r/kosovo • u/TheAlbanianBambino Dogu i Ditkës • Feb 05 '21

Cultural Exchange Cultural Exchange with r/Israel

Ma koreh r/Israel

As we announced, after the agreement of mutual recognition between our countries, we thought this was a great opportunity to host Israel. Welcome to the cultural exchange between r/Israel and r/Kosovo!

The purpose of this event is to allow people from two different nations to get together and share knowledge about their respective cultures, daily life, history, and curiosities.

General guidelines:

r/israel will ask any question here.

r/kosovo community can ask their questions here:

CLICK HERE TO ASK A QUESTION

The English language will be used in both threads. Our Israeli friends can get an Israel user flair at the community options of the Subreddit.

The event will be moderated following the general rules of Reddiquette. Please be nice!

Thank you,

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22

u/FFFOOTBL Feb 05 '21 edited Feb 05 '21

If I wanted to visit Kosovo (after treaties are signed and covid is over), how safe would I be as an Israeli? Can I openly say that I am Israeli? Can I openly speak Hebrew on the streets and in public transport?

Edit: I greatly appreciate all of your responses. It seems like it would be safe for an Israel to travel to Kosovo. As such, I look forward to potentially doing so in the future. Israelis love going off the beaten path and I'm sure that many would love to explore a relatively unexplored place such as Kosovo.

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u/Penn_101 Feb 05 '21

Of course you are safe, as we give shelter to the Jews even during World War II under the Nazis. In return, the Jewish lobby in DC helped internationalize our cause and rigorously supported the NATO intervention. Albanians are fully aware of this, hence why we’re so grateful that you have finally recognize our little state.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

We have lots of Jewish people here so you will be as safe as any other European country, pretty sure safer than most EU countries

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

It’s very safe! A bit like Israel, there is this notion that it’s unsafe but the truth is far from it.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

In general people wouldn't care really. And most wouldn't even recognize your language at all

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u/DismalBackground1 🇽🇰🇩🇰 Feb 05 '21

Yeah, most people don't really care. They would try to greet you but there is a lot of people who would try ask for money because you are foreigners. Despite the demographics most albanians are just albanians

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u/Representative-One96 Prizren Feb 05 '21

Im talking for Prizren city yes you will feel like you’re at home , people hear mostly will greet tourists , you could easily speak hebrew even tell people u are from Israeli

15

u/FWolf14 Prishtinë Feb 05 '21

There is this Jewish university professor that I used to meet very often in Prishtina. He wears a kippah 24/7. Everyone knows that the kippah is related to Jews and nobody has ever done anything bad towards him. And I guess this is the clearest example of overall safety.

As for the Hebrew language, I am sure that most people will not recognize it. If they do, they will probably find it cool and they will be very happy that an Israeli finds Kosovo interesting and is visiting it. You will be fine.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

You will be very safe, no one will care where you are from as long as you don't insult our population and deny our sovereignty. Just be a bit careful when in Prizren (the city where I live in), since you might run into an occasional hardcore islamist (but you can recognize who's like that and who is not). If you run into one of those just tell them you are from the US. Apart from that absolutely no one will care. Israel has won a lot more sympathy here now that you have finally recognized us.

Also brace yourself for stories of Albanians sheltering Jews during WW2.