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“Kur na vrasin të tjerët, ne të mos t’i hapim varre vetëvetës.”

As Difficult as Swallowing a Mountain – extract from Shukrije Rexha’s story, activist of the Reconciliation of Blood Feuds Campaign.

“Every case had its specificities, but I will highlight the case of the Sfishta family and mother Sabile, who was very brave and forgave the blood of her two sons, one of them a student of the Medical School. She had lived in pain and anxiety for over 14 years. She had two other sons, who were hard to convince to forgive the blood. We spent many hours and had long discussions with these families. We all worked together in order to arrive at forgiveness.

In the end, I hugged mother Sabile and asked, ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘my daughter, it is difficult, as difficult as swallowing a mountain, but for the youth, for the whole Albanian nation, I forgive the blood of my two sons.’ I hugged her with a lot of love and respect. Later, we met with mother Sabile and her other two sons, and we realized that they also felt relieved; first, because they forgave; and second, because they weren’t saving the gun against people of their community. They became part of the great Movement!

During our stay with the families that lived in the villages and cities and in the first meetings with the families in enmities, I understood that the pressure on the families living in the village was more significant than those living in the city. Living near the families you were in a feud with was an important dimension to consider while handling their cases.”

The full interview can be read at: https://oralhistorykosovo.org/the-engagement-in-the-movement-for-blood-feuds-reconciliation-part-one/