance of the bill by highlighting the strong connection of Vatra in the service of the country including  3,000 Albanian immigrants who signed up with US troops in World War I and the Vatra Corps Volunteers who went to Albania on April 2, 1920 as well as generations of servicemen and women that have followed in their footsteps.

With the Opening of a Photo Exhibit at the Museum, Worcester Albanians Make History and More Discoveries

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by Rafaela Prifti/

Worcester Albanians have been part of the city’s history for over a century. A photo exhibit that opened on July 23, 2022 at the Worcester Historical Museum put that history on visual display for the first time. At the venue, about two dozen black and white pictures of the early decades of the 20 centuries were neatly placed at the eye-level on the bright-red walls of the Museum’s entrance lobby.  Collectively, the photos tell stories of newcomers to a new country looking for new beginnings. Individually, each one has its own narrative and is a part of a larger picture that is starting to come to view here.

Some of the pictures were taken in Worcester and some have traveled all the way from Albania, along with the migrants, most specifically from one region, the Southeast village of Dardha, Korce.

Acquiring and selecting the photographs has been a monthslong task of the event committee composed of Albania’s Ambassador to the US Floreta Faber, Neka Doko of the Fan Noli Library and Archives, Gregory Steffon and Franklin Zdruli of St. Mary’s Church, and William Wallace of the Worcester Historical Museum.

Both hosts Steffon and Zdruli are Worcester natives of Albanian descent. When asked about their ancestors, they quickly point at the pictures of grandparents posing for the camera and they also know the story that goes with the photo. The same is true for Vaske Bruko, visiting from Connecticut. He has stopped in front of a photo that he says was taken by his great grandfather Thimi Raci, a professional photographer in Korce in the 1930s. Bruko’s grandparents, Petraq Pani dhe Elisaveta Raci Pani, appear in the picture alongside nine other newly wedded couples. The grooms, all young Albanian men, were working in America, and had traveled back home to marry local Albanian girls. The 1931 photo memorializes the moment in a number of ways, starting with the carefully choreographed attire of the couples. Wearing Western suits, men stand next to the brides, all dressed in Dardha costumes. Crediting the artist for the iconic picture, Bruko says that his great grandpa opened the first professional photo studio under a standout banner that said: Thimi Raci, Photographer and Tinsmith (Fotograf dhe Teneqexhi).

Stories such as this one with fascinating and remarkable details come to light and are shared among visitors and with the whole audience during the presentation segment of the evening. With her incredible wealth of information, Ardiana Stefani, of Worcester, who came adorned in her traditional Dardha costume, brought to life a few pictures. Commenting on a group shot of the Perparimi (Progress) Club, she explained how those men had to misrepresent their birth year in order to avoid conscription in the Ottoman army.

Few things would illustrate the historical context of the period better than pictures of the Vatra Band and of the founding members of Vatra Worcester Branch. They relate information about the period and the events that influenced the thinking of the era. In a number of photos, Fan Noli, a founder of the Pan-Albanian Federation Vatra and the Albanian Orthodox Church, is seen surrounded by Vatra officials and members of the Worcester Albanian community. To enrich the historic layer, Neka Doko, member of the event committee and Head of the Fan Noli Library, was instrumental in locating and providing these pictures for the event. In reference to the liberation efforts and the organizing of the national movement for Albania’s independence and statehood, the role of the Pan-Albanian Federation of America Vatra was second to none. In conversation with organizers and guests, Besim Malota, Treasurer of Vatra, called attention to the deep roots of the organization in relation to the history of Albanians in Worcester.   

Bill Wallace, the Director of Worcester Historical Museum, welcomed the new photo exhibit and, through it, the Albanian community into what he calls “our family album of Worcester”. As Worcester Albanians made their entrance in the halls of the Museum, there are other projects coming in the pipeline. In the ceremonial portion of the evening, the audience got a quick pique at the ongoing Worcester Polytechnic Institute Oral History, being directed by Professors Peter Christopher and Bob Hersh.

The underlying thread and commonality of all the programs is the “significance of story-telling,” says Bill Wallace of the Museum, a privately funded enterprise that has very strong partnerships with the Worcester communities. He encourages all residents to share their stories and bring any item, such as a picture, artifact, that might be lying around at home, and by doing that, become better story-tellers.        

The exhibit marks a kickoff event to memorialize the role of Albanians in Worcester, says organizer Greg Steffon. Its opening coincides with several important anniversaries such as the city’s tricentennial and honoring the 100 year of establishing diplomatic relations between the United States and Albania.

Incorporated in the artistic program was a song selection featuring music by Lola Gjoka, a worldly Albanian artist of the 20th century. American vocalist Jen Pearl, Albanian vocalists Loreta Shkurti, Elida Mucollari, and Feride Istogu Gillesberg who is based in Denmark performed a few of Gjoka’s arrangements of Albanian folk songs. Gillesberg and a team of renowned artists have covered Lola’s repertoire in a recently produced recording available in two CDs.

From the photo exhibit to the vocalists, instrumentalists, and the young dancers of St. Mary’s ValleTona, the prime focus of the event is the preservation and promotion of our history, say the organizers. Additionally, the visitors are invited to make their own discoveries, according to Franklin Zdruli, who admits pleasingly: “I learned a handful of new details here.”  The exhibit will stay open until the first of September.