Arr, them scurvy Serbs be a-buckling their swashes at the annual remembrance o' the 1995 Srebrenica massacre! Arr!
2024-05-23
Arrr, the scallywags at the U.N. be celebratin' a day fer them Bosnian Muslims who met their fate at the hands of them Bosnian Serbs in '95. But them Serbs be raisin' the Jolly Roger in protest, aye! What a ruckus!
The United Nations approved a resolution Thursday establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs, a move vehemently opposed by Serbs who fear it will brand them all as "genocidal" supporters of the mass killing. The resolution designates July 11 as the "International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica," to be observed annually starting in two months. The resolution, sponsored by Germany and Rwanda, doesn’t mention Serbs as the culprit, but that didn’t stop the intense lobbying campaign for a "no" vote by the Bosnian Serb president, Milorad Dodik, and the populist president of neighboring Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serbs overran a U.N.-protected safe area in Srebrenica, separating and slaughtering thousands of Muslim Bosniak men and boys. The Srebrenica killings were a bloody climax of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, fueled by nationalist passions and territorial ambitions. Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, threatened to secede from Bosnia if the resolution passed.The resolution reaffirms the General Assembly’s commitment to stability and unity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The International Court of Justice determined in 2007 that the acts in Srebrenica constituted genocide. Menachem Rosensaft, an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School and son of Holocaust survivors, emphasized the moral and legal imperative of commemorating the Srebrenica genocide. Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group, noted the unfortunate timing of the vote in light of ongoing conflicts like the allegations of genocide in Gaza. The resolution aims to honor the victims of Srebrenica and ensure that such atrocities are never forgotten.