Remembering Srebenica
A beautiful remembrance for Srebenica took place at Dewsbury Town Hall, with People from across the UK alongside members of the Syrian, Afghan, Indian, Pakistani, Ukrainian, Nigerian, Kurdish, Jewish & Polish communities standing in solidarity with the Bosnian community to remember the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by the Serbian army.
The event was organised by 6 Million Plus a charity in Kirklees that express stories of the Holocaust, genocides and contemporary persecution. The event was also supported by the national Charity Remembering Srebenica who aim to keep the memory of this event alive.
Every year, Remembering Srebrenica selects a theme that reflects an aspect of the genocide that needs to be commemorated, but also speaks to communities here in the UK.
The theme for 2022 is ‘Combatting Denial: Challenging Hatred’ the reason for this is that denial of the Srebrenica genocide as well as the crimes against humanity committed across Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 to 1995 remains prevalent amongst individuals and institutions at the highest levels, including the Mayor of Srebrenica, the current political leadership of Republika Srpska and Serbia as well as Russia which vetoed a UN resolution in 2015 to condemn the killings at Srebrenica as a genocide.
It feels more important than ever before to challenge those who would seek to divide communities, using fake news and denial of historical events to push their own agendas.
It was a great honour to be asked to photograph the event, I am hugely grateful to 6 Million Plus for the opportunity and would like to thank everyone who took part and attended for displaying such a powerful sense of community, connection and solidarity.
The event began outside with the offering of bread to ‘Hava’ the weeping sister of Srebenica - 10 different types of bread were offered up by representatives of different communities along with the words “we bring hope - we bring bread” This was followed by a musical performance by Sanja Cin followed by some powerful speeches given by Riad Terzic a Bosnian survivor of the war, a drama performance by 6 Milllon Plus and a performance of song by Emira Husarevic who is also an amazing artist - Emira painted a view of Mostar bridge and a portait of ‘Hava’ especially for the event.
Children from Carlton School took part in the proceedings and did a wonderful performance with Sanja Cin towards the end of the event which was closed with a prayer for all of those who lost their lives in the Srebenica massacre.
History shows us just how easily things can spin out of control. Communities torn apart by prejudice and hate. We have to continue to challenge discrimination in all its forms - feel it in your heart, speak out and act!