Morton Abramowitz, a legendary diplomatic figure and in a historic surprise adviser to the Kosovar delegation in Rambouillet, died at the age of 91. Kosovo had the great fortune of being touched by his light
By Veton SURROI
 1.
Morton Abramowitz in his 91 years of life has entered and left the Synagogue only once.
That’s what the rabbi who serves in the Synagogue says, he should know.
Family and friends know it, almost everyone who gathered at the last service before the funeral. And we all laugh. If I believed in life after death I could imagine how Morty himself laughs the most inside the coffin. The first and last time he entered the Synagogue is this, inside the coffin, not so much by his will.
And, as those who know him, family and friends point out, it takes something very special for this to happen to the son of an Orthodox Jewish family from Lithuania who came to New Jersey, from where he left for the other coast of America, in California, to study international relations.
Someone once told him that he cannot escape from religion, especially from Judaism, and he argued with his children, “Are you saying our dog also belongs to Judaism?”.
2.
Who is this Abramović, of Slavic origin, asked one of the members of the Kosovo delegation in Rambouillet, when he saw the official list of the Kosovo delegation that was handed over to the French organizers?
The questioner had not heard of him, although he became particularly well-known in the interviews and statements broadcast by “Voice of America” ​​during the crisis of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. Morton Abramowitz became a critical voice of the US administration, demanding protection for the victims of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And then also in Kosovo.
Actually, there wasn’t just one Abramowitz, there were two. His wife, Sheppie, became famous when, as the wife of the American ambassador to Thailand, she became involved with Cambodian refugees persecuted by the Khmer Rouge dictatorship. Earlier, while they were in Hong-Kong, he was committed to the Vietnamese refugees. Later, when he established the office of the IRC (an organization that many Kosovars will remember from their time as a refugee) in Washington, he will take Richard Holbrooke by the arm and take him to Bosnia-Herzegovina – still without receiving any assignment. about this crisis – to see the humanitarian horror that was happening during that war.
When Mort Abramowitz talked about the next crisis or what was happening right now somewhere in the world, official Washington listened attentively to the voice of this now-retired diplomat, but also to the voice of an activist for the rights of the persecuted – all of whom already were convinced of his empathy for the victims, but even more of why the US, with its own power, can and should intervene to save lives. And why this is in the American strategic interest.
This is the case with the Kurds. Morti was one of the biggest friends that Turkey had in Washington. Whatever happened in Ankara, which was criticized in the American press – and I know this firsthand, from conversations with him – he would take all the elements into consideration, but in the end he would repeat that the US must stands by Turkey, a power that is surrounded by so many geopolitical problems, and yet remains NATO’s most powerful ally.
When the first Iraq war broke out, Mort Abramowitz as ambassador in Ankara took advantage of the visit of then-Secretary of State Baker, took him to the border with Iraq to see with his own eyes the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing the war, and in that moment was born the idea of ​​declaring a no-fly zone over Iraqi Kurdistan, a turning point that saved the Kurds from genocide and created the foundations of a functional (though not yet independent) Kurdish within Iraq.
3.
I met Mort during his advocacy for Bosnia-Herzegovina as the head of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, where from the mid-nineties of the last century I spoke to the American diplomatic and political audience about the next crisis, that of Kosovo. Around the same time he came up with the idea of ​​founding the International Crisis Group, an important non-governmental organization dedicated to the prevention of wars. I almost never went to Washington, and in the period 1997-1998 this happened extremely often – in every season several times – that we did not sit together with other friends to analyze the situation in the Balkans and that in Washington – because in the end the match between the developments in these two would reach a solution.
Morty always had a boyish smile that conveyed his fine sense of humor even when talking about more serious topics, such as genocides in the making or those taking place. And I didn’t know if it was a joke or if he was serious when he told me that if I wanted he could come with us to Rambouillet. “Are you taking me?” he said with a gasp.
The answer was natural. A moment ago we agreed to ask Paul Williams, a constitutional expert, professor at the American University, and one of the men who withdrew from the US Government in protest of US inaction in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to be our legal adviser at Rambouillet. But I could not even imagine that I could ask to invite a man of his stature as an adviser to the Kosovo delegation.
Excited were dr. Rugova, dr. Bukoshi, dr. Agan. One of the disaffected asked at Rambouillet who this Slav was.
4.
The person who for years troubled his high-level friends in the State Department, Pentagon and Congress – “what are you doing in Kosovo?”, “what you are doing in Kosovo is only supporting Milosevic”, “you should threaten by force, and that threat must have teeth” – entered Rambouillet as a member of our delegation. He had amazing patience as he listened to our endless arguments in our hall at the Castle. As they translated for him, Paul Williams and Marc Weller, I noticed his gaze focused on the table, processing the information in his head; he was trying to understand for himself what was happening and he was also trying to formulate in the best way what is the position of Kosovo in these negotiations, in order to explain this to his friends in Washington, primarily Mrs. Albright, with with which he had a long-standing closeness.
We needed his word as a double seal of faith. Some of us who had credibility in America, in the last two years had tried very hard to convince the administration that the KLA was not a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla fighting for a Kosovo of an undemocratic order (and it was not easy, with the initial labeling of “terrorism”, the fist salute and the political vocabulary of Enver Hoxha’s time). His speech, which would describe a delegation trying to build an unprecedented consensus, was weighty to overcome any prejudice for the Kosovar delegation. And, his word, that the USA will respect or not the agreement we were making with them, would have the weight of a seal for the responsible part of the delegation.
The delegation of Albanian-Americans, who came with Senator McConell to visit us in the Castle, were told (almost given the task) to make sure with the American administration that the agreement that I signed on behalf of the delegation does not change in any substantive way. “This is now our word towards Kosovo”, said Morti.
And, this was then repeated by Secretary Albright and by President Clinton. A policy he had advocated for since the mid-nineties – to prevent possible genocide in Kosovo – had already taken official form.
5.
The Rabbi said that Mort Abramowitz was one of the best Jews, even though this was his first and last time in the Synagogue. And explained, in the rabbinic tradition, why.
On the holy Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the candles of the Menorah (tenant holders of religious tradition) are lit. The question that occupied the rabbinical debates was whether the candles should be lit from the first to the eighth (how long are the days of Hanukkah) or from the eighth to the first. The debates have lasted (and yes, there is an answer and it is not important for this narrative), but the ninth candle, which is called Shamash, has been forgotten in the debate. He is the candle that serves to light the other eight, and his place is slightly more exalted than the eight. The name of this candle means “servant” and carries the symbolism of the servant who brings light to others.
Such was Morton Abramowitz to relatives, associates, friends, persecuted, peoples. While leaving the Synagogue for the cemetery, I felt the prosperity of being touched by the light of this Shamash, a light that also shone for Kosovo.
