Anti-Bosniak sentiment

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Anti-Bosniak sentiment is a view of suspicion, resentment, or hostility towards the Bosniak people, history and culture. It can be observed in both individual bigotry as well as organized discrimination and persecution of Bosniaks as an ethnic or cultural group. Although its roots as a social phenomenon can be traced back to the Ottoman period, the matter is particularly notable in modern times due to the ethnic-based conflicts of the Yugoslav wars, the greater international awareness of the region that resulted from them, and a noted increase in the prevalence of anti Islamic attitudes in much of the Western world[1] (Bosniaks are predominantly Muslim).

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[edit] Early roots (to 1878)

The earliest examples of anti-Bosniak sentiment can perhaps be found during the time of Ottoman rule, where Bosniaks suffered as a result of the religious fervor inspired by the empire's frequent clashes with non-Islamic states and peoples. The first major event examplifying this happened following the Austrian take-over of Ottoman controlled Lika in 1685. Prior to this, the region had been a part of the Bosnian administrative unit (eyalet), and housed a large Muslim population. With the Austrian conquest, 30,000 were forced to flee to Bosnia proper in the next two years alone.[2] Meanwhile, the 1,700 Muslims that remained were forcibly converted to Catholicism.[2] A similar situation simultaneously played out in Slavonia, and violence against and expulsion of Muslims by the Austrians would happen once again in 1718.[2]

The rise of nationalism in the region during the early 19th century led to significant ethno-religious tension within the empire itself. The discord and hatred subjugated peoples developed towards the Ottomans over the course of their struggles for independence in turn led to a sentiment of contempt and resentment against the area's slavic Muslims, who were generally equated with the Turkish overlords.[3]

Although individual Bosniaks historically played a significant role in the Ottoman imperial system, such sentiment led to numerous indiscriminate acts of persecution and violence against entire communities. For instance; while Serb revolutionaries in the first Serbian uprising initially indicated that they only intended to expel the occupying Ottoman officials and soldiers, the actual course of the nine year revolt instead amounted to what Serb historian Stojan Novaković described as "a general extermination of Turks from the populace."[3] Most notable was the take-over of Belgrade in 1807 where - alongside Greeks and Jews - many of the city's Bosniaks were killed, expelled, or forcibly converted.[3]

Further cases of Anti-Bosniakism would occur throughout the area during the remainder of the 19th century. In 1852 some 800 Bosniaks were forcibly converted to Christianity in Montenegro, while the 1860s saw the complete expulsion of the Bosniak population from Užice and Soko.[3] Numerous mosques were destroyed during this period and especially in large cities such as Belgrade, where by 1868, from a prior total of 80, only the Bajrakli Mosque remained.[4] From an estimated 1804 population of 20,000, it is believed that only several thousand Bosniaks remained in the Belgrade Pashaluk by 1874.[3]

[edit] World War II

During WWII, approximately 9% of the total Bosniak population were murdered by Chetniks, lead by Serb commander Draza Mihajlovic. In a letter to the Serb government in Belgrade, signed Draza Mihajlovic, it is written that: we have killed 5.000 Muslims in the ares around Foča and freed large parts of Bosnia, the men were instructed to only use knives in order to spare ammunition.

[edit] War in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995

Expelled Bosniak girl with family at arrival to Bosnian-held Travnik.
Expelled Bosniak girl with family at arrival to Bosnian-held Travnik.
Markale Massacres
Markale Massacres
Starved Bosniak men in Serb-operated concentration camp
Starved Bosniak men in Serb-operated concentration camp

During the almost 4 year long war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (By Bosniaks, generally considered an aggression) up to 200.000 Bosniak civilians were killed by armed Serb and Croat troops in what is known as the Bosnian Genocide, this figure corresponds roughly to a 8,1% of the total Bosniak population at the time. Tens of thousands of Bosniak women were also raped by Serbs forces.[5]

These deeds were largely motivated by hatred towards Bosniaks and their culture, often as a subgoal in the creation of Greater-Serbia and Greater-Croatia. The underlaying mentality or even explanation for the acts, noticeable among different parts of Croat and Serb populations, is the opinion that Bosniaks betrayed either Croats or Serbs with the arrival of the Ottoman empire and their acceptance of Islam. This gave the rise of a myth present among Croats and Serbs, that denies a separate Bosniak/Bosnian nation and marks the Bosniaks as "traitors of the Serb/Croat people". As a partial reason of this, several instances of forced conversion to Christianity were recorded during the war, along with soldiers singing songs like "we'll take our revenge on the "Turks"" and even Ratko Mladic saying the same thing as Srebrenica fell. These facts also explain why Bosniaks were forbidden to use their ethnic name and were instead known as muslimani (Muslims) in former Yugoslavia.

The Bosniak population was struck the hardest the first year of the conflict. The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was poorly prepared for combat and only equipped with light arms, and thus not fully capable of defending their citizens from either being killed at place in their respective home towns or masstransported to notorious concentration camps of murder, torture and gangrape.

Yet some Bosniak victims of war were not killed in camps or in connection to invasion, but rather by granade shelling or sniper firing, as under the siege of Sarajevo (for example Markale massacres).

Because of the controversial Arms embargo that was laid down on the conflict, the Bosniaks had difficulties arming themselves in contrast to the Serbs and Croats who already had massive weapon supplies (especially the Serbs). However, as the war progressed the Bosnian army increased their weapons arsenal by, among other, conquering heavily armed Serb and Croat troops and hence taking over their weapons, which subsequently made it easier for the Bosniaks to defend towns and hit back on Serb/Croat troops in occupied cities, thus freeing captured Bosniak civilians (although these civilians in some instances were killed days prior to the recapture of a city). This behaviour was especially observed in the town of Sanski Most, which had been occupied by Serb troops for much of the whole war and the civil Bosniak population captured. However, in 95 the town was retrieved by the Bosnian army, who soon discovered freshly digged massgraves containing Bosniak men, women and children only killed days, and even hours, prior to their advance.

The extermination of the Bosniak people culminated in July 1995 as the UN-protected Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica fell to the Serbs who initiated the Srebrenica massacre. 8.000 Bosniak men and boys were slaughtered within the period of a few days. This event is classified by the UN and EU as genocide.

[edit] The West

A May 2002 report for the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia regarding Islamophobia in the European Union noted that xenophobic expressions against Bosniaks had been recorded in Greece.[1]

[edit] Examples from recent history

Anti-Bosniak riots in Banja Luka in 2001.
Anti-Bosniak riots in Banja Luka in 2001.
  • May, 2001 - On May 5, hundreds of Serbs blocked a ground-breaking ceremony for the reconstruction of a mosque in Trebinje, waving nationalist banners and chanting "Kill the Turks". An international official, Daniel Ruiz, was injured when protesters pinned him against a wall and beat him.[6] Two days later, at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the reconstruction of the Ferhadija mosque in Banja Luka, thousands of Serb nationalists took to the streets and pelted Bosniak attendees with tear gas grenades, stones and eggs. Protesters beat visitors and snatched and set fire to their praying rugs. They also overran the Islamic center, taking down and torching the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Islamic Community before replacing it with the flag of Republika Srpska. One of the Bosniak visitors died in a hospital three weeks later due to injuries sustained in the event.[7]
  • March, 2004 - During massive demonstrations in response to ongoing unrest in Kosovo, Serbian rioters retaliated to the Albanian destruction of Serb churches and monasteries by burning down Islam-aga's Mosque in Niš and the Bajrakli Mosque in Belgrade. However, the Muslim community in these cities is entirely made up of non-Albanians, but of Bosniaks. Some observers, including the Human Rights Watch, have been critical of the way Serbian authorities have handled the legal process that followed.[8]
  • June, 2005 - Numerous examples of anti-Semitic and anti-Bosniak graffiti found in Niš. Messages glorified the Srebrenica massacre and requested the expulsion of Bosniaks ("Turks") from the country.[8]
  • July, 2005 - 24 out of 28 billboards erected in Belgrade by the Serbian youth initiative to mark the ten year anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre were vandalized. One of the grafitied messages read "There Will Be A Repetition".[8]
  • November, 2005 - A Bosniak school in Novi Pazar Sandzak Serbia was covered by Anti-Bosniak graffiti with slogans "Knife, wire, Srebrenica" and "Young Balija".[9]
  • March, 2006 - The first Bosniak returnee to Bratunac and chairman of the municipal council, Refik Begić, received a threatening letter from an organization calling itself the "Serb Liberation Army". Hand-written in cyrillic and signed by an "A. Popović", the letter read in part "How much more do we have to slaughter you so that you finally understand that this country isn't Turkish, but Serb... Death to Islam..."[10]
  • June , 2006 - Song surfaces on the internet promoting genocide against Bosniaks. It celebrated the Srebrenica massacre and the wide-spread destruction of Islamic religious objects during the Bosnian war, stating that they are something the Serb people should be proud of. Essentially, the song expressed that the destruction of the Bosniak people was a historical duty for Serbs. On June 2, a Serbian non-governmental organization pressed charges against the unknown authors and distributors of the song.[11]
  • September, 2006 - During the football cup game in the Bosnian city of Zvornik, Serb nationalists carried signs glorifying the Srebrenica Genocide and honoring the massacre of Bosniak populace of that city, singing slogans like "genocide Zvornik" and "knife, wire, Srebrenica”.[12]
  • October, 2006 - A Bosniak Mosque was attacked by terrorists in Jasenica near the city of Mostar. The building was fired upon with a mortar round and its facade was damaged. This act of Anti-Bosniak terror was perpetrated as an act of bigotry and hatred.[13]
  • October, 2006 - During a football match between 'Rad' and the football team from 'Novi Pazar' a majority Bosniak city in Sandzak the Bosniak area of southern Serbia, Serbian neo-Nazis chanted Anti-Bosniak slogans such as "Serbia for Serbians and out with the Turks". The supporters also carried signs glorifying the Srebrenica Genocide stating "knife, wire, Srebrenica".[14]
  • December, 2006 - In the early hours of December 2nd 2006 in Banja Luka, the predominantly Bosnian Serb city in Bosnia and Herzegovina a mosque, recently rebuilt was attacked by unknown persons who fired five rounds in to the building. Serb perpetrated Anti-Bosniak terror continues without adequate action from that entities leadership to curve it.[15]

[edit] Derogatory and insulting terms

Among the more notable derogatory terms for Bosniaks in Serbo-Croatian are:

  • Balije / Балије — A vulgar term dating to the Ottoman period. Roughly designating a Bosniak peasant, the exact etymology is unknown. Some early sources speculate that it referred to periodically nomadic Bosniaks living in mountainous areas.[16] Today it is the most common derogatory term for Bosniaks.
  • Variations: Balijesnice/Балијеснице, Balinčad/Балинчад, Balindure/Балиндуре.
  • Muslimani / Муслимани — Literally "Muslims". Although not inherently offensive, the term has become antiquated since the adoption of the name "Bosniaks" in 1993, and a deliberate misuse may be considered insulting by secular Bosniaks.
  • Turci / Турци — Literally "Turks". During the Ottoman era, Bosniaks referred to themselves as "Turci" (more commonly: "Turčini"), but distinguished themselves from ethnic Turks by calling the latter "Turkuše".[16] As the distinction is now archaic, the label today serves to equate the Bosniaks with the Ottoman Turks and imply that they are an alien element.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Allen, Christopher; & Nielsen, Jørgen S. (May, 2002). Summary Report on Islamophobia. European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
  2. ^ a b c Malcolm, Noel (1994). Bosnia A Short History. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5520-8.
  3. ^ a b c d e Imamović, Mustafa (1996). Historija Bošnjaka. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod. ISBN 9958-815-00-1
  4. ^ Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Beograd - The Bajrakli Mosque". Retrieved Apr. 24, 2006.
  5. ^ http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/RightsAndReconciliation/54272.asp
  6. ^ (May. 5, 2001). Bosnian Serb nationalist mob attacks state delegation. TCM Breaking News.
  7. ^ (May. 7, 2001). Diplomats trapped in Bosnia riots. CNN.
  8. ^ a b c Human Rights Watch (October, 2005). Dangerous Indifference: Violence against Minorities in Serbia.
  9. ^ Financial Times (November 8, 2005).Anti-Bosniak graffiti appear on school in Serbian Sandzak over Muslim holiday. Financial Times Ltd.
  10. ^ Huremović, E (March. 27, 2006). "Srpska oslobodilačka armija" uputila prijeteće pismo Begiću. Dnevni Avaz.
  11. ^ (June. 6, 2006). Srbi još pozivaju na klanje. iPortal.
  12. ^ (September 21, 2006).Zvornik: "Genocid Zvornik" i "Nož, žica, Srebrenica" na utakmici Kupa BiH Drina - Sarajevo. 24sata.info.
  13. ^ (Octobar 10, 2006).Džamija u Jasenici pogođena zoljom. NTVHayat.com.
  14. ^ (Octobar 19, 2006).Nacionalistički ispadi ostaju nekažnjeni. Danas.org.
  15. ^ (December 2, 2006).BANJA LUKA: SOFI MEHMED-PAŠINA DŽAMIJA OŠTEĆENA PUCNJIMA IZ PIŠTOLJA. FENA.ba.
  16. ^ a b Isaković, Alija (1992). Rječnik karakteristične leksike u bosanskome jeziku. Svjetlost. ISBN 3-929678-03-8.

[edit] See also

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