Rafaela Prifti – Page 41 – Dielli

A KANE PROTESTAT LIDHJE ME NE?

June 23, 2020 by dgreca

Shkruan: Rafaela Prifti/*

Kandidate e Shkencave për Antropologji Sociale/

“There have been as many plagues as wars in history. Yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.”- Albert Camus, The Plague

Filozofi francez-algjerian, autori dhe nobelisti ishekullit të 20-të, Albert Kamy, në romanin Murtaja shkruan:“Në histori ka pasur aq shumë murtaja sa edhe luftëra. Megjithatë njerëzit gjithmonë befasohen njësoj si nga murtajat ashtu edhe nga luftërat.”

Në kohën e pandemisë globale,të shkaktuar nga infektime masive me një virus të ri të identifiluar si Novel Coronavirus, në shumë qytete amerikane shpërthyen protesta kundër racizmit dhe dhunës policore. Kjo skicë jep një varg me mendime personale dhe vëzhgime të protestave në Nju Jork, ku përfshihen biseda me përfaqësues të komunitetit dhe zyrtarë vendorë.

Mendësia e krijuar në momentet e përballjes me të keqen e përbashkët ka vecoritë e saj të kushtëzuara jo më nga individi por nga një fat kolektiv. Gjendja e pandemisë krijoi një lloj solidarizimi që ndodh kur njerëzimi ndeshet me një fatkeqësi të përmasave madhore. Kjo situatë u shoqërua me krizë ekonomike si mbyllja e bizneseve, humbja e vendeve të punës, pakësimi i të ardhurave, rrezikimi i sigurimeve shëndetësore. Rastet e fundit të vrasjeve të afrikano-amerikanëve nga policia nxorrën në sipërfaqe disa pyetje për problemin racor në Amerikë. Autori, eseisti dhe aktivisti amerikan i shekullit të kaluar, James Baldwin,e shtjellonte temën në shumë rrafshe për të evidentuar marrëdhëniet e ndërlikuara raciale në Amerikë. Për Baldwin, njeriu mund të ndryshojë gjithcka me të cilën përballet por asgjë nuk mund të ndryshohet pa u përballuar.Shumë nga anketimet e opinionit tregojnë se protestat kanë fituar përkrahje të gjerë në publikun amerikan. Brenda një kohe të shkurtër, grupe demografike të ndryshme dhe me bindje jo të njëjta politike janë të të njëjtit mendim se duhen kryer reforma të menjëhershme në legjislacion si edhe në praktikat policore. Nga një sondazh i Schar School of Policy and Government (Fakulteti Schar për Studime Politike dhe Qeverisje) 81% e të anketuarve thonë se duhet të ketë më shumë reforma policore.

A kanë lidhje protestat me komunitetin?

Nga vëzhgimet e protestave në Nju Jork dhe bisedat e mia me anëtarë të shoqatave shqiptare kam vërejtur se pjesëmarrja e komunitetit është sporadike. Kam takuar individë dhe nxënës që protestojnë por jo në formë të organizuar.Në parim ata solidarizohen me luftën kundër diskriminimit, ndërsa në realitet,komuniteti nuk duket se e shikon revoltën të lidhur me kauzën e vet.Përjetimi i represionit të egër komunist dhe persekutimi politik nga regjimi totalitar në Shqipëri janë temë më vete nga shtypja dhe robërimi fizik dhe mendor i një shtrese të popullsisë në Amerikë. Në valën e dhunshme të shthurrjes së rendit publik dhe akteve të vagabondazhit në ditët e para të protestave u dëmtuan një numër i bizneseve në disa zona të Bronksit. Nga intervistat e mia me përfaqësuesit zyrtarë rezulton se pronarët italianë dhe shqiptarë në ato pjesë të Bronksit ishin përgatitur dhe nuk pësuan dëme ndërsa bizneset portorikane dhe pakica të tjera patën shkatërrime të mëdha.

C’është më kryesorja, komuniteti shqiptar ka raporte të tjera me forcat e ruajtjes së rendit. Një pjesë e brezit shqiptar-amerikan të ardhur apo të rritur këtu janë të punësuar në agjenci të ruajtjes dhe mbrojtjes, kanë kryer akademi ushtarake apo janë arsimuar në sajë të mobilizimit të tyre.Gjatë bisedave, ata thonë se janë në krahun e forcave policore. Në debatin e hapur në Nju Jork për eliminimin e fondeve të policisë, ata paraqesin pozitën e tyre për shtimin dhe jo pakësimin e fondeve në një vend që është në shënjestër të akteve terroriste.

*Shënim: Ky shkrim paraqet opinionin tim personal dhe nuk përfaqëson qëndrimin e gazetës Dielli dhe Federatës Vatra.

MARKO KEPI’S ROAD TO NY ASSEMBLY BEGINS JUNE 23

June 20, 2020 by dgreca

By Rafaela Prifti/

Republican Candidate of the 64th Assembly District, Marko Kepi, celebrated the opening of his campaign headquarters on Hylan Boulevard and Flag Day on June 14. Today Dielli visited the office to conduct a brief interview.
Dielli: How is your campaign different from the opponents’?
Kepi: My campaign is different because it does not rely on the elected officials to help us in the election, and it does not depend on their support. Instead, we are doing our campaigning by knocking on doors, phone banks, TV interviews. This way we reach out to the voters who decide that they’d want to vote for me as a candidate not because of some elected official.
Dielli: On the topic of government officials, you have been a very vocal critic of Mayor De Blasio. You have escalated your disapproval of him particularly with regard to the handling of the marches and protests against police brutality in the city since last month. Yet, Mayor De Blasio opposed the City Council’s proposal to cut police funding by $1 billion. Where do you stand on that?
Kepi: I am against cutting any funding to the police. It is important to keep in mind that New York is a target for terrorist attacks. We need as much funding as possible for the NYPD, Homeland Security and other agencies to keep New Yorkers safe.
Dielli: We are four days away from voting. You are running in the Republican primary for a seat in New York State Assembly. You stand firmly by your economic plan and your dedication to serve the country as you have done in the US Marine. Yet, if you were a sitting Assemblyman in Albany today, what issues would you be fighting for?
Kepi: Bail reform and property taxes are some of the issues. The opioid crises needs to be addressed. Staten Island is the number one place in the country with the highest incarceration rate per capita. The Verrazano Bridge toll is practically another tax for the residents here and we need a fast ferry service. These are some of the issues I would be fighting for.
Dielli: As an Albanian activist, you have organized rallies and marches advocating for the national interests of the Albanian people. Last June, you as President of Albanian Roots and Vatra Advisor were leading the Nations’ Parade jointly with the Pan-Albanian Federation of America and numerous community organizations. This year there was no parade for obvious reasons. What do you miss the most now?
Kepi: I miss seeing the grandparents and the young children coming to the parade. That makes my day! That makes everything worthwhile!

Dielli: Thank you and good luck!

Editor’s Note: On June 15, Dielli published a congratulatory message with the Albanian translation of the Facebook post on Marko Kepi’s page: “Honored to receive a Gold Medal from President Donald J. Trump. The President’s Volunteer Service Award is a civil award bestowed by the President of the United States for recognition of outstanding volunteer contributions for community service to United States.”
Dielli has covered the official announcement of the Kepi campaign run for the NY State Assembly last September and the fundraiser dinner celebrating Albania’s Independence in support of his candidacy in November.

US SUPREME COURT RULING UPHOLDS DACA PROGRAM

June 18, 2020 by dgreca

By Rafaela Prifti/

On Thursday the Supreme Court issued its ruling that upholds the DACA program.DACA which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was enacted in 2012. It allowed young people raised in the US without legal immigration status to renew authorizations to live and work in the US, although it did not provide a path to citizenship.

According to national immigration data, in states including California, Washington and New York, Dreamer activists pushed for laws that made it possible for them to get driver’s licenses and to qualify for college loans and reduced tuition programs. As of September 2019, roughly 700,000 people were in the DACA program, including doctors and teachers. President Trump has expressed his support of the population shielded from deportation. In his presidential Tweeter account in September 2017, he posted: “Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!” In 2017, the administration sought to end DACAon the grounds of it being “implemented illegally by Obama in 2012.”President Trump defended the contradictory position by claiming that eliminating the program would force Congress to reach a deal that supported Dreamers.While the issue received little attention in Congress, the legality of the program was litigated in lower courts. Those courts decided to allow the program to continue but only for the people who were already receiving it. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 2019, the first question before it was fundamentally whether the nation’s highest court had the jurisdiction to review or make a ruling on the issue. The oral arguments at November 2019 hearing determined that it did.

Today’s justices ruling of 5:4 blocked the administration from ending the program that grants temporary protection from deportation to the undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as minors. With regard to the issue of government rule-making,the Supreme Court ruled thatthe decision of the administration to end the program for undocumented immigrants was invalid.

Reportedly, the effort to seek protections for this population emerged two decades ago, with the introduction of the Dream Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) in 2001 by US Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch. For the next 20 years, Congress repeatedly tried and failed to pass different versions of the legislation. In the meantime, an influential movement to secure protections for this group, known as Dreamers,have advocated on the state and federal level.

KOSOVO SERBIA TALKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE LATER THIS MONTH

June 16, 2020 by dgreca

by Rafaela Prifti/

On Tuesday, US Presidential Envoy for Kosovo Serbia negotiations, Richard Grenell, announced on his Twitter account that he has “received the commitment from the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to temporarily pause the derecognition campaign and the seeking of international memberships in order to meet in Washington, DC at the White House on June 27 for Dialogue discussions.”

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci responded via Facebook hailing the US leadership role in the peace talks: “I welcome the invitation to resume the dialogue process for normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia under the leadership of the President of the United States Donald Trump.”

The announcement of the Kosovo Serbia talks under the auspices of the US is widely welcomed by the Albanian-American community that has been critical of Eurupe’s noncommittal position on the stalled negotiations.

The Twitter posting of Ambassador Grenell comes as the EU diplomat Miroslac Lajcak arrived in Kosovo today to revive the European Union efforts to bring the parties back to the table.

EU Envoy Lajcak, who met with Kosovo’s President Thaci in Prishtina today, said that the talks must conclude with a comprehensive, lasting pact between Serbia and Kosovo, reiterating a common desire by both to join the EU.

In February, Mr. Grenell oversaw an agreement under which Serbia and Kosovo agreed to develop road and rail links to boost economic cooperation prior to resolving long-standing issues.

Drawing attention to the economic perspective, US Special Envoy Grenell said on his Twitter account today: “If either side is unsatisfied with the June 27 discussions then they will go back to the status quo after they leave Washington. We must first make progress on growing the economies.”

LaGUARDIA GETS A MAKEOVER AS ECONOMIES OPEN UP

June 14, 2020 by dgreca

By Rafaela Prifti

The new Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall at LaGuardia Airport opened to the public today as part of a transformed air travel experience awaiting travelers and airlines. The major redevelopment project offers opportunities for local community, women-owned business subcontractors and vendors, as some investors told Dielli.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the number of passengers serviced at New York City airports has dropped by 95 percent. Yet theoverhauling of LaGuardia is one of many infrastructure projects in the pipelines give a boost to the state’s economy.

At the formal ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Governor Cuomo said that New York has entered a new phase in the fight against the virus. The number of new positive cases has been going down as the daily testing numbers are the highest per capita compared to any state in the US. He has repeatedly cautioned about reopening too quickly, which has been the case in some states that are experiencing a sharpincreasein infections. The focus,said Mr. Cuomo is “to have the most informed reopening of any state in the country because reopening is much harder than closing.Since Mr. Cuomo announced five years ago that the LaGuardia airport would be completely rebuilt, there have been several groundbreakings and unveilings. The $8 billion project, three-quarters of which is funded through private financing and existing passenger fees, broke ground in 2016. In February 2018, the new Terminal B parking garage opened with 3,200 spaces and a dedicated level for Uber, Lyft and other car servicesThe old Central Terminal which opened in 1964 was ‘an embarrassment’ to the city and the state, said the Governor. He added thatits completion will be the first,major city airport constructed in the United States in nearly 25 years. The last one to open was Denver International in the mid-1990s.The new LaGuardia will feature 72 new gates across six concourses, featuring artworks by world-renowned artists, security screening technology, no contact systems for ordering food etc. The new arrivals and Departures Hall at LaGuardia Airport is 50 percent bigger than the hall it replaces, represents a step toward a sweeping $8 billion redevelopment that the Port Authority Executive Director, Rick Cotton pledged would create 14,000 jobs and direct $500 million in contracts awarded to Queens Businesses.After months of lockdown, the Governor said that this type of redevelopment project is needed to energize the reopening of the state’s economy. “The pandemic did not significantly affect the completion of the main terminal,” he said. Mr. Cuomo added that the drop in traffic has allowed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, to accelerate construction of the roadways at the airport. The Governor and his guests were optimistic about the future of air travel.The rebuilt airport sits wedged between the Grand Central Parkway and the East River, butthe new terminals have stretched closer to the highway.To reduce the heavyflow of vehicles by LaGuardia, the airport includes anAirTrain station. The estimated $2 billion controversial project is designed to shorten travel time by connecting to the No. 7 subway line and the Long Island Rail Road.“The AirTrain and other projects planned by Port Authority are in doubt due the agency’s loss of revenue during the pandemic,” Mr. Cotton said.The redevelopment of LGA airport is anticipated to create a combined $10 billion in economic activity and $2.5 billion in wages over the life of the project. In his presentation, the Executive Director of Port Authority said that it is working hand in hand with local officials, investorsand the local community such as minority and women business owners, students and jobseekers. LaGuardia Gateway Partners was selected by the New York and New Jersey Port Authority to deliver the capital redevelopment at Terminal B of LaGuardia. The English Editor of Dielli attended the formal opening ceremony and talked to representatives like Thomas Nilsson of Skanska Walsh about opportunities for the Albanian local business community. For participation, the firms are required to be registered with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is invested in developing minority, small and women-owned business enterprises.