On Monday, News12 reporter Amit Segal suggested that while President Trump’s for relocating the Gaza multitudes to Jordan and Egypt could seriously destabilize both countries, there were other options, such as Indonesia, which we reported ten days ago (Trump’s Envoy Considering Gazan Migration to Indonesia), and Albania.
Segal also suggested that if the Albanians would object to hosting 100 thousand Gaza Arabs on their soil, Trump would do to them what he did to Colombia the other day, imposing tariffs on their coffee for refusing to take in planeloads of illegal migrants from the US. The Colombians cried Uncle.
I’m including here the Albanian reply to Segal’s assertion, but do stay with the story to the end, it’s fascinating.
I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time—and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true.
Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the medieval horrors of October 7. But let me be clear: Albania has not been asked by anyone, nor can we even consider to take on any such responsibility.
We are proud of our strong friendships with Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and, of course, the Palestinian people, whose state Albania recognized a very long time ago.
But Albania is not in the Middle East itself, and from the heart of Europe, we cannot do more than any other European country in such a matter. Yet, we wish and pray that the Palestinian people are given the chance to live in their own state, as free people under democratic rule, and that Hamas will never again be able to harm Israel—or, first and foremost, the Palestinians themselves.
I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time—and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true.
Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the… pic.twitter.com/tc5YgC3ds6
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) January 27, 2025
I must say, for the leader of a European Islamic country who is working hard on getting Albania into the EU, PM Rama delivered a magnificent response, checking all the boxes and coming across as rational and sane.
SO, WHY DID AMIT SEGAL COME UP WITH HIS BIZARRE SCOOP?
On January 16, Reuters reported that Albania’s government had granted strategic investor status to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to build a luxury resort on a vacant Mediterranean island that used to be an Albanian military base. As you recall, Kushner served as a top aide to Trump during his first presidential term.
Reuters also reported that last year, Kushner revealed plans to develop a tourist resort in Zvernec, in southern Albania. This initiative is part of a broader investment by Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, in the Balkans, which also includes a project on Sazan Island, off the Albanian coast, and another at a former military headquarters in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
Now, here’s the zinger: a 2023 census revealed that Albania’s population stands at 2,402,113, which is a huge decline from the 2,821,977 recorded in 2011. Key factors driving this demographic shift include declining fertility rates and increased emigration, both of which contribute to ongoing population challenges.
Projections suggest that Albania’s population will continue to shrink over the next decade, depending on migration trends and fertility rates. Currently, the country’s population density is 83.6 inhabitants per square kilometer.
The population density in the Gaza Strip is 6,024 per square kilometer.
In other words, Albania could compensate for its 10-year loss of 400,000 inhabitants with eager Gaza migrants and Gaza would still remain an incredibly dense place.
We never doubted you, Amit Segal!
