© 1999 Global Beat Syndicate. All Rights Reserved.

Passover in Skopje: Exodus Then and Now

By Eran FRAENKEL*
March 31, 1999
 
SKOPJE, MACEDONIA -- Tonight is the first night of Passover and a few of us are gathering to have a seder -- partly to celebrate, partly just to spend some time together thinking about something other than the war in Kosovo. But the bitter irony of commemorating an ancient exodus in the midst of an ongoing one is not lost on any of us.
 
The news from Macedonia's borders is numbing. Thousands of people are attempting to cross from Kosovo, and only a segment is succeeding. The Macedonian border police say they are coping with these numbers of people as best they can, but tales from refugees indicate otherwise. There is a dispute between Macedonia and its neighbors about which country will receive how many refugees, with Macedonia refusing to take more than its "quota" until other countries admit theirs. Greece and Bulgaria are apparently refusing. As a result, refugees are either being returned to Kosovo from the border or are being made to wait in lines for hours. Last night, four children died of exposure while waiting to be processed.
 
In the country there is still an unreal atmosphere. The Albanian coalition party here announced that Macedonia is not facing a humanitarian crisis, but that Kosovo is. There would seem to be some understanding that Macedonia's Albanian community will take on the responsibility of absorbing the entire refugee population. The motivation, apparently, is still to deflect negative Macedonian public opinion. The same party also called upon Macedonia's citizens to stay cool and to remember that the country's first priority is to maintain its own stability and viability.
 
Although I haven't experienced it directly, I'm told by Macedonian friends that there is a nascent awareness in the ethnic Macedonian community of the human catastrophe that is happening in Kosovo. Until now, my own experience has been of nearly utter indifference if not outright hostility to the Kosovo refugees.
 
I heard of one incident yesterday, immensely appropriate for Passover. Two neighbors, one Macedonian Orthodox and the other Muslim, had been at odds for years and had not spoken to each other. When the Muslim took refugees into his small apartment, his neighbor came over and offered his own small apartment to help relieve the congestion.
 
At least some of the people in this exodus are finding welcome among people who don't know them, but who remember they are all human beings.
 
*Eran Fraenkel is Executive Director of Search for Common Ground in Macedonia, a conflict management organization based in Skopje, Macedonia.

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© 1999 Global Beat Syndicate. All Rights Reserved. The Global Beat Syndicate, a service of New York University's Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, provides editors with commentary and perspective articles on critical global issues from contributors around the world. For more information, check out http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/syndicate/.

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