Today marks 30 years since the beginning of Srebrenica genocide when from 11th July 1995 until the end of the month 8372 men and boys were brutally murdered, buried, unburied, moved, buried again and moved to the tertiary mass graves by the Serb nationalists after the UN soldiers let them walk in into the "safe zone" they were "protecting" full of refugees. Around 15000 men didn't want to wait to be executed embarking on a 100km long ourney through the forests to get to the nearest unocupied area. 8372 were slaughtered.
Today 7 victims will be buried, one of the victims will have only 2 jaw bones laid down in the ground because those 2 bones are the only bones that have been found. Many mothers, sisters, daughters, are still searching, hoping for even one bone to be found.
As some perpetrators rot away in prison serving life sentences, and Srebrenica remains the worst wound in post-WW2 history, as genocide denial keeps coming from certains politicians both in Bosnia and Serbia and denial is a participation in that genocide, and as UN keeps apologizing every year for their failure to protect the people, as thousands survivors, children of the murdered, and people from all around the world gather every year to take a walk through those very forests, walking those same paths to honor the victims on a Peace march, and thousands gather on 11th July in Potočari to honor the victims, I can't help but think how in 30 years the reality of mothers of Srebrenica will also be the reality of people of Gaza.
So please, read about what happened in Srebrenica (it has to be undrestood in the broader context of Bosnian genocide) and try to help in any way you can to the people of Gaza today. The youngest victim in Srebrenica was just a few hours old. We have been watching the same events unfold in Gaza for too long now. Srebrenica massacre wasn't silent either, Europe just didn't want to hear it.
Here is the web page of the Memorial Center where you can read about the timeline of the events in July 1995, about the aftermath, investigations and the trials of the perpetrators.
United Nations also have a page dedicated which is almost a joke considering they abandoned those people... where you can find some useful videos and a very comprehensive timeline of the events with videos from July 1995 and from the trials in Hague.
Another useful website where I recomend reading survivors' stories
Some documentaries are available on youtube, please watch at least the first one: 1 2 3
Last year UN finally adopted a Resultion on Srebrenica Genocide. On the table before, it did not pass because of Russia's veto. Controversial president of Serbia who is fighting tooth and nail to supress students and the whole country really rising against him (as they should) argued and keeps telling his people that the text is calling out their entire nation as being genocidal. It is not. It is directed at those who did commit genocide, but the denial of the text and offense of people in Serbia starting with their politicians can be read as a denial and therefore participation in the genocide. I hope the students protesting the regime, young people like me, are willing to move forward in peace understanding that no one is blaming them for anything but that it is their burden to learn and it is their burden to break out of the spiral of evil and crime of the regime.
Here is what NY Times wrote today, 30 years later.
Finally, every year Srebrenica Inferno is performed at Potočari. Even if the text is in Bosnian language I believe the chilling pain will still reach you. Here is a performance from 2023
Once again, I hope everyone can find a way to think and help the people of Gaza because this will be their reality in 30 years. It is their reality now. It's fascinating that we, meaning human species, haven't yet learned that you can't make a nation on the backs and suffering of another. You can't build a happy future with the blood of thousands.
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