Page 4 - AACL 25th anniversary

Anniversary Celebration of
Albanian American Civic League
Dear Friends,
on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Albanian American Civic League and Foundation, we believe that it is fitting to salute Albanian religious tolerance as the essence of the Albanian identity—especially in an era of religious intolerance.
In 1990, when the late Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, and former Congressman Joe DioGuardi were the first US officials to enter Albania after fifty years of communism, the world learned for the first time that Albanians were the only nation in Europe that could claim that every Jew who either lived in Albania or sought refuge there were saved from the Holocaust. This is because Albanians are secular Muslims, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Jews who have lived in harmony for centuries. They are Albanians, first, and people of faith, second.
The Albanian American Civic League and Foundation has worked for the past two decades to educate the international community that the root of Albanian tolerance, the basis of the rescue during World War II, was the ancient Illyrian code, besa. Passed down through generations, besa requires Albanians to honor and protect “guests” even at the risk of their own lives. Hence, there were no Jewish foreigners in Albania during World War II, but only Jewish guests, who had to be sheltered and protected even at the risk of Albanian lives. The Albanian example—in Albania, Kosova, and in Albanian ancestral lands in Macedonia, Montenegro, the Presheva Valley, and Chameria—gives hope that people of different religions and ethnicities can live in peace and extend protection to others, especially from genocide.
This is of especially important in our time, because Albanians have the potential to block the incursion of radical Islam in Europe and to become a major force in halting the spread of the Islamic State—just as they did in the 15th century under the leadership of the great Albanian general and diplomat Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skenderbeg. On June 14, 2015, we are commending the unbroken history of Albanian religious tolerance and exploring the unique role that Albanians can play in support of a peaceful, democratic and undivided Europe in the 21st century.
On this occasion, we are also recognizing our Italian brothers and sisters, since Italy gave asylum to thousands of Albanians who fled the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the 15th century across the Adriatic Sea into what was then the Kingdom of Naples. Until today, in the 51 Albanian-speaking villages in unified Italy, Albanians receive state-funded education in both languages and cultures. And we are paying tribute to our Chinese brothers and sisters for the still little-known rescue of 19,000 Jews by the people of Shanghai during the Nazi Holocaust.
All the best,
Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi Hon. Joseph J. DioGuardi
Balkan Affairs Adviser President
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Saluting Albanian Religious Tolerance in an Age of Intolerance