There is no excuse for genocide, the responsible ones must be held accountable

Srebrenica stands as a stark example of genocide committed in the heart of Europe, facilitated by Western countries and overlooked by the United Nations. In this atrocity, 10,000 Bosniaks—men, women, children, young, and old—were massacred by racist Serb militants right before the world’s eyes. The Western world, historically and in this instance, served as both the financier and the onlooker of this genocide. The subsequent commendation of Dutch soldiers who, under the UN, handed innocent civilians over to Serb criminals highlights the complicity and true perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide. Western nations may shed crocodile tears and commemorate the victims on the anniversary of the genocide to mask their hypocritical stance, but they cannot conceal their role as the real culprits. 

The hypocritical stance of Western countries—proclaiming and imposing relative values like human rights, international law, and freedoms as universal—did not begin with Srebrenica and did not end there. Today, we see an even more severe, comprehensive, and ruthless genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza. Many Western countries, notably the USA, are providing all kinds of support to the Zionist terrorists perpetuating this genocide, including weapons, money, and propaganda. The genocide continues unabated. So far, 16,000 children and at least 10,000 women have been killed by Zionist terrorists. Residential areas, hospitals, healthcare workers, schools, universities, mosques, and churches have been destroyed. The entry of basic necessities like food and water into Gaza is blocked by the occupiers, causing Palestinians to die of hunger and thirst. 

As always, the West turns a blind eye to the genocide, giving today’s bloodthirsty Zionists more room to kill Palestinians. UN resolutions on Gaza are ignored, and efforts to prosecute the genocide in the International Criminal Court are obstructed. The USA openly threatens the judges overseeing the case against Israel, and European nations led by the UK, Germany, and France provide political, economic, and military support, revealing the true perpetrator of the genocide in Gaza, just as in Srebrenica. The wise leader Aliya Izetbegović warned, “A forgotten genocide is repeated.” As Memur-Sen, we believe his advice should be expanded: Any genocide whose perpetrators and supporters are not held accountable is repeated. 

Twenty-nine years have passed since the Srebrenica genocide. Yet 29 years later, another Muslim people, the Palestinians, are facing genocide. The perpetrators of Srebrenica were Serb racists and their supporting Western states. In Palestine, the murderers are Zionists, and their supporters are again Western states. It is chilling that the real perpetrators of these crimes against humanity are not held accountable.

We honor the memory of our Bosniak and Palestinian brothers martyred for their homeland.