Kosovo: President bans sale and distribution of anti-Semitic books

Via JNS:

The president of Kosovo has banned the sale and distribution of anti-Semitic literature following a complaint from experts on anti-Semitism, Jewish Business News reported Wednesday. 

According to the report, President Hashim Thaci issued the directive after his office was contacted by Ido Daniel, head of the Israeli Students Combating Anti-Semitism activism group. 

The government of Kosovo and the European Cooperation Organization had invited Daniel and other experts in anti-Semitism and global terrorism to take part in a conference in the country's capital, Pristina, on combating racism and radicalization. To his shock, while walking through one of the capital's main streets, Daniel noticed that local bookstores were displaying overtly anti-Semitic books, including translations of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Albanian, one of Kosovo's official languages. 

"It turns out that there is a whole industry of anti-Semitic literature translated into Albanian and other languages in the region as part of an organized campaign of incitement against Jews in the Balkans," Daniel said.

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Kosovo arrests 19 in Islamic State plot to attack Israel soccer match

From The Times of Israel:

Kosovo police on Wednesday said they had arrested 19 people they suspected of being involved in an Islamic State plot to carry out terror attacks in Kosovo and neighboring Albania, including an assault during a football match between Albania and Israel this past weekend.

Police said the arrests were made over the past 10 days and that the suspects had planned “synchronized terror attacks,” without going into further detail.

“They were planning to commit terrorist attacks in Kosovo and also [an attack] against [the] Israeli football team and their fans during the Albania-Israel match,” Kosovo police said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that weapons, explosives, ammunition and a drone were seized during the sweep.

The police said the suspects were communicating and receiving orders from an Islamic State member, Lavdrim Muhaxheri, the self-declared “commander of Albanians in Syria and Iraq.”

Last week, a Kosovo court ordered seven of the suspects detained for a month while the investigation continued. The seven belonged to one network that notably planned to attack a stadium in the northern Albanian town of Shkodra during the country’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Israel last Saturday, according to media reports.

Police said at the time that they were plotting “terrorist attacks” with their counterparts from Albania and Macedonia against the same targets in the two countries.

According to local media reports, the network in Kosovo consists of around 30 members and is a branch of a wider group in Albania and Macedonia, of which some remained at large. 

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Kosovo holds Islamist suspects over plot to attack Israel soccer match

Via Times of Israel:

A Kosovo court on Friday ordered seven people suspected of plotting Islamist terrorist attacks to be detained for a month, officials said, as media reports said they planned to attack a weekend football match involving Israel.
 

The order follows a series of arrests in Kosovo and neighboring Albania and Macedonia in which a total of 15 suspected Islamic extremists have been detained.

The seven belonged to one network that notably planned to attack a stadium in the northern Albanian town of Shkodra during the country’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Israel on Saturday, media reported.

The match will now be held in the central town of Elbasan for “security reasons.”

Earlier this week Israel said the Islamic State group had been planning attacks in the Balkans and specifically warned its citizens not to attend the upcoming Israel-Albania football match.

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