Posted on 04/24/2003 6:27:00 AM PDT by joan
The seder that was organized for the Jewish community of Kosovo this year was most likely the last, as many of its members will be making their way to Israel.
Prizren, KOSOVO - Every once in a while, some of the kitchen help peek from behind the window over the counter and stare curiously. There are two long rows of tables, at one of which most of the men are wearing skullcaps. Plates of matza are being passed around. At one end of the room a large blue American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) banner hangs, next to the many paintings of mosques - scenes from the picturesque streets of Prizren, where the JDC's fourth annual seder in Kosovo was being held last week.
JDC administrator Jackie Godlove rises to welcome the gathering. This is a time of transition, she says. This will unfortunately be the last seder held by her organization, which is scaling back operations in the coming months after four years in Kosovo. And very soon a large portion of the local Jewish community, on whose behalf the seders were originally held, will be moving to Israel.
Looking at the two extended families that comprise the whole of Kosovo's known Jewish community, it's hard to escape the feeling of being in the presence of the last Jews of Kosovo. The two families are the Zheltas and the Demiris. For both, their Jewish lineage stems from a grandmother, now deceased. Whatever Jewish identity they possess is well submerged beneath their main ethnicity and culture. In the case of the Zheltas, this is Turkish, the Turks being one of the larger minority groups in Kosovo, with an especially large concentration in Prizren. The older members of the family speak only Turkish. They refer to the family's Jewish matriarch as Lala Bala, who was born in Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo. Fifty years ago many members of her family immigrated to Israel. They never celebrated any holidays, nor observed any customs; regarding how they maintained their Jewish identity, they say they "just knew."
One of Lala Bala's daughters recalls her mother speaking Hebrew, and it is quickly ascertained that by this, she means Ladino. They have wanted to go to Israel for over five years and now they are waiting for their documents to be processed. Will they miss Kosovo? "Of course, it is our birth country," Mikush Zhelta says. But, all the same, the enthusiasm on his face indicates, they will leave Kosovo at the first opportunity.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretzdaily.com ...
I don't understand - now that the evil Serbs are gone and the saintly Albanians, UN, KFOR, and the international community run and "protect" Kosovo, why are they so keen on leaving?
Kosovo was a money pit in Yugoslavia for 50 years, if Rwanda received such funds it would be like Switzerland by now. Nepotism, graft, sabotage and outright theft were the norm. When Sers tried to erradicate it, it was "oppression"
Kosovo ALbanians have found new cash cow now. After $9 Billion spent by donors since 1999 there is no progress in sight. Organised crime is the sole profitable industry.
$9 Billion? I thought I read recently that, according to Sam Vaknin, it was "only" $5 billion.
Kosovo was a money pit in Yugoslavia for 50 years, if Rwanda received such funds it would be like Switzerland by now. Nepotism, graft, sabotage and outright theft were the norm. When Sers tried to erradicate it, it was "oppression"
Kosovo ALbanians have found new cash cow now. After $9 Billion spent by donors since 1999 there is no progress in sight. Organised crime is the sole profitable industry.
I am sure seeing $9 billion less than 2 months ago. I do not have quote here but perhaps collective FR wisdom will provide it.
The role of Kosovo Albanians, especially Waffen SS Shenderbeg in Holocaust is carefully edited. So much of Never again.
Ommissions, innuendos and outright fabrications are too numerous to be mentioned. Reads like recycled Soros network disinformation. But even with all damage control they can not hide the fact that Kosovo will be Judenrein.
The figure of $5 billion came from this article - Occupation by Bad Example Whatever Happened to Kosovo, Anyway? : As Dr. Vaknin reminds, $5 billion has been "poured" since 1999 into the money sieve that is Kosovo.
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