Author: Hanmie Lohaj
The United States has branded Hamas as a terrorist organization, and it appears that tensions between Israel and Hamas are only increasing. The two-state solution has been continuously supported by international leaders as the best hope for long-term stability. It’s not clear if people want it or not, and if they do, it’s not clear what form that desire would take and especially how soon. But the most important questions are “when” and how expensive its cost will be, if the cost can also be defined as thousands of lives of people, babies, children, and women stuck between the two fires. Countries and capitals around the globe have come out with calls, marches and protests regarding this very issue. A peaceful march was also held in the capital of Kosovo.
On November 16, around 18:00, a group of citizens took part in the organization of a protest march which took place in “Zahir Pajaziti” square. This march was called by the “Collective for Feminist Thought and Action”, and was supported by some citizens in Kosovo who, as an expression of solidarity, came together and marched on this cold November night.
In their joint statement, which they read during the march, it was said that the purpose of this act, which they named as “political, solidarity and mobilizing”, was to demand an immediate stop to “Israel’s genocidal war to the Palestinian people and to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and their suffering”.
“The purpose of our meeting today is twofold: (1) to demand an immediate end to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people and (2) to express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and their suffering.
This march is first and foremost a political, solidarity and mobilization act, which, although symbolic, seeks to draw attention to the terror that the Palestinian people are experiencing today. We intend to echo their calls to stop genocide, occupation, colonization of Palestinian lands and apartheid in Palestine,” was read aloud in the name of the organizing group of the protesting march.
The protest lasted a total of about an hour and its participants were different age groups, starting from teenagers and young students to the middle-aged and elderly.
This group of protesters called the riots in the East as the greatest tragedy of the 21st century. They said that “this genocide” perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people is the result of the 75-year occupation of Palestine by Israel, including violent deportations of Palestinians from their properties and lands.
“Starting from the non-negotiable right of all peoples to freedom and self-determination, we insist that the current situation should not be read as a war between two equal parties, but that of a colonial and occupying state, against the liberating resistance of a people. Today we are witnessing a genocide practiced by Israel against the Palestinian people, which comes as a continuation of the 75-year occupation of Palestine by Israel, mass murders and violent expulsions of the Palestinian people from their lands.
This occupation has turned Gaza into a concentration camp and a mass graveyard of thousands of children, women and men. This is the greatest tragedy of the twenty-first century!
We are here because we cannot remain silent when an entire people is denied its very existence, when children and adults are the targets of bombings, massacres and deportations. For more than a month, over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, of which over 4,000 are children and more than 3,000 bodies are still missing and trapped under the rubble”, said the same organizers of the march.
Israel recognized Kosovo on September 4, 2020, when it was announced by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, that Israel and Kosovo have recognized each other and that diplomatic relations will be established between these two states. Kosovo officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem, just a few weeks after establishing diplomatic relations with the State of Israel on February 1, 2021.
So, it can be said that Israel officially recognized Kosovo on February 1, 2021 as a result of the Washington Agreement. This agreement was signed almost three years ago in the US capital. Kosovo and Serbia signed individual versions of the document with the same content, except for the point about recognizing Israel, which was only included in the version given to the Kosovo delegation. Palestine continues not to recognize Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state.
Kosovo has so far not come out with any official communication from any state institution regarding the developments in Israel or the Palestinians in Hamas. There was no reaction either from the prime minister’s office or the presidency, nor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, reports Perspektiva.
In conclusion, they said that this march should not be seen as their bias with Hamas, adding that the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust should not be used as a means of justifying Zionist policies.
“This march should not be read as our positioning with Hamas, since we condemn the crimes committed against all civilians. As pointed out by many Jewish co-protesters who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, the Holocaust and the suffering of Jews throughout history and anti-Semitic rhetoric cannot be used as a means to justify Zionist policies.
It was further said that since there was a war in Kosovo 24 years ago, they understand and sympathize with the pain of the Palestinians in Gaza, adding that precisely because they experienced the war themselves, not long ago, the positions of the Government of Kosovo see as pro-genociodial positions and that they do not consider such as strategic, since one should not play with people’s lives and that silence shows support against Israel. So, according to the protestors, it is “intolerable that a state that was once a victim aligns itself 24 years later on the side of the aggressor”.
“As people, we are tested with war and suffering 24 years ago from the genocidal policies of Serbia. Precisely for this reason, we refuse to close our eyes to the pro-genocidal positions of our state and accept them as “strategic positions” because there can be no strategy with tens and hundreds of thousands of people’s lives! We cannot accept that today Kosovo aligns itself with Israel and we demand accountability from the government, because it is intolerable that our country, 24 years after the war, aligns itself with the aggressor”, said the Collective for Feminist Thought and Action.
