Page 41 - AACL 25th anniversary

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anniversary of the historic Sheraton dinner saluting “freedom and democracy in Kosova.” After the dinner, the delegation meets with Congressional and Bush administration leaders in Washington to emphasize their roles in bringing peace and stability to Kosova, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Presheva.
March 2003
Congressman Tom Lantos joins the Civic League and the Atlantic Battalion in Yonkers, New York, for
Congressman Lantos Holds a Human Rights Caucus Hearing on “The Future of Albanians in Montenegro”
May 2002
the
The Congressional Human Rights Caucus, led by Congressman Lantos, holds a hearing on “The Future of Albanians in Montenegro,” at which Shirley Cloyes, Joe DioGuardi, Nail Draga, Anton Lajcaj, and Xheladin Zeneli testify.
September 2002
January Congressmen Lantos and
The Civic League brings Pjeter Arbnori, Ramush Haradinaj, Iliaz Halimi, Rufi Osmani, Nikolle Camaj, Ferhat Dinosha, and Riza Halimi to Washington for briefings with the House International Relations Committee and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, where they are officially received as representatives of the “Albanian
Lantos Introduce Resolution in Support of Kosova’s Independence Now
May 2003
The Civic League Board attends the unveiling of the official portrait of Chairman Henry Hyde in the House International Relations Committee Hearing Room.
2003
the commemoration of memorial to the Bytyqi brothers (Albanian Americans who were
murdered by the Serbian police after the war) and the anniversary of the death of Adem Jashari.
December The Civic League meets at
2002 nation.”
June Congressmen Gilman and
Congressmen Hyde and Lantos convene a hearing at the urging of the Civic League on the independence of Kosova, at which DioGuardi and Cloyes testify. Lantos and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher vigorously oppose the U.S. State Department policy in Kosova of “standards before status.
The Civic League meets at UN headquarters with Congressman Ben Gilman, President George Bush’s representative at the UN General Assembly, and John Negroponte, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to discuss the need for privatization, World Bank lending and final status for Kosova.
Congressmen Hyde and Lantos Hold a Full Committee Hearing at which They Oppose “Standards before Status”
the United Nations with U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte
After a trip to Kosova, DioGuardi and Cloyes convince Congressmen Gilman and Lantos to introduce House Resolution 467 in support of the independence of Kosova now, breaking the silence imposed by the international community about Kosova’s final status. The Civic League gives Senator Joe Biden its second annual Balkan Peace Award in the presence of Kosova Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci in Washington, DC.
June 2003
August 2003
The Civic League gives its third annual Balkan Peace Award to Congressman Tom Lantos, Chairman Henry Hyde, and retired Congressman Ben Gilman in recognition of their path-breaking work on behalf of Kosova’s independence.
Congressman Lantos Leads an Historic AACL Delegation to Montenegro
The Civic League Sponsors Faton Bislimi in Brussels
The Civic League sponsors the trip of Faton Bislimi, then AACL Student and Youth Coordinator, to Brussels to make the case for Kosova’s independence at the European Youth Summit.
2004
Congressman Lantos, Cloyes, and DioGuardi travel to Detroit, where they publicly announce the Civic League’s plan to internationalize the plight of Albanians in Montenegro.
Hyde Reintroduce H.Res. 28 in Support of Kosova’s Independence Now
2002
Congressman Lantos, Annette Lantos, and the Civic League, with the support of the Patriotic Association of Kraja and Shoqata Ana e Malit, travel to Montenegro to observe conditions in the Albanian majority communities of Ulqin, Ana e Malit, Kraja, Tuzi, and Plave-Guci. Cloyes DioGuardi publishes the results of this fact-finding mission in “Montenegro: An Apartheid State in the Heart of Europe,” and comes under attack by Montenegrin government officials and their US consultants.
The AACL executive board meets inside the U.S. Capitol building on the night of President Bush’s State of the Union Message. Earlier Congressmen Hyde and Lantos send a revised “Dear Colleague” to all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives with H.Res. 28, calling on the United States to declare its support for the independence of Kosovanow.
December Congressman Hyde
Comes to New York City to Announce Support for Kosova’s Independence
February 2004
DioGuardi and Cloyes travel to Toronto, at the request of the Albanian community there, to help create a lobbying effort to introduce a bill like
Congressman Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, comes to New York City to meet with the Board and key supporters of the Civic League. He declares that the Bush administration’s policy in Kosova of “standards before status” is a “cart-before- horse” approach that will lead to another Gaza Strip, this time in the heart of Europe.
Joe DioGuardi speaks at the 90th commemoration of the death of Albanian heroine Sulltana in Qafa, Macedonia. Cloyes and DioGuardi meet in Prishtina with Azem Hajdini, a survivor of the Tivar massacre in 1945, in which more than four thousand Albanians were executed by the Serb and Montenegrin military.
2004 H.Res. 28 in the Canadian parliament.
2003
2003
March
The Civic League Launches the International Campaign for the Independence of Kosova Now at a Meeting with Congressman Hyde in Washington
January Congressmen Lantos and
October A Civic League Delegation
Hyde Introduce H.Res. 28 in Support of Kosova’s Independence Now
Attends the Beatification of Mother Teresa at the Vatican
Cloyes’s comment, “Exert More Pressure on Belgrade to Democratize,” is published in the Financial Times of London. Violence erupts in Kosova, following the drowning of three Albanian children in the Ibar River, and the West sends reinforcements to augment the 18,000 NATO troops on the ground in the UN protectorate. Cloyes, DioGuardi, and members of the AACL Board fly to Washington, DC, to hold
With the opening of a new Congress, Chairman Hyde and Congressman Lantos reintroduce the resolution in support of Kosova’s independence as House Resolution 28.
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The Civic League brings a delegation to Rome for the beatification of Mother Teresa at the Vatican and a visit to the Arberesh town of Greci—the birthplace of DioGuardi’s father and home to the descendants of Skanderbeg’s soldiers, who came to the Italian peninsula in 1461 to fight the French on behalf of the Kingdom of Naples.
88 Saluting Albanian Religious Tolerance in an Age of Intolerance 41