Living With the Albanians

To understand the conditions that prompted the exodus of non-Albanians from Kosovo, we don’t need to look further than Cherry Hill, NJ.

by Srdja Trifkovic

In the current debate on the future of Kosovo, it is often overlooked that hundreds of thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians had fled the province under Albanian pressure well before the KLA terror campaign of 1996-1998. Under Tito, the Albanians’ share of the population thus rose from 64 percent in 1953 to 77 percent immediately following his death in 1980.

To understand the conditions that prompted the exodus of non-Albanians from Kosovo even in peacetime, we don’t need to look further than Cherry Hill, NJ. This prosperous Philadelphia suburb known for good schools is the home to the Duka brothers, three “Yugoslav” Albanians arrested in connection with the jihadist plot to attack Fort Dix.

As we now know, the extended Duka family (three brothers, a grandmother, parents, wives, children) was in the habit of slaughtering lambs in their backyard with a kitchen knife. There were numerous complaints about fetid diapers tossed into an open trash dumpster that sat in the driveway, near an array of cars and pickup trucks without registration or license plates. Roosters ran about their yard, and juveniles roamed the neighborhood, sometimes setting off fireworks.

Image: Serb church in Kosovo defaced with Islamist symbolsThe Philadelphia Inquirer reports that police cited the Dukas repeatedly on disorderly persons charges, including marijuana possession, improper behavior, prowling, disturbing the peace, and obstructing the administration of law; they were fined between $20 and $830 on various occasions. The brothers were also issued some 50 traffic citations between 1997 and 2006 for speeding, driving without licenses, driving while on the suspended list, failure to appear in court, and other charges. They parked oversize trucks on the streets and operated unauthorized roofing business from home. But despite the attention from Cherry Hill code enforcers and police officers—who were called to the Duka home at least 10 times over the last seven years—their lifestyle of choice continued unhindered until they and three other Muslims (one of them also Albanian) were arrested four weeks ago.

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/?p=102

http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=594

http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=534

2007-06-06