Alić warns of dangerous narrative that Muslims in BiH should be treated as Israel treats Palestinians

(Patria) - "Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Pitfalls and Triggers for Growing Suspicion" is the topic of today's regular session of Krug 99, with Professor Sead Alić, PhD, a writer living and working in Croatia.

Alić says that newspaper articles and web portals in Croatia, as well as in the entire region, are currently producing what they want to prevent.

- There is increasing talk about the strengthening of the right in Croatia, about the strengthening of NDH ideas and the Ustasha movement. Croatia is being pushed towards the status of a state dominated by fascism in every way. It's an exaggeration, but also indicative - Alić believes.

According to him, the singer Marko Perković Thompson and his wartime and post-war works are used as a basis for assessing the entire country and all its citizens.

- The 'concerned' pointing of fingers at Thompson was the basis for an even stronger connection between anti-fascists (who forgot to warn the Jewish Community of Zagreb that they must distance themselves from fascist crimes in Palestine) and the Jewish Community of Zagreb, which, instead of accepting Thompson's distancing from NDH crimes as a platform for its own activity, poured fuel on the fire with letters and initiatives - Alić points out.

He assesses that a trap (a matrix for generating guilt) has been set, into which more and more media, politicians, and citizens are falling.

- With Boris Havel from Sarajevo, now a professor at FPZ in Zagreb, the process of portraying Bosniaks as followers of Nazi ideology was initiated. According to this 'storyteller among scientists', Bosniaks are to blame for the conflicts between Bosniaks and Croats because they 'read jihadist literature'.

On these shaky foundations, Mirjana Kasapović (born in Sarajevo, also at FPZ in Zagreb today) added her attempt to speak about the character of Bosnian Muslims based on the Palestinian El Huseini (Mufti of Jerusalem) and the attempts of BiH Muslims to defend themselves against Chetnik massacres (during World War II) with weapons they would obtain by forming a division that would not be controlled from Zagreb but from Berlin - said Alić.

He emphasizes that Nazism and fascism must be condemned (wherever they appeared and wherever they appear), but the attempt to Nazify a nation by linking it to the activities of Palestinians who, during his lifetime, fought against the colonization of Palestine seeking help from all sides, must also be condemned.

- In all of this, one can recognize the ink of an evangelical-Protestant-Israeli attempt to impose policies on Croatia and BiH, and by undermining conversation and dialogue, to open space for the realization of their own interests.

Havel started it, Mirjana Kasapović continued it, Milorad Dodik turned it into a dangerous political game. Marin Miletić became a fundamental fanatic of that idea. RTV HB hosts Havel as a saint of a new political alliance.

The aluminum dome of Rabbi Kabiri (enabled by unknown elements of political bargaining) is increasingly present in creating friction in the relations between Croats and Bosniaks - said Alić.

He stresses that processes are occurring that can bring a lot of trouble, and he cited the Judaization of anti-fascism as the first of them.

- This is an attempt to recognize only that anti-fascism which does not problematize the issue of Israeli crimes in Gaza, i.e., Israel as a state of racism and apartheid. A climate is being created in which every fight against every fascism must receive approval from some Jewish community.

The goal, of course, is to prevent the identification of fascist and Nazi elements in Israel's racism.

We must fight for an open, public, daily confrontation with tendencies of fascism and Nazism wherever they appear, because these tendencies have not been defeated, but have continued to live their new version in the guise of a chosen people - says Alić.

Regarding the Israelization of Bosnian Muslims, which he cited as one of the processes, he says it is an attempt to justify Israeli policy by building a political platform according to which BiH Muslims should be treated as Israel treats Palestinians.

- So, first, teach the world that they 'read jihadist literature', then call them terrorists, then Nazis, then enemies of Jews, then link their advocacy for a unified, indivisible, and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Palestinians' attempt to survive in their state by resisting ethnic cleansing, then include them in the global Zionist project of producing Islamophobia, and finally get the green light to steal territory according to the Israeli recipe (provoke, punish, seize) - says Alić.

As the next process, he mentioned the use of the genocide against Jews in World War II to prevent criticism of Israel and to blackmail local politics.

- Jewish theorist Norman Finkelstein clearly wrote and spoke loudly about the 'Holocaust industry', as another killing of Jews using their victimhood for the Zionist movement.

Garaudy wrote long ago about elevating the fact of the genocide against Jews to the level of religious dogma (which one cannot write critically about, or verify).

Today, the Holocaust is a dogmatic religious concept. The genocide against Jews happened, but it is not a religion, and one must be able to discuss it.

Today, any comparison of what the IDF is doing with the Holocaust is grounds for excommunicating new Spinozas from social life. That is unacceptable - Alić believes.

He also mentioned the use of the label 'anti-Semitism' to punish critical thought and to unimpeded conquer political, media, and economic space.

- The word 'anti-Semitism', which linguistically and historically has no justification, has today become merely a propaganda label used to turn critics into scarecrows. This term is used to label attitudes, formulations, individuals, and if necessary, even nations that do not accept and justify Israel's crimes.

Institutions and individuals in BiH (as well as in Croatia) are afraid of this label. Instead, I propose discussions on this topic and discussions about the fear instilled in the Bosnian public - said Alić.

Regarding the contamination of politics, culture, science, economy... in BiH, Croatia, and Serbia, he says that on the foundations of national divisions that arose with the breakup of Yugoslavia, the tactic of rekindling hatred from the time of aggression and war is being implemented.

- Based on the existence of a very small Jewish population in BiH, new guilt is being generated, and the historical context is being overemphasized and/or misinterpreted. The subsequent Nazification of BiH Muslims is happening.

Based on the sins of the NDH and the crimes in Jasenovac, a sense of guilt is being generated for the entire Croatian people. Based on Serbian 'Juden frei' policy during World War II, the Serbian political authorities today (by sending weapons to Israel) agree to participate in the genocide against Palestinians.

- There are barely visible but dangerous processes at play that are becoming leverage for some new arguments for separatism and the production of hate speech. Therefore, we must talk about it openly and critically - concluded Alić.