Ten years ago the International March for Peace “Një Popull Lëviz Për Paqen, Kundër Gjakmarrjes” “A people walks against blood feuds” in Albania, organized by #OperazioneColomba together with Albanian civil society, ended in Tirana. In those days Sara wrote:

Dozens of local authorities welcomed us and listened to us. We met hundreds of people during the march, we left them messages of peace, reconciliation, hope. I experienced a Dove that lives and by living brings life. He lives by choosing not only to live with those who are forced into a conflict but for them he sets himself in motion, it is creative energy that sometimes creates space, other times springboards, other times a concrete alternative. We traveled through northern Albania, as Italians, saying that we were there for peace for the Albanian people, to propose forgiveness as an alternative to blood revenge. This movement, together with the concrete commitment asked of the institutions and the stories told of other courageous peoples, is a creator of life. The faces of those who met us were sometimes sceptical, other times curious, many changed expression into a decisive smile, as if to tell us “here you are, we were waiting for an alternative, for violence to be given a specific name”. Once again I discover that humble presence, that standing next to me that generates movements: fear decreases and hope grows. Small movements that generate big changes.

Regretfully, the COVID-19 pandemic had no mitigating effect on the blood feuds phenomenon in Albania. During the month of June, three men have been killed due to past feuds. In 2012, during a demonstration against this practice, the volunteers of Operazione Colomba metaphorically compared blood feuds phenomenon to a virus, since the mentality which originates it can spread easily and cause an endless number of deaths. (more…)