Đidić: Why is Bosnia and Herzegovina the only country not allowed to become a normal European state

(Patria) - Diplomat and publicist Fuad Đidić addressed the regular session of Krug 99 today as the introductory speaker on the topic "Abuse of the Holocaust for the purpose of dividing BiH".

Đidić's address is presented in full below.

"Today, we will discuss the instrumentalization or abuse of the Holocaust for political purposes.
We will also discuss its main protagonists.

We will pay special attention to BiH - what consequences this phenomenon leaves on us. Who are its main actors in BiH? How do they operate and what goals do they advocate for?

What is significantly new for BiH that the phenomenon of Holocaust instrumentalization has revealed?

Just as there is manipulation or instrumentalization of genocide for political purposes, so too does this phenomenon exist with regard to the Holocaust.

A victim, no matter where they are or where they come from, their fate is never left to itself. There is always an ideology, some abuse, behind the victim, behind the memory.

On this topic, we adopt the conclusions of the most renowned Jewish thinkers or journalists today, such as Gideon Levy or Omer Bartov. According to them, Netanyahu is the key creator of Holocaust manipulation for the purpose of achieving political gains and benefits. Maryam Merdiv from the International Crisis Group states the same.

The main protagonists we are talking about today are from Central European countries. These are countries like Poland, Hungary, Croatia... on whose territories there were open camps for Jews and on whose territories the Holocaust project was carried out.

How and under what circumstances have leaders from these countries become the most ardent "Zionists" in the past 10 years? However, what is particularly interesting for us in BiH is - how have they, with skillful diplomacy, created a historical inversion? How has the attention been turned to BiH, where the main culprit is being sought?

This is essentially about buying a "clean" past at the expense of shifting guilt onto the shoulders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or, more specifically, Bosniaks. Domestic protagonists such as Čović, Dodik, and Zovko are involved in this process of shifting guilt, and the most active external actors are Orban and Plenković.

We want to remind the public of the essence and meaning of the messages that Dodik sent from Jerusalem in July 2022, Čović in June 2022, Kitarović in January 2019, Orban in 2021 and 2018, regarding BiH, but especially about Bosniaks, which have latched onto diplomatic trade with Benjamin Netanyahu.

We have encountered a new phenomenon in our political life:

• the transformation of the issue of Muslims in BiH into a global issue - in talks with Netanyahu, Bosniaks were attributed "Militant Islam".

In line with this being a global phenomenon, drastic and adequate measures are called for. This thesis suits both sides in this diplomatic trade.

Netanyahu uses it to present himself as a defender of Europe against "radical Islam". Domestic actors, Čović and later Dodik from Jerusalem, each in their own way, sent messages that largely coincide.

They deny or compromise the rights of Bosniaks to have peaceful coexistence with others. Dodik states that "life with Muslims is impossible" and that "they are producing weapons for Hamas in Sarajevo," while Čović does so with much more diplomatic tact when leaving a message at the Western Wall that reads "Peace for my people and peace for your people," implying that this peace is threatened by their immediate neighbors. Of course, who else could it be but Bosniaks.

With these statements and the portrayal of Bosniaks on the world stage, Bosniaks are being isolated and drawn into conflict with the whole world, either as a disruptive factor or as a people with whom common life is impossible.

Both Dodik and Čović, as well as the entire Balkan entourage, instead of confronting the historical facts of genocide and the Holocaust in their own environments, will use visits to Jerusalem as a platform to further "wash" this history and shift the blame onto Muslims, with the ultimate goal of extracting benefits for themselves from this diplomatic trade.

At this session, we will discuss the controversies of Netanyahu's policy of Holocaust instrumentalization. I will illustrate this with numerous examples. I will also point out some reactions from Jewish organizations regarding this manipulation.

How Netanyahu sold pieces of Jewish history for political goals, Meryam Mardi from the International Crisis Group will explain.

We find the essence of the diplomatic trade, as Netanyahu framed it, in the following: "We will give you amnesty or encouragement for your plans to fragment BiH, and you will give us recognition of our territorial ambitions and support in the extermination of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip. We will even tolerate your 'anti-Semitism' as long as you are willing to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Muslims, which, after all, is not difficult for you.".

In the context of this topic, I find some reasons why Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country not allowed to become a normal European state, why the right of its citizens to declare themselves as citizens of BiH, i.e., as Bosnians, regardless of their ethnic origin, is so fiercely contested precisely here.

Only in the domestic workshop, which has the same "Muslim militant" kitchen, could the scientific term "Greater Bosniak state project or Greater Bosniak fundamentalism" be concocted.

The division of the country is not a new phenomenon. It is a long-proclaimed aspiration of national leaders. What is new and previously unknown here, however, is how the protagonists of the country's division very skillfully use the global political scene for their goals through diplomacy.

In "diplomatic trade" with the leader of Israel, their goals are to revise the historical past and shift historical guilt onto Bosniaks in BiH. Therefore, it is no longer about division, but about finding the main, historical culprit for that division.

Where is our vision? Where is our way out of this diplomatic blockade and this "political ghetto," whose true author is Benjamin Netanyahu with domestic protagonists?

On this occasion, I want to reiterate that we in BiH must have the bravest people of today by our side. Here, I am primarily thinking of people from the Jewish people. Their intellectuals.

We heard their brave voice during the past 480 days of genocide in Gaza. They are the ones who convinced us that they are the conscience of humanity. One of them was also the introductory speaker at the Krug 99 session.

They spoke when many were silent. We need them today. Perhaps, more than ever before. In the most difficult days of this country's destiny, we had such people by our side who were then the voice of humanity's conscience.

Jewish intellectuals such as Bernard-Henri Lévy, Ron Haviv, Samantha Power, Christiane Amanpour... left indelible marks on our destinies in BiH. We needed their brave voice then. And we are grateful to them today.

Today, however, we need people like Aaron Mate, we need Gideon Levy, Raz Segal, Ilan Pappé, we need Omer Bartov, Norman Finkelstein... Mearsheimer, Blumenthal, and so many others from this constellation.

We need their inspiration in courage, in clear speech, in naming the culprit. For this reason, they speak today on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as human history.

We are deeply aware that "for the victims of the Holocaust, there is no greater insult than to exploit their memories for the sake of any politics."

Just as we are deeply aware that the victims of genocide in BiH never need any politics in the memories of their shadows.

On this rests our consistent attitude and deep respect for all victims of this unique and immeasurable crime in human history.