Suljagić: In the last seven days, the Srebrenica Memorial Center received at least 1,900 messages of threats, denial and provocations

(Patria) - The Srebrenica Memorial Center has received at least 1,900 messages and tweets of threats, denial of victims, provocations and glorification of war criminals in the last 7 days from fake and real profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We responded to all of this by talking about the victims, focusing on the stories of families, and working to prevent hate speech and populism on this important issue, said the director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Emir Suljagić, in a post on social media.

"Why? Because the most important thing we are working on is educating the generations to come. On that path, there is no 'competition' of great world tragedies, genocides and crimes; we have no fear whatsoever of talking about history in its entirety. Others are afraid of that. In fact, perhaps the most important thing is to share with you what we teach children when we teach them about Srebrenica? What do we explain to them when they come by bus on one-day excursions to this town?", Suljagić asks.

And he adds: "We teach them what hatred can produce. We teach them that words have consequences. We teach them that the existence of a political and military apparatus of power can very quickly and very efficiently destroy entire communities. Cut short lives, plans, families, destroy homes, stop stories, interrupt memories. We teach them that the silent consent of the majority is enough for that, and that from that moment things happen very quickly and almost unstoppably. We tell them about how Bosniak returnees live today in Srebrenica, Bratunac, eastern Bosnia. We tell them how their peers are coping in an education system that denies their identity, history and tradition. We tell them about the courage of women in our society, we explain to them how important it is to build a society of equality, tolerance and peace."

"We work with them to be brave, strong and loud. To know how to point out injustice, to know how to recognise the first signs of hatred - which tomorrow can give birth to new 'Srebrenicas'. That is what we want to convey to the whole world. We want to share the lessons of the nineties with communities in other places, at least where it is not yet too late. So, this story is not just a story about Srebrenica, about our proving the truth, or persistently returning to 1995. We proved the facts in courts. What we are talking about before the UN is an effort to make Srebrenica an example and a warning for others," Suljagić points out.

The director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center concludes: "I know you are tired. I know that for almost two months now, the story of Srebrenica has been filling the front pages again. But it is not we who produce the headlines. The topic was made of this by those who do not want children and the generations to come to learn something from our examples. Let us together close this chapter."