{"id":24840,"date":"2026-09-08T12:19:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/?p=24840"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:21:12","slug":"from-kruje-to-himare-fires-fuelled-the-narrative-blaming-israelis-without-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/from-kruje-to-himare-fires-fuelled-the-narrative-blaming-israelis-without-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"From Kruj\u00eb to Himar\u00eb, fires fuelled the narrative blaming Israelis without evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBlessed city of Kruj\u00eb, welcome, welcome Israel, it is coming like a disguised drone to scorch the motherland,\u201d the account<\/a> \u201cKthetrat\u201d wrote on 29 August on social network X, sharing footage of a fire in the Kruj\u00eb area.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recorded incident itself was real, but it was not linked to Israeli nationals, let alone to arson committed by them. The large fire was r<\/a>eported<\/a> on 29 August between Kroi i Madh and the village of Cudhi in Kruj\u00eb, and the report did not identify the cause or any suspect. In the post<\/a>, these fires were attributed to Israelis, without any evidence being presented to support the claim.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Amfora\u2019s monitoring, the same profile shared at least 110 posts between 7 August and 3 September, many of which linked fires from the north to the south of the country to Israelis, speculating<\/a> about their interests<\/a> in mines<\/a>, in the \u201c<\/a>Mountain Package\u201d<\/a> and using the phrase \u201cIsraelis are burning Albania…\u201d, to which the location<\/a> of the fire was added depending on the case<\/a>. This was a trend that was also amplified by other accounts and pages on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tourism experts, the repetition of narratives that blame foreign nationals for fires or other events without evidence \u2014 in this case Israelis \u2014 may also affect perceptions of Albania as a safe destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRhetorical language or conspiracy theories that attribute responsibility for fires to specific groups or nationalities, including Israeli visitors or investors, have an immediate and quite negative impact on perceived safety,\u201d tourism expert Zak Topuzi told Amfora. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli tourists framed as arsonists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwenty-four hours before Dajti was engulfed in flames, a group of Israelis visited the area from end to end…\u201d, \u201cVatani News\u201d wrote in an Instagram post<\/a>, sharing photos of several people as they moved around Mount Dajti and the cable car area. The publication received 1,500 likes, 277 comments and 212 shares, effectively \u201cpinning\u201d suspicion of arson on Israeli tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVatani News\u201d presents itself<\/a> as an information channel that, to date, has published content<\/a> about fires in Albania with emotional and questioning headlines<\/a>, in whose comment sections unsupported accusations against Israelis have appeared, while the channel itself has previously targeted them. This is now a widespread global narrative, with hundreds of posts on social media portraying Israelis as responsible for fires in Lebanon<\/a> and elsewhere, even though they contain no verified facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amfora.al reviewed the State Police\u2019s public statements and 24-hour summaries for the period 1 July\u201331 August 2026 concerning suspected perpetrators of arson. In cases where individual details were provided, those detained, arrested or subject to criminal proceedings for arson were identified only as individuals residing in Albania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the national summary<\/a> of 14 July, the State Police announced that 29 people had been arrested or subject to criminal proceedings as suspected perpetrators of arson, while in notices concerning the cases in Mirdit\u00eb<\/a> and Himar\u00eb<\/a>, the suspects were identified as residing in Albania and none was presented by the police as a foreign national.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the \u201csuspicions\u201d and insinuations reached international profiles, including on social network X. On 6 September, the \u201cRabbi Jeff\u201d account posted<\/a> footage of the fires in Himar\u00eb, writing that a large group of Israeli tourists was in the area and that there had previously been tensions with local residents, before asking: \u201cCoincidence?\u201d. The post drew a sizeable audience, with around 209,000 views, 11,000 likes, 4,000 reposts and more than 500 replies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This account presents itself as the official backup profile of \u201cParody Jeff\u201d, a channel<\/a> that Amfora identified on 26 August as one of the main spreaders of the false claim that a burnt electrical cabin in Vlor\u00eb was an \u201cAirbnb\u201d that had been set on fire after the owner evicted Israeli soldiers. The two posts repeat the same framing, linking fires in Albania to the presence of Israelis through insinuation, without presenting evidence of their responsibility; X has now closed the other account, \u201cParody Jeff\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrative seen during this year\u2019s hot summer appears to have been circulating since the beginning of the year, when, on 13 January, the page \u201cLibri Komenti\u201d posted<\/a> on Facebook a video of a protest bearing the caption: \u201cZionism out of Chile, out of Argentina and out of Latin America\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201dScreenshots\u201d<\/em><\/em> from posts on social media<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The video, shared in Albanian, was accompanied by the description: \u201cHow do you explain this protest? Could the same thing have happened with the fires in Albania? If you have Israelis in your country, you are at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of protesters in Argentina and Chile are demanding the expulsion of Israelis and the severing of ties with the Zionist terrorist entity, after Israeli tourists were allegedly suspected of setting forest fires in Argentina and Chile,\u201d the post concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For experts, the amplification of such claims may influence both individual decisions to travel to Albania and the response of tour operators. According to Zak Topuzi, the Israeli market is highly sensitive to issues of personal safety and media amplification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch language not only diminishes the willingness of individual visitors to travel to Albania, but may also lead to travel advice being reviewed by central tourism agencies or to mass cancellations by tour operators,\u201d Topuzi told Amfora. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another expert in the field warns that, if the narrative linking Israelis to fires grows and is repeated in the future, it could affect how communities perceive these visitors and create problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf too much emphasis is placed on this element, it could trigger a reaction among ordinary members of the community because of what is being discussed in relation to Israelis,\u201d said Brunilda Li\u00e7aj, a lecturer in tourism at Aleksand\u00ebr Moisiu University in Durr\u00ebs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cScreenshots\u201d from monitored posts on social media <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These cases are emerging at a time when the number of visitors from Israel to Albania is increasing. According to the Ministry<\/a> of Tourism, Culture and Sport, in May 2026 the number of visitors from Israel rose by 48% compared with the same month a year earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, there are no public data linking the spread of these narratives to a decline in the number of Israelis choosing to visit Albania. However, according to experts, in such situations transparent communication supported by official data from state institutions and the private sector remains essential.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccusatory language or assumptions without legal grounds should be avoided, leaving the investigation of the causes to the justice authorities,\u201d said expert Zak Topuzi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topuzi also highlighted the need for a direct warning system during emergencies, to inform residents and tourists in high-risk areas in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlbania should implement the European \u2018EU-Alert\u2019 directive by activating the \u2018Cell Broadcast\u2019 protocol nationwide, linked to Civil Protection,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wildfire situation in Albania was widely circulated across domestic and foreign channels, linking Israeli tourists, without facts or evidence, to the large-scale burning of forests from north to south, which so far has also threatened towns such as Kruj\u00eb and Himar\u00eb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fires that swept across Albania during the summer were accompanied by a wave of posts linking them, without evidence, to Israeli tourists and nationals. The claims were repeated from Kruj\u00eb to Himar\u00eb, while official data do not support this link and tourism experts warn that such narratives could damage perceptions of Albania as a safe destination. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":24841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3895],"tags":[4511,10999,10895,10998,11004,11006,11005,10985,10988,10996,10991,10741,11008,10993,10747,10983,11000,10975,10898,10994,10888,10892,10986,10893,10976,10992,11007,11012,10990,11003,10995,10745,10982,10987,11010,11011,10977,10746,10981,10997,10751,10978,11001,10980,10979,10984,11009,10989,10974,10887,11002],"class_list":["post-24840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis-en","tag-albania-3","tag-albanian-state-police","tag-anti-israel-narratives","tag-arson-allegations","tag-brunilda-licaj","tag-cell-broadcast","tag-civil-protection","tag-conspiracy-theories","tag-content-amplification","tag-dajti","tag-digital-media","tag-disinformation","tag-eu-alert","tag-facebook","tag-fact-checking","tag-false-claims","tag-fire-investigations","tag-forest-fires","tag-hate-speech","tag-himare","tag-instagram","tag-israel","tag-israel-related-narratives","tag-israeli-citizens","tag-israeli-tourists","tag-kruje","tag-kthetrat","tag-libri-komenti","tag-media-monitoring","tag-ministry-of-tourism-culture-and-sport","tag-mirdite","tag-misinformation","tag-online-misinformation","tag-online-narratives","tag-parody-jeff","tag-rabbi-jeff","tag-safe-destinations","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-narratives","tag-southern-albania","tag-tirana","tag-tourism","tag-tourism-experts","tag-tourism-in-albania","tag-travel-safety","tag-unverified-claims","tag-vatani-news","tag-viral-posts","tag-wildfires","tag-x","tag-zak-topuzi"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t