Dr Sejad Mekic - Remembering the Srebrenica Genocide 25 years On

Dr Sejad Mekic, Imam of Cambridge Central Mosque

Today I live happily with my family in Cambridge, where I’m Imam of the new iconic Mosque on Mill Road. Listening and seeing today the school children’s powerful poems and songs, dramas and dances expressing empathy with victims of civil wars and genocides (where one group or several groups are being marked out and persecuted and murdered by another) takes me back to my childhood in early 1990s in a rather chilling way. 

 

When I was a child of school age there was a horrible war going on in my native land, Bosnia (a country in the middle of Europe). My family and I lived in central Bosnia, and not so close to the front line initially. A few months later, however, our family home was in no man's land, -  that's between the enemy’s lines - so we had to leave home and migrate to a nearby town where we lived with some of our relatives until it was safe to return to our own house. When we were leaving our house I remember arguing with my mum that I wanted to take with me more of my personal belongings, but she made me realise that we couldn't take with us everything we liked. We were taking only what's necessary and didn't have much time to choose. I also remember, and very well so, that in the first few months of the war the enemy planes flying over our house, day after day, intentionally flying low beneath the clouds in order to frighten our whole neighbourhood with a terrifying noise and a lowness that made houses shake and gave you the feeling that this may be for a bombing raid and could be the last day or night of your life. This terrifying ordeal happened continually and regularly making us, especially children, frightened and feeling insecure in our own homes.

 

This year we mark 25 years since the appalling massacre in Srebrenica, a town to the north east of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. In July 1995 over 8 thousand boys and men were brutally murdered in the town of Srebrenica. These innocent people, mostly civilians, lost their lives because they were Muslims. Srebrenica’s tragedy was not the killing of the military in battle-field, but rather targeting and executing a particular people in a systematic way, thus committing the crime of genocide.

 

It is appalling to know that the Holocaust (1933 to 1945) and the Bosnian genocide (1991 to 1995) took place in modern times in Europe, in the centre of a civilized world.

 

It is equally appalling to register, mark, isolate, humiliate, gather, transport and murder people anywhere on the globe just because they belong to a specific ethnic group, race or religion. The concept of racial ideology and hierarchy (when one race thinks it is superior and can destroy other races OR ethnic OR faith groups with the intention to eradicate them from their community) is a threat not only to the Jews of Europe, the Muslims of Bosnia and Kosova, Rwanda's Tutsis, Cambodia’s and Darfur’s citizens, but rather to the entire human race and a threat to world peace.

 

What can we learn? Many historians point out that genocide is a gradual process, the seeds of which are sown when social, cultural and religious differences are not celebrated, but rather used as reasons to exclude or marginalise. We all need to be aware that discrimination is the first step towards persecution.  I’m so impressed that the young people in Cambridge schools are being taught in such a dignified manner about previous genocides, - and most importantly of all – they, themselves, are sending us a very positive and caring message to our communities. What do we say, when we are asked how do we stop persecution, and abolish discrimination?

 

In the words of the great Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another human because of the colour of his skin, or his background or religion. Rather people learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than hate”. And so it is with fortitude and love that we can stand together to hold out a helping hand to our neighbour, our friend, our community. Hence, we must be always ready to combat hatred and intolerance and stand alongside the persecuted.

 

Also, we must remember the victims and the atrocities committed during genocides. Because part of the process of genocide is to deny the act of genocide. This is unfortunately our experience in Bosnia, including Srebenicia. By remembering genocides we pay respect and honour those who died, and also challenge those who not only wished to eradicate their existence when they were living, but also dishonour their memory in death, by denying genocide ever happened.

 

Indeed, without remembering we cannot hope to learn. Remembering the painful truths of the past is the key to our shared quest for a better future and a more tolerant world. Lessons from the Srebrenica genocide are indeed many and must go beyond ‘never again’. Srebrenica, like the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur, reminds us of the great importance of building peace and stability, and a culture of reconciliation and tolerance. 

 

As we together mark Holocaust Memorial Day this peaceful afternoon in the historic city of Cambridge, I urge you to stand together, to respect one another, and to celebrate our differences!