The Albanian parliament has endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, making the country one of the first Muslim-majority countries to adopt the definition.
The IHRA, an intergovernmental organization with 34 member countries, established an international consensus on a working definition of antisemitism.
“It is good news that we, the Albanians and the peoples of the Western Balkans, a region that has suffered more than any other part of the world, the consequences of ethno-centrist and religious-centrist views and attitudes, join this emancipatory action of contemporary civilization: the fight against antisemitism,” said Gramoz Ruci, the speaker of Albania’s parliament.
“All nations that throughout history have protected Jews from extermination and support them today against stigma have a right to be proud,” he said. “But we Albanians have more reasons to be proud, because Albania is the only country in Europe where all Jews were taken under protection and rescued during World War II. Our homeland, Albania, in difficult times has served as a substitute soil for Jews.”
