War service as justification for Igor Stojanović's Islamophobia: Dževad Galijašević was also in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, wasn't he?

By: Avdo Avdić

Yesterday I met Nedim. A war invalid of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the last year of the war, while fighting on Hrasno brdo, a shrapnel hit him in the chest and severed his pulmonary artery. One in a million people survive such a wound. Today he lives off his disability pension. Modestly and honorably. Because he posted his views on social networks, they call him a bot. Because he does not belong to the "leftist circles of Sarajevo" for whom it is acceptable for Franjo Šarčević to curse the mothers of those who disagree, but it is not acceptable when Nedim, without cursing mothers, proves the lies of the ruling liberals.

Nedim, therefore, is a bot. Franjo Šarčević – is not.

But when these "liberal-leftist" circles need a tool to defend Islamophobic statements made from a position of power, then the emblem of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a perfect weapon.

Igor Stojanović is the Vice President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Serb people. With his signature and that of the Croat Lidija Bradara, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was "appointed". Fighting, presumably, against the establishment of an "Islamic state" on "22 percent of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina", it was perfectly acceptable for Igor Stojanović to support the suspension of the Bosniak vote in the leadership of the Federation. Are there any Dina Mustafićs from Sarajevo-liberal circles who have condemned the one-day suspension of the Constitution and the at least four-year suspension of 400,000 Bosniak votes? No. They are saving their strength and words for the showdown with "Bosniak nationalism".

Igor Stojanović says that SDA advocates for the establishment of an Islamic state. Even if that were true, which it is not, does that mean people should be afraid of Islam? It is one thing when Stojanović and Sarajevo liberals confront SDA's crime, and another when they scare citizens with Islam.

What is the difference between the statement of SDA member Džafer Alić when he speaks of Serbs and Croats as tenants in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the statement of Igor Stojanović, who, following the example of Viktor Orbán, Dragan Čović, and the German CSU members, has started scaring citizens with "impending Islamization"? Essentially – there is no difference.

But the reactions that followed show that the International Community and its affiliated "social democratic" and "liberal" elite do not accept statements directed against Serbs and Croats, unlike those directed against Muslims. Because, you know, Igor has the right to scare citizens with Islamization, and Džafer does not have the right to scare people with Serbs and Croats, at least eighty percent of whom still consider Karadžić, Mladić, Praljak, and Prlić as heroes today.

When you criticize Džafer, you are a liberal. When you criticize Igor Stojanović, you are a "Bosniak nationalist". I don't know if Džafer was a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It doesn't matter. Because his statement is controversial and deserves every kind of condemnation. I know that Igor Stojanović was a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but that shouldn't matter either, because his statement is as dangerous as Džafer's.

If Igor Stojanović, because he was a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, today, along with Christian Schmidt, has the right to discriminate against 400,000 Bosniak votes, then why, for example, does the underage member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Asim Sarajlić, who was wounded twice, not have the right to trade influence within his party? Or does an army booklet in the hands of Serbs and Croats count more than an army booklet in the hands of Bosniaks?

Here's a short test. Do you know at what stage the trial of Atif Dudaković, the general who liberated the largest part of Bosnia and Herzegovina with his heavenly force, is? You don't know. Honestly, neither do I. But we all knew when every hearing of Dragan Vikić, also one of the symbols of the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was held. Before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, before every Vikić hearing, there were a dozen cameras and thirty citizens who came to support the hero. During that time, General Dudaković defends himself alone and in silence. And, to be clear, it's not a problem that hero Vikić had public and media support when they tried to tarnish his image through the state judiciary. The problem is that Atif Dudaković does not have the same support. Dragan is somehow more acceptable. And we take Atif for granted. Although that may not be an accurate conclusion either.

For example, Željko Komšić, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a Golden Lily of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Which means he contributed more to the defense of the country than many others, including Igor Stojanović. Yet, the Sarajevo "liberal" and "leftist" circles, gathered around various Mustafićs and Pašovićs, did not find it necessary to react to the bot-like and Trojka-like attacks on Komšić. Because, you know, Komšić does not fit into the new narratives, he warns about growing Islamophobia, and he did not agree to be part of the government that suspended the Bosniak representative for one day, and 400,000 Bosniak votes for at least four years. Igor Stojanović did the exact opposite of what Željko Komšić did. And Igor Stojanović received support.

In short, for the Sarajevo left, Igor Stojanović has the right to spread Islamophobia because he was in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Željko Komšić does not have the right to warn about Islamophobia even though he is a Golden Lily of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Asim Sarajlić's case is not justified by the fact that he was wounded twice as a minor soldier of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but for Igor Stojanović and Dragan Mioković, their membership in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a justification for everything.

Reis Husein Kavazović, as a former prisoner of war and one of the key figures in the Second Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, commanded by Željko Knez, is a "Bosniak nationalist", while Mioković and Stojanović cannot be Islamophobes because, well, they were in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But Dževad Galijašević was also a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Does that mean his Islamophobic views expressed on RTRS today should be tolerated? Does that mean his wartime army service is proof that he is still on the right side of Bosnian history?