Mjaft Demands Apology from The Sunday Times

Mjaft

28 July 2006

It is with extreme awe and disgust that I read the featured article 'The Land That Time Forgot' by A.A. Gill published in the Sunday Times Magazine on the 23rd of July. It is clear from the very start that the author is not interested in discovering 'the real Albania' as your front page ironically claims. Instead, the article is full of factual inaccuracies inspired by an immense negative and pre-determined prejudice of the author. To say the least, the author's language is offensive, harsh and unfair to both Albania and its people. Allow me to illustrate my point.

By what standards does Mr. Gill judge the Albanian teenagers as 'the worst-dressed teenagers in Europe'? How can the author assume that Albania is 'a Ruritania of brigands and vendettas and pantomime royalty' in a just short visit? What does Mr. Gill mean by 'The Albanians are short and ferret-faced, with the unisex stumpy, slightly bowed legs of shetland ponies'? The author continues in his ridiculous attempt to discredit the Albanians by referring to their language as 'a ready-made code for criminals, but in a typically unintentional way it's also pathetically, phonetically funny'. This assumes that people who speak Albanian in the UK are automatically to be considered as potential criminals.

Leaving aside the ludicrous claims and extremely poor journalistic style of Mr Gill, we are particularly disturbed by the intentional attempt of both the author and your paper to depict the Albanian community in the UK and elsewhere in Europe as 'frightening' when claiming that 'what they do is mostly illegal'.

The author refers to the Albanian community in the world (UK included), by alleging that:

'It's said they also run most of the illegal arms trade, the cheapest Kalashnikovs you can buy. They're the Asda of mayhem. After years of being bullied, invaded, ripped off and lied to, the Albanians have grown very good at being frightening. They're not subtle, they don't deal in proportionate responses, controlled aggression or veiled threats. Albanians, I'm told, have taken over the crime in Milan - exporting organised crime to Italy beats selling fridges to Eskimos or sand to Arabs. All this imitation, this desperate wannabe youth culture, is being paid for by cash sent home from abroad. Albania's economy runs courtesy of Western Union and wads of red-light cash stuffed under the seats of hot-wired Audis. Much of it is criminal, but there is also a lot that is the bitter fruit of lonely, uncertain, menial jobs in rich Europe done by invisibly despised immigrants on the black economy'.

The above lines clearly show that there is a deliberate attempt by both Mr. Gill and the Sunday Times Magazine to discredit and damage the image of the Albanian community in the UK.

The article also lacks the professional journalistic style and projects a huge absence of analytical depth of proper and serious research. Has Mr. Gill researched on the thousands of Albanians who live and work in London in some of the most prestigious companies in the City? Has he met the numerous research analysts, fund managers, investment bankers, accountants, press officers, translators, teachers and hundreds of brilliant Albanian students in the UK? Have you sir, double-checked the absence of facts behind the claims that what our community does in the UK is mostly illegal, that most of our money we send home is criminal? This indicates a seriously
disturbing attempt by your paper to depict the Albanians as frightening for Europe and as a threat to the British society. The author's language projects racial intolerance and seeks to intentionally damage Albania's and its people's reputation in Europe, particularly at a time when British Airways and Albanian Airlines have recently started direct flights between London and Tirana and when British tour operators are beginning to offer holiday trips to the country. It is outrageous that a well-established magazine like the Sunday Times would publish such an unfounded piece of amateuresque writing.

Furthermore, the article is deeply offensive to the appx. 50,000 Albanian community members in the UK and encourages racial prejudice among British readers. Although we understand the freedom of the press only too well (as we ourselves at MJAFT! Are among the fiercest advocates of such press liberty in Albania � see our early day motion commons for more information), we believe that such intentional prejudice from the author does not help the British Government in its attempts to promote good community relations.

Lastly, we notice with particular concern the deliberate and malicious attempt by Mr. Gill and your paper to damage the business and trade relations between the UK and Albania at a time when they are at their peak for more than 15 years. This negative depiction of Albania and its people as criminals, brigands, thick and frightening, directly affects the thousands of potential British tourists and investors that have taken an interest in Albania over the past few months. The article fails to notice the immense progress made by Albania in terms of its infrastructure, GDP growth, societal structures, civil society and the recent signing of the ASA (Association and Stabilization Agreement) with the EU, thus opening the official way toward eventual EU membership.

Taking into account the above, we would like to demand an immediate official public apology by your paper to the Albanian community in the UK as well as to the millions of Albanian citizens that have been offended by Mr. Gill's racist language.

Furthermore, we would like to kindly request the 'right-of-reply' in order to give a more balanced account of Albania and its people to the British readers. MJAFT! rests deeply committed to the democratic principles of free press and freedom of opinion. However, we will not tolerate deliberate attacks on the image of Albanians as a hard working, serious community in the UK without factual evidence provided by the author.

Yours sincerely,

Ralf Gjoni
MJAFT London Club