Srebrenica Genocide Ann. Warrants Awakening of Muslim Conscience
By:Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer
In our age of so-called scientific progress of satellites, cyberspace, and DNA testing, facts continue to be ignored while fictions such as the holocaust myth that was coined by the Zionists for occupation of Palestine, is commemorated as more than a ritual, with no questions asked and academic probe strictly prohibited.
The UN has also been burdened with this non-event and forced to turn a blind eye to ground realities, especially those concerning Muslims, like the unabated almost 80-year long genocide of the Palestinians, or the mass massacre in a single day of 8,000 Bosniaks by the sadistic Serbs in Srebrenica on 11th July 1995.
The supposedly Christian West, which in fact is far removed from the teachings of Jesus and claims to be secular and democratic, has a step-motherly attitude towards Europe’s native Muslims, whose remains continue to be unearthed from mass graves 27 years after the horrible holocaust in Srebrenica.
Last Monday, the small mountain town in southwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina came alive as mourners descended from the farthest corners of the country to pay respect at the graves of the martyrs and to bury the newly discovered corpses.
They recalled the ghastly scenes of 11th July 1995 when thousands of Bosnian Muslims who were trying to escape the bloodthirsty hordes of Serb warlord Ratko Miladic, were slaughtered like animals.
In the words of Dr. Fathima Klempic-Dautbasic, who was fortunate to be among the few women survivors of the genocide, “uncles, aunts, cousins, their sons, and even grandfathers were killed. The scene was like a hunting chase, and we were the animals that were being chased.”
She recounted some aspects of this unpardonable crime at the international conference dubbed “Heroines of Srebrenica” which opened at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre.
At the same time, the symposium titled “Headscarves of Mothers” was opened, at which numerous mothers and daughters of victims, along with public figures, donated headscarves to the gathering as symbols of the dignity and chastity of Europe’s indigenous Muslim women.
It is worth recalling that the Islamic Republic of Iran had spared no efforts in those days to the help the Bosnian Muslims, even providing them with means of defence in collaboration with Turkey and a few other Muslim countries, in order to blunt the onslaught of the heavily armed Serb militias.
Currently, in commemoration of the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Tehran is hosting a special exhibition at Niavaran palace to acquaint the public of the dimensions of this unforgettable tragedy.
The Srebrenica catastrophe was the biggest massacre in Europe since World War II. Although the UN Security Council had announced Srebrenica a safe haven in the year 1993 and the UN forces were stationed in this city, the Serb militias were not prevented from occupying this Muslim city and cold-bloodedly slaughtering the people.
Amid this carnage, the Dutch peacekeeping forces stationed in the region took no measures to save the lives of Muslim civilians. The indifference of European states toward this human catastrophe remains questionable.
All the three fact-finding committees which were formed after termination of the war held the European Union and the UN responsible for the massacre of Muslims in Srebrenica.
This is indeed an indelible blot on the conscience of the West and should make world Muslims realize that they cannot trust these so-called international bodies.
It is still not too late for world Muslims to wake up and close ranks in order to prevent similar genocides in other parts of the world, rather than misplacing their trust in the UN and the big powers.