Kosovar refugees arrive in Israel on eve of Holocaust remembrance

JERUSALEM, April 12 (JTA) — The poignant convergence of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the arrival of 112 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo was not lost on anyone. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the dignitaries who welcomed the flight of refugees on Monday, which was organized by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Israel agreed to grant the group asylum as part of the humanitarian assistance it has extended to their war-torn region. The refugees, who came with virtually nothing, were then taken to Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, near Haifa, where the Jewish Agency will provide for their needs for the next six months. Netanyahu referred to the refugees’ plight during his remarks Monday evening at the state Yom Hashoah ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. “We have special sensitivity to the suffering of other people, especially those who are uprooted from their homes and transported in trains toward an uncertain future,” the premier said. “Nothing can compare to the Holocaust of our people, but as Jews, we cannot stand opposite the images from Kosovo of thousands of refugees expelled from their homes, of frightened faces peering out of rail cars, of children who lost their parents. “As Jews, we have a special responsibility to remember, to understand and to act.” The refugees will learn Hebrew and have the opportunity to work. After the six months, they will be given the choice of obtaining Israeli citizenship or returning to their homes. Accompanying the refugees on their flight was Rana Raslan, who last month was crowned Israel’s first Arab Miss Israel. She traveled with the group, according to a Jewish Agency official, to reassure the refugees, who are Muslim, about coming to the Jewish state. The arrival of the refugee plane included a reunion of sorts. Among the refugees was the daughter of an Albanian couple that had been designated Righteous Gentiles because of their efforts to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. She was met at Ben-Gurion Airport by Dvir Markowitz of Jerusalem, whose mother, Miri, was among the Jews rescued. Netanyahu referred to this woman in his remarks, saying, “Today, in a historic closing of a circle, she finds herself finding shelter in the Jewish state.” The refugees who arrived in Israel were members of 17 families that had told Jewish Agency and Foreign Ministry officials at a camp on the Kosovo border that they were interested in coming to Israel. Appearing pensive and exhausted, the new arrivals expressed gratitude for the haven Israel had extended to them. While some said they hoped to eventually be able to return home, others looked forward to a new start in Israel. “We’ll try to start a new life,” one of the arrivals, Linda Bayerkoti, told reporters.