Syri i Fotografit

Shqiptaret, - nje Popull i Çbere (pjesa e dyte)
Nga Altin Topi

Diku nga vitet 1980-te, ne nje vizite ne New York, Ibrahim Rugova, iu krijua mundesia te takohej me nje gazetar te nje te perditeshme prestixhoze te New York-ut, i cili kishte marre persiper te shkruante nje artikull per Kosoven. Ishte nje nga ata gazetaret “junior”, qe nuk dinte shume per Kosoven dhe shqiptaret e Kosoves. Rugova si fillim nxorri nga canta qe gjithmone mbarte me vete, nje harte te krahines autonome te Jugosllavise te atehereshme, - Kosoves. Biseda sic zakonisht ndodh ne keto lloj rastesh, nuk zgjati shume.

Opinion/Kritike

The Serbs' Self-Inflicted Wounds
With Kosovo independent, Yugoslavia is finally dead.
By Christopher Hitchens
SLATE Magazine

Someone with a good memory of the conversation once told me how Lord Carrington, then one of the "mediators" of the incipient post-Yugoslavia war, came to the conclusion that Slobodan Milosevic was a highly dangerous man. Well-disposed toward Serbia (as the British establishment has always been), Carrington told the late dictator that he understood Serb concerns about significant Serbian minorities in Bosnia and Croatia. But why did Milosevic also insist on exclusive control over Kosovo, where the Albanian population was approximately 90 percent? "That," replied Milosevic coldly, "is for historical reasons." It's a shame, in retrospect, that it took us so long to diagnose the pathology of Serbia's combination of arrogance and self-pity, in which what is theirs is theirs and what is anybody else's is negotiable.

Rite de Passage

Zentana ne Qytetin e Bardhe
Nga Altin Topi

Zentanasit e ata pak jo-zentanas qe ne nje menyre ose nje tjeter kane kerkuar nje fat me te mire per Zentanes, besojne se ajo nuk eshte as Euritane e as Aziane. Prirja kryesore, drejtimi dominues i Zentanes ka anuar me shume nga Euriana, Perendimi se sa nga Aziana, Lindja. Fatkeqesisht per shkak te rrethanave historike, qendrimit te gjate nen dominimin e perandorive me origjine e shikim nga lindja, arbitrarisht, perkatesia e saj kulturore eshte referuar me shpesh, si kulture lindore se sa perendimore. Kjo reference mbizoteruese, ka shkaktuar qe Zentana, te mos perfshihet si nje pjese e globusin kultural Eurianas. Te kunderten e nje tendence te importuar nga jashte, nuk ka shfaqur deshiren t'a besoje askush, pervec se ndoshta vet zentanasve.

Syri i Fotografit

Shqiptaret, - nje Popull i Çbere (pjesa e pare)
Nga Altin Topi

Kosove, 17 Shkurt 2008 Kosova Deklaron Pavarsine

(Ja si jepet lajmi minuta prej shpalljes se pavarsise nga agjensia e lajmeve The Associated Press)

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
PRISTINA, Kosovo - Kosovo declared itself a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an "independent and democratic state" backed by the U.S. and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.

"Kosovo is a republic — an independent, democratic and sovereign state," parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi said as the chamber burst into applause.

Syri i Fotografit

Banaliteti i te Keqes
Nga Altin Topi

Banaliteti i te keqes eshte nje fraze e koinizuar dhe e bere te njohur nga filozofja gjermane-amerikane Hannah Arend. Kjo shprehje e sjelle nga Arend-i permbledh tezen se saj se: te gjithe te keqijat, krimet e kryera pergjate historise te njerezimit, duke perfshire ketu edhe Holokaustin, nuk jane vepra vetem te disa fanatikeve apo psikopateve, por jane kryer edhe nga njerez te zakonshem, te cilet pranuan premisat e shtetit dhe ideologjise sunduese te atij shteti, te cilit i ofruan sherbimin e tyre. Ata morren pjese me deshire ne kryerjen e krimeve te paimagjinueshme, me bindjen se ishin duke bere detyren dhe aktet e tyre ishin krejt normale.

Ne vitin 1961, Hannah Arend ishte derguar ne Jerusalem nga revista The New Yorker. Kesaj rradhe ne rolin e reporteres; te merrte pjese ne gjykimin e njerit prej nazisteve me famekeq, Adolf Eichmann. Ne seancat e gjygjit, Hannah vuri re se njeriu qe gjykohej mbas asaj kioske xhami ishte ndryshe nga kriminelet e tjere te rangut te Hitlerit, Geringut, Himlerit, e rrethit te ngushte te hierarkise te larte naziste. Veprimtaria e tij kriminale ishte rrjedhoje e ambicies, interesimit e deshires te tij per te kryer me perpikmeri detyrat e tij si nepunes i administrates naziste. Ne aspektin psikologjik dhe jo nga pikpamja legale, ngjante se ai, nuk ishte nje mendje kriminale, e shtyre nga nje urrejtje e deshire per te vrare hebrenjte ne vecanti.

Art/Proze

Biography - A Traveller's Tale
by Lloyd Jones

Interviewing "The Black Cat"
Excerpts

In the morning we saw him off. Then we walked back to
the Dajti, where Diani was waiting to ring Nexhmije.

We rang the telephone number which Ilir had scribbled
down, and Nexhmije answered - which was to expected,
of course. But for Diani Nexhmije belonged to the old
pantheon of saints. Nexhmije had shared the royal
podium. It was scarcely believable that she should
answer her own telephone and ask that we avoid the
back entrance.

"She did stress the 'front entrance,'" said Diani.

Five o'clock, and although it was dark I could see no
sign of security.

Art/Proze

Albanian Self-Parody

Excerpts from an American traveler's notebook:

.... On the following day we went to see the Prefect and the Mayor, to whom we explained the object of our journey. Every visit was, of course, celebrated with coffee and spoonfuls of jam. Each time that we spoke of painting Albania, or of writing about Albania, the Mayor, a very fat man, struggled to his feet, made each one of us a low bow, and said, "Thank you, thank you." There seemed to be a general idea that we were writing a book of propaganda in favor of Albania. "The Greeks, Serbs, and Italians have poured contumely upon this innocent little land," they said. We tried hard to explain the sort of book we really wanted to write, but of course they have never seen, heard, imagined, or could perceive the use of a mere travel book. We said that we would tell the truth as we saw it. "Precisely, " they replied, "Thank you. That is what is needed -