I don’t follow sports, except in situations like Croatia’s football representation at the World Cup, but I do follow politics in sports, which means I follow a great part of it. Unfortunately, there’s very little sport in sports, and a lot of politics, corruption, scandals and violence. For today, I would like to write about patriotism and cohabitation (which requires at least two people), encouraged by a conversation with an activist, artist and intellectual, a dear friend of mine and colleague. I thank him for that.
Drita Islami, a Macedonian athlete ran for Macedonia in Taipei. In the photos from this international sports event, we saw her holding the Macedonian flag behind her, and she had a band around her leg with our flag. She achieved a poor result, like many of our sport athletes. Nevertheless, she proudly wrapped the flag around herself with a smile and appeared in front of the cameras.
Young Agron Rufati, a promising Macedonian football talent, rejected a tempting offer from the sports talent hunters from Albania, and decided to play for the Macedonian representation.
These two have done something that is quite natural and, in principle, would not represent any particular reason for writing in this format. But (ah, that eternal “but!” that is imposed everywhere in the Macedonian way of living), revolts, and the invisibility of these acts of being proud of the country they represent and the muscles, mind and talents they engage is concerning.
The media didn’t find it necessary to commemorate these acts, to try to give an example to other young people and all other Macedonian citizens. There’s no need to emphasize that they’re members of the Albanian ethnic community in Macedonia. That is an important motive and a motive more for those who speak publically every day in the media or in politics – to give special meaning to the gestures of these young people. And they do this without any responsibility, without conscience and shame. Not only with their destructive concepts and policies, but also with their silence and (un) deliberate failure to use the opportunity to honor and support such actions, so needed in this delicate period for the country.
Unfortunately, this is not the end to this short and distressing story. The silence for the patriotic gesture of young Drita, replaced with spitefulness on the account of her poor sports result, even though she is not by far the only athlete with such poor results in international competitions. This is also not the end. She was the target of an ugly campaign because of her photo in which with her hands she symbolizes an eagle, something that marks her ethnical affiliation, regardless of her citizenship. And she does this as a tourist, a visitor to the famous Berlin Checkpoint Charlie.
This was noted everywhere, with unhidden hate speech and absurd call for her to apologize for something that is her inalienable right on all grounds. The politicians failed here as well, more specifically, they kept silent. And not even the NGO (phonies) lifted a finger. And in the meanwhile, the Athletic Federation of Macedonia finds it appropriate to initiate a procedure for her punishment, on some other bureaucratic grounds. I don’t want to discuss the real motives.
Of course, now I will be called upon to look at the Albanian nationalistic outbursts (for which, otherwise, I do write about), without looking in our own backyard. I will just urge for reading regularly and being fair. Not to look at the speck in someone else’s eye when you don’t notice the log in our own eye. But, who do I tell…
At the end, I will just loudly yell out: May Macedonia live, the land of equal people!
Translation: Natasa Cvetkovska
