By Elez Osmani
Part Two
Jusuf Azemi: “If I had another life, I would still fight my battle for the Albanian nation and people, for an Ethnic Albania”
Memorie.al / At the beginning of the year just passed, on February 12, 2023, at the age of 103, the oldest activist of the Albanian diaspora in America, Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, passed away. He was born in 1920, in the village of Dobrosht, Tetovo municipality. There he completed primary school, in the Serbo-Croatian language, while he also attended secondary school, the madrasa, in Tetovo, which he could not finish due to the start of the Second World War. There he began the hifz (memorization of the Quran) and completed it in Damascus. Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, as a young man, was inspired by national feelings and publicly took the oath for the “Balli Kombëtar” (National Front) organization on the premises of the primary school in the village of Dobrosht.
Continued from the previous issue
The First World Congress of the “Kosovar League”
The First World Congress of the “Kosovar League,” held at the “Conrad Hilton” hotel in Chicago, on November 24 and 25, 1973, was an extraordinary success. The participants seen over two days and at the closing dinner were no less than 500 people. The Congress was honored by political personalities, both with their presence and with a large number of congratulatory telegrams. Unfortunately, the newspaper lacks the space to elaborate in this area.
The “KOSSOVAR LEAGUE” presented the points of the Congress from the free world, which is the five principled points of the “Kosovar League”:
- The “Kosovar League” is a broad movement that seeks to unite Kosovars in emigration and coordinate their efforts to help defend the national rights of Kosovo;
- The goal of the “Kosovar League” is to encourage the resistance of the Albanian ethnic group in Yugoslavia to defend its rights against the oppression of Yugoslav authorities;
III. The “Kosovar League” will demand that all Albanians in Yugoslavia-meaning in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo, the Albanian regions of Macedonia, the Albanian regions of Montenegro, as well as the Albanian regions bordering the Republic of Serbia-be gathered together, and that they be granted the right to form an autonomous administration, on an equal scale with other nationalities and in accordance with the very constitution of the Yugoslav federal state;
- The “Kosovar League” will demand that after such a unification, all Albanians in Yugoslavia be granted the right to self-determination of peoples, according to the principles declared in the Atlantic Charter and accepted by the United Nations Organization;
- The “Kosovar League” invites every Albanian Kosovar in Yugoslavia to participate in its efforts to achieve these goals.
The Speech of Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, Chairman of the “Kosovar League” Congress (Chicago, November 24 and 25, 1973)
“With great humility, I want to thank the Congress participants for this great honor they bestow upon me by choosing me to chair this historic gathering, the First World Congress of the Kosovar League. I do not want to take up the valuable time of the Congress with the histories and events that the distinguished speakers before me have described so well.
There are no words for a person to describe all the heroics, to mention all the names of the martyrs who have fallen and are falling every day for the defense of our holy National and human rights. Let us bow before their memory and pray to God to make us worthy to follow their path in fulfilling their sacred Trust.
Thank you!
But before the closing of the first section of the Congress, allow me to mention, with the greatest honor, some of the heroes who deserve it, and their battles of which I have personal knowledge.”
Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, whenever he had the opportunity, raised his voice for the national cause. Thus, revolted by the situation of Albanians in former Yugoslavia, he often wrote to high state structures in America. Here is one instance:
Albanians in the United States protest any economic aid to the Yugoslav communist dictators. The United States should inform Deputy Prime Minister Jakov Sirtković that the persecutions of two and a half million Albanians in Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia happen every day.
Example 1. On October 23, 1972, in Skopje, Sadush Velija (Azemi) and Rexhep Nuredini were sentenced to three and a half years in prison because, in 1971, they spent two days with their cousins in Sweden.
Example 2. In Tetovo, student Ekrem Kadria, because he typed Albanian poems, was sentenced to 8 months of hard labor in a camp. These are just two of the many crimes against our people who have no voice to protest.
In the name of God and ‘humanity, we demand that you do not help these butchers in any form, but intervene by helping the so-called political prisoners mentioned above, and help Albanians in Yugoslavia enjoy the same civil rights, which they only have on paper, just to show outside Yugoslavia, and are like third-class citizens, without human rights.
The abundant activity of political organizations, such as “Balli Kombëtar,” “Lëvizja Kosovare” (The Kosovar Movement), as well as others, filled Hafëz Jusuf with hope that one day the Albanian question in the Balkans would be resolved. Therefore, he did not spare himself, being the main activist in the Chicago area and beyond, who not only organized activities with representatives of the American administration but was also the right-hand man of Abaz Ermenji and Luan Gashi.
If we refer to the chronicles of the time, it appears that Hafëzi was at the forefront of the demonstrations organized in Washington, Chicago, and New York, as well as in many other places. Xhelal Rushiti, who lives and works in Chicago, states that this man did not spare his time, effort, or even his wealth for the national cause. He could eat very simply, having his meals with sandwiches, but he would pay the expenses (charter planes) for the members of the “Kosovar Movement” and the “Balli Kombëtar,” as well as for various national activities.
Even scholars not burdened with ideological premises are clear that the Albanian political emigration settled in Western European countries, the USA, and Turkey, after the Second World War, played an important role in the internationalization of the unresolved Albanian question under the occupation of communist Yugoslavia. Among them was the “Kosovar League,” headed by Hafëz Jusuf Azemi. Here is how the newspaper “Flamuri” (The Flag) reported one case:
A Magnificent Demonstration
On Monday, October 19, in Chicago, Albanians held another demonstration against the oppression of Albanians in Yugoslavia, against the interference of people from the Yugoslav consulate in Chicago in the internal affairs of the Albanian community, through threats. The demonstration was organized again by the “Kosovar League and more than 400 people participated, with anti-chauvinist, anti-communist slogans, and Albanian flags waving in the air.”
At the beginning of 1982, the “Kosovar League” undertook an even broader action, with the aim of better organizing the Albanian diaspora in the USA and Canada, as well as creating a common platform for Albanian political organizations in emigration, regardless of their political and ideological differences. Thus, on March 28, 1982, under the organization of the “Kosovar League” and the “Legaliteti” (Legality) movement, a memorial academy was held at the “Roosevelt” hotel in New York, dedicated to the first anniversary of the Albanian demonstrations in Kosovo, in the presence of over 500 participants.
Luan Gashi gave the introductory speech, while the religious leaders, Imam Isa Hoxha and Father Prenk Camaj, chanted prayers and gave lectures, “cursing all those Albanians who in any way work for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and are against their nation, as well as stepping on the Albanian blood spilled in Kosovo.”
The gathering was also addressed by Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, Nderim Kupi, Ali Klisura, Adem Çela, etc., who pointed out that; “genocide is being committed against Albanians in Kosovo; 3,000 killed, 2,000 wounded, 1,800 imprisoned… etc.,” that they are determined in their “just demands for the creation of the Republic of Kosovo, that world public opinion is with the Albanians from Kosovo, etc.”
Hafëzi also collaborated with various anti-communist diaspora personalities who lived in the West, as well as with high-ranking American state officials, whose administration politically, materially, and morally supported the anti-communist movements.
The “Kosovar League” Raises Its Voice Loudly
At the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on April 7, 8, and 9, a large meeting was held, where many issues concerning various aspects of the cultural, political, economic, and social life of Eastern Europe were discussed. Renowned professors participated and spoke there.
The “Kosovar League” sent its people there, whose purpose was to ensure that the participants did not only hear the official pro-Yugoslav government side. For this reason, they held a series of meetings with professors as well as with many participants…! League and Balli pamphlets and a geographical map of Ethnic Albania were distributed there. The Consul General of Yugoslavia, Dimčev, also participated in the meeting.”
They had heated polemics with him regarding the situation in Kosovo. “…In that important meeting, the ‘Kosovar League’ managed to refute the Yugoslav claims, as if Yugoslavia were a ‘model state.’ Albanians everywhere congratulate the people of the League, who managed to raise their voices loudly, defending the rights of Albanians in Kosovo.”
The activity of the “Kosovar League,” especially during the period of 1981-1990, when outstanding patriots and activists of the Albanian cause were at its forefront, did not go unnoticed and untargeted by Yugoslav diplomacy.
In this paper, we are making public one of the many communiqués of the Research and Documentation Service, near the Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of the SFRY, sent to the respective republican and provincial services, in which the latter are informed about the activity, respectively the “anti-Yugoslav manifestations” of the “Kosovar League” in the USA, during the period of March 21 – April 13, 1981.
BELGRADE, MARCH 21, 1981: We received information from the Chicago point that at the meeting of the “Kosovar League,” held on March 21, in Aurora, which was attended by: Jusuf Azemi, Azem Aliu, Ismail Kashtanjeva, Olloman Rushiti, Ajet Rushiti, Naci Korati, Ilmi Hasani, Sadri Shariu, Ismail Osmani, Hysen Ismaili, Shefaki Ismaili, Halil Felbehari, Mulla Nimeti, Nafez Jusufi, there was no mention of any invitation or eventual participation in the demonstrations of the Ustasha nationalist emigration, set for April 10.
On the contrary, the possibility of holding their own demonstrations was considered for the first part of April (in Washington or New York), on the occasion of the imprisonment of students in Prishtina and Prizren, related to the recent disturbances at the University. The basic motto of the demonstrations is: the violation of “human rights” in the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo and the communist “elite’s” oppression of the new Albanian intelligentsia by the brutal Yugoslav police. They are said to be attended by branches from Chicago, New York, and Washington.
In parallel with the organization of the demonstrations, the selection of a delegation from the Kosovar League was also discussed, which on the same occasion, would visit Senator Percy, eventually the President of the USA, to whom an adequate petition would be submitted. The meeting ended without concrete decisions.”
“The communists of Belgrade, Skopje, and Prishtina, in order to monitor the activity of Jusuf Azemi and Luan Gashi, had engaged 88 collaborators, who were distributed in some of the most important world centers, such as Chicago, New York, Detroit, Toronto, Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Ankara, Munich, Rome, etc.
However, despite the many efforts of the Yugoslav government to stain the leading figures of the “Kosovar League,” its activity was never extinguished, but thanks to their tireless work, the Albanian problem in Yugoslavia managed to take on an international character. The “Kosovar League,” led by Jusuf Azemi and Luan Gashi, kept the unresolved Albanian question alive in the former SFRY for 40 consecutive years.”
Hafëz Jusuf Azemi passed away in Chicago, on February 12, 2023, and was accompanied with honors by his family, friends, and compatriots. On the occasion of the burial in Chicago, Prof. Skënder Karaçica stated:
“The Albanian emigration in America is parting today from the oldest activist in the emigration, Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, and, as De Rada’s language says, across the sea, in distant America, with our memories, that we had the honor to work and act close with heart and soul for the homeland, as Hafëzi often told us: If I had another life, I would still fight my battle for the Albanian nation and people, for an Ethnic Albania in the Balkans!”
Conclusion
With unwavering faith in God and unparalleled self-sacrifice, the Hoxha of the Diaspora, Hafëz Jusuf Azemi, never ceased his national activity in the internationalization of the unresolved Albanian question during his entire century-long life in emigration.
He was one of the founders of the “Kosovar League” since 1949, a regular participant in the Congresses of the Federal Union of European Ethnic Groups, and one of the founders of the branch of the Albanian-American Lobby in Chicago.
He also had frequent meetings with high representatives of the American Administration; senators, congressmen, secretaries, and Presidents of the USA, regarding the issue of Kosovo and the oppression of Albanians by the communist regime in Yugoslavia.
Hafëz Jusuf Azemi was also a participant in all demonstrations organized in Chicago and other places in the USA, related to raising awareness of the Albanian issue in American opinion; he was the organizer and participant in marking Flag Day in Chicago and other cities in the USA, and was the leader of the World Congress of the “Kosovar League”, held in Chicago in 1973.
After the fall of the monist-communist system in Albania, he was the leader of the VIII Congress of the “Balli Kombëtar”, held in Tirana in 1993. In the same year, he visited his birthplace, after almost half a century. As for Kosovo, after migrating, he visited it in 1999. He had the fortune to see a free Kosovo, for which he worked A WHOLE LIFE, FOR THE RESOLUTION OF THE ALBANIAN QUESTION IN THE ETHNIC SPACE AND THE LIBERATION OF KOSOVO.
He was decorated by the President of Albania. He passed away in Chicago, at the age of 103. Memorie.al
