Detroit

SJE?ANJE KOJE SPAŠAVA SVIJET 

JEDANAESTI JULI IZME?U PROŠLOSTI I SAVJESTI

 

Povijest uklesana u datum

 

Dana 23. maja 2024. godine, u veli?anstvenoj, ali ?esto gluhoj dvorani Generalne skupštine Ujedinjenih naroda u New Yorku, izgovorena je re?enica koja se ve? decenijama ?ekala: “Generalna skupština UN proglašava 11. juli Me?unarodnim danom sje?anja i obilježavanja genocida u Srebrenici.”

 

Odluka je donesena s 84 glasa za, 19 protiv i 68 suzdržanih. Bio je to povijesni dan – ne zato što je svijet tek tada saznao za Srebrenicu, ve? zato što je po prvi put rekao: Ne?emo više šutjeti.

 

Taj ?in nije bio samo simbol. Nije bio ni diplomatski gest. Bio je – i ostaje – eti?ka prekretnica, pravni znak vremena, i globalni moralni imperativ. Bio je to trenutak kada je civilizacija priznala svoju ranjivost, ali i svoju snagu: da, makar sa zakašnjenjem, upiše istinu u zvani?nu povijest svijeta.

 

Ovaj datum, ovaj rez, dolazi nakon 15 godina od prve velike evropske potvrde genocida – Rezolucije Evropskog parlamenta od 15. januara 2009. godine. Tada je 11. juli prvi put proglašen danom sje?anja u prostoru koji je do ju?er gledao na Balkanski rat kao “unutrašnju stvar”, kao nerazumljivu eksploziju daleke historije. Ta prva evropska rezolucija bila je po?etak raskrinkavanja kolektivne ravnodušnosti.

 

Ali rezolucija UN-a iz 2024. godine je nešto više. Ona je univerzalni zakonik pam?enja.

 

Pravna snaga protiv zaborava

 

U pravnom smislu, ova rezolucija je ?in izgradnje me?unarodne normativne kulture odgovornosti. Proglašavanje 11. jula danom sje?anja na genocid u Srebrenici postavlja novi presedan: da nijedan genocid – ?ak ni onaj koji se desio pred o?ima Ujedinjenih naroda, uz prisustvo njihovih plavih šljemova – ne smije biti izbrisan ni relativiziran.

 

U vremenu kada su se pojmovi poput “alternativnih ?injenica” i “istorijskog revizionizma” infiltrirali u javni diskurs mo?nih država, ova rezolucija vra?a me?unarodno pravo svom osnovnom pozivu: da štiti žrtve, a ne po?initelje. Da pamti ?injenice, a ne politi?ke interese.

 

Ona nije presuda – ali jeste poruka. Poruka da je istina ja?a od politike, da je pam?enje mo?nija sila od poricanja. I da, iako simboli?na, pravna norma može biti most izme?u bola i pravde.

 

Poruka Srbiji: da istina ne bira granice

 

Za Srbiju, ova rezolucija je gorko ogledalo. Ne zato što je uperena protiv nje kao nacije, ve? zato što razotkriva još uvijek prisutni otpor suo?avanju s vlastitim zlo?inom. Srpska politi?ka elita, od samog najavljivanja rezolucije, predvodila je me?unarodnu kampanju osporavanja, koriste?i retoriku kolektivne viktimizacije, lažnog ponosa i geopoliti?kog inata.

 

Ali svijet je izglasao. Istina je izgovorena.

 

Poruka Srbiji nije: Vi ste genocidni narod. Poruka je: Ne možete i?i dalje dok ne pro?ete kroz istinu. I ta istina se ne ti?e samo prošlosti – ve? budu?nosti. Jer narod koji ne može izgovoriti vlastiti zlo?in – ponovit ?e ga. Ako ne oružjem, onda rije?ima, školama, zakonima, mapama.

 

Rezolucija nudi Srbiji šansu, ne osvetu. Šansu da bude dio svijeta koji ne šuti pred nepravdom. Da se jednom, iskreno i ljudski, nakloni pred tabutima – ne kao krivac, ve? kao ?ovjek.

 

Poruka žrtvama: da bol nije uzalud

 

Majke Srebrenice, koje ve? tri decenije hodaju izme?u kabura, sudnica i hodnika me?unarodnih institucija, kona?no su do?ekale dan kada njihova rije? više nije samo svjedo?anstvo – ve? svjetska ?injenica.

 

Ova rezolucija je priznanje da su njihova djeca postojala. Da nisu nestali. Da ih svijet pamti.

 

Poruka žrtvama je: Vaš bol više nije samo vaš. On je naš. Srebrenica je sada ime koje ne pripada samo Bosni – ve? cijelom ?ovje?anstvu. I više niko, nikada, ne može re?i da nije znao.

 

Poruka svijetu: da se genocid ne smije gledati u prijenosu uživo

 

U vremenu kada se pred o?ima cijelog svijeta odvijaju novi zlo?ini – u Palestini, Ukrajini, Kongu, Sudanu – ova rezolucija dolazi kao opomena. Ne kao podsjetnik na prošlost, ve? kao ogledalo sadašnjosti.

 

Srebrenica nije jedini genocid – ali je jedini koji se desio uz prisustvo onih koji su obe?ali da ?e ga sprije?iti.

 

Zato je poruka rezolucije cijelom svijetu: Ako Srebrenica bude samo simbol, a ne obaveza – onda ?e se ponoviti. Ako 11. juli bude samo dan ceremonija, a ne dan djelovanja – onda svijet nije ništa nau?io.

 

Dan kad je ?ovje?anstvo govorilo

 

Dana 23. maja 2024. godine, Ujedinjene nacije su, makar na trenutak, postale ono što utemeljiva?i zamišljali da budu: savjest svijeta.

 

I zato danas, na prvu godišnjicu te rezolucije, ne sje?amo se samo prošlosti. Obe?avamo budu?nost. Obe?avamo da ?emo pamtiti – ne da bismo mrzili, nego da se ne bi ponovilo. Da ?emo izgovarati istinu – ne da bismo sudili, ve? da bismo iscijelili. I da nikada više nijedan narod ne postane nevidljiv dok nestaje.

 

CVIJET SJE?ANJA – BIJELI CVIJET ?OVJE?NOSTI I VJE?NE OPOMENE

 

U dolinama gdje rijeke pamte tišinu tuge, u planinskim sjenama gdje šapat boli još odzvanja, iznikao je jedan cvijet. Ne obi?an, ve? svet. Cvijet sje?anja. Cvijet tuge, dostojanstva, prkosa i nade. U narodu poznat kao Srebreni?ki cvijet, on nije izrastao iz zemlje, ve? iz boli. Iz vapaja majki, iz izgubljenih pogleda djece, iz šutnje masovnih grobnica. I upravo stoga – njegovi bijeli latice nisu samo simbol – oni su zavjet.

 

Kao što crveni mak simbolizira krvave brazde rovova Prvog svjetskog rata, i nosi se širom Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva, Kanade, Australije i Sjedinjenih Ameri?kih Država kao znak sje?anja na pale vojnike, tako i bijeli Srebreni?ki cvijet stoji uzdignut na reverima onih koji se ne mire sa zaboravom. On ne govori samo o Srebrenici, ve? o Prijedoru, Fo?i, Višegradu, Bijeljini, Biljanima, Sarajevu... o svakom mjestu gdje je ne?ije ljudsko dostojanstvo bilo ba?eno u ponor mržnje.

 

Nosimo ga nedjelju pred 11. juli i tokom samog dana, kao što se nosi mak 11. novembra. Ne kao ritual, ve? kao sveto sje?anje. Jer Srebrenica nije prošlost – ona je rana ?ovje?anstva koja i danas krvari tiho, podsje?aju?i nas da je mir krhak, a mržnja plodna kada je svijet nijem.

 

Latice Srebreni?kog cvijeta broje jedanaest – kao jedanaesti juli. Njegovo srce je zeleno – boja nade, života, novih po?etaka. Bijela boja latica simbol je nevinosti – onih koji su ubijeni samo zato što su postojali. Ovaj cvijet ne traži osvetu, ne poziva na bijes – on tiho moli. Mole?i rije?ima univerzalne Srebreni?ke dove:

 

Bože Milostivi, neka tuga postane nada!

Neka osveta postane pravda!

 

Neka maj?ina suza postane dova – molitva da se više nikad i nigdje ne ponovi Srebrenica!

Srebreni?ki cvijet je glas svih nijemih, suza svih neisplakanih, pravda svih nedosu?enih. On je svjetionik humanosti u svijetu koji ?esto zaboravlja vlastite greške. On je znak prepoznavanja me?u ljudima koji nisu izgubili sposobnost suosje?anja. Njime ne komemoriramo samo prošlost – njime branimo budu?nost.

 

U vremenu kada se istina relativizira, a žrtve osporavaju, Cvijet sje?anja stoji uspravno. Ne kao svjedok prošlosti, ve? kao poziv savjesti. Da nikada ne prihvatimo zaborav. Da nikada ne otupimo na patnju drugoga. I da, gdje god da se dogodi nepravda – od Palestine do Ruande, od Ukrajine do Mijanmara – znamo prepoznati istinu u bijelom cvijetu što govori bez rije?i.

 

Neka ovaj cvijet postane univerzalni znak ljudskosti – kao što je mak za poginule vojnike, neka Srebreni?ki cvijet bude simbol za nedužne, za žrtve, za one koji nisu stigli da postanu. Da se nikada ne zaboravi. Da se nikada ne ponovi.

 

Nosimo ga s ponosom, nosimo ga s tugom – ali iznad svega, nosimo ga s vjerom u dostojanstvo ?ovjeka.

 

 

A MEMORY THAT SAVES THE WORLD

JULY 11 – BETWEEN HISTORY AND CONSCIENCE

 

History Carved into a Date

 

On May 23, 2024, in the majestic yet often deaf hall of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a sentence was finally spoken—one that had been awaited for decades:

“The UN General Assembly declares July 11 as the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide.”

 

The resolution was passed with 84 votes in favor, 19 against, and 68 abstentions. It was a historic day—not because the world had just learned of Srebrenica, but because, for the first time, it said: We will no longer be silent.

 

This act was not merely symbolic. Nor was it a diplomatic gesture. It was—and remains—an ethical turning point, a legal sign of the times, and a global moral imperative. It was the moment when civilization acknowledged its vulnerability, but also its strength: to inscribe the truth into the official history of the world, even if belatedly.

 

This date, this incision, comes 15 years after the first major European recognition of the genocide—the European Parliament Resolution of January 15, 2009. That was when July 11 was first declared a day of remembrance in a region that, until recently, viewed the Balkan war as an “internal matter,” an incomprehensible explosion of distant history. That first European resolution was the beginning of dismantling collective indifference.

 

But the 2024 UN resolution is something more. It is a universal code of memory.

 

Legal Power Against Oblivion

 

Legally, this resolution represents the building of an international normative culture of accountability. Declaring July 11 as a day of remembrance for the Srebrenica genocide sets a new precedent: that no genocide—not even one committed before the eyes of the United Nations, in the presence of its blue helmets—can be erased or relativized.

 

In a time when terms like “alternative facts” and “historical revisionism” have infiltrated the public discourse of powerful nations, this resolution restores international law to its original calling: to protect the victims, not the perpetrators. To remember facts, not political interests.

 

It is not a verdict—but it is a message. A message that truth is stronger than politics, that memory is a force greater than denial. And that, though symbolic, a legal norm can be a bridge between pain and justice.

 

A Message to Serbia: Truth Knows No Borders

 

For Serbia, this resolution is a bitter mirror. Not because it targets the nation, but because it exposes the ongoing resistance to confronting its own crime. Since the resolution was first proposed, the Serbian political elite led an international campaign to block it—employing rhetoric of collective victimhood, false pride, and geopolitical defiance.

 

But the world voted. The truth was spoken.

 

The message to Serbia is not: You are a genocidal people. The message is: You cannot move forward until you pass through the truth. And that truth is not only about the past—but the future. Because a people that cannot name its own crime will repeat it. If not with weapons, then with words, in schools, laws, and maps.

 

The resolution offers Serbia a chance, not revenge. A chance to be part of a world that does not stay silent in the face of injustice. To bow, sincerely and humanely, before the coffins—not as the guilty, but as human beings.

 

A Message to the Victims: Your Pain Was Not in Vain

 

The Mothers of Srebrenica, who have walked for three decades between graves, courtrooms, and the hallways of international institutions, have finally lived to see a day when their words are no longer just testimony—but a global fact.

 

This resolution is recognition that their children existed. That they did not vanish. That the world remembers them.

 

The message to the victims is: Your pain is no longer yours alone. It is ours.

Srebrenica is now a name that belongs not just to Bosnia—but to all of humanity. And no one, ever again, can say they didn’t know.

 

A Message to the World: Genocide Cannot Be Livestreamed

 

In a time when new crimes unfold before the eyes of the world—in Palestine, Ukraine, Congo, Sudan—this resolution arrives as a warning. Not as a reminder of the past, but as a mirror of the present.

 

Srebrenica is not the only genocide—but it is the only one committed under the watch of those who had promised to prevent it.

 

That is why the resolution’s message to the world is:

If Srebrenica becomes only a symbol, and not a commitment—it will happen again.

If July 11 becomes only a day of ceremony, and not a day of action—then the world has learned nothing.

 

The Day Humanity Spoke

 

On May 23, 2024, the United Nations, if only for a moment, became what its founders had envisioned: the conscience of the world.

 

And so today, on the first anniversary of that resolution, we do not only remember the past. We promise the future.

We promise to remember—not to hate, but to prevent repetition.

To speak the truth—not to judge, but to heal.

And to never again allow any people to become invisible while they disappear.

 

Because a world that remembers—is not lost.

 

The Flower of Remembrance – The White Flower of Humanity and Eternal Warning

 

In valleys where rivers remember the silence of sorrow, in mountain shadows where the whisper of pain still echoes, a flower has grown. Not an ordinary one, but sacred. A flower of remembrance. A flower of grief, dignity, defiance, and hope. Known among the people as the Srebrenica Flower, it did not grow from soil, but from pain. From the cries of mothers, from the lost gazes of children, from the silence of mass graves. And because of that – its white petals are not just a symbol – they are a vow.

Just as the red poppy symbolizes the blood-soaked trenches of the First World War and is worn across the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States in memory of fallen soldiers, the white Srebrenica Flower stands tall on the lapels of those who refuse to accept forgetfulness. It speaks not only of Srebrenica, but of Prijedor, Fo?a, Višegrad, Bijeljina, Biljani, Sarajevo... of every place where someone's human dignity was thrown into the abyss of hatred.

It is worn on the Sunday before July 11 and throughout the day itself, just like the poppy is worn on November 11. Not as a ritual, but as sacred remembrance. Because Srebrenica is not the past – it is a wound of humanity that still quietly bleeds, reminding us that peace is fragile, and hatred thrives when the world is silent.

 

The petals of the Srebrenica Flower number eleven – like the eleventh of July. Its heart is green – the color of hope, life, and new beginnings. The white color of the petals symbolizes the innocence – of those who were killed simply for existing. This flower does not seek revenge, it does not call for rage – it prays softly. Praying with the words of the universal Srebrenica prayer:

Merciful God, let sorrow become hope!

 

Let revenge become justice!

Let a mother’s tear become a prayer – a prayer that Srebrenica never happens again, anywhere!

The Srebrenica Flower is the voice of all the voiceless, the tears of the uncried, the justice of the unjudged. It is a beacon of humanity in a world that often forgets its own errors. It is a sign of recognition among people who have not lost their capacity for compassion. Through it, we do not only commemorate the past – we defend the future.

 

In times when truth is relativized, and victims denied, the Flower of Remembrance stands upright. Not as a witness of the past, but as a call to conscience. That we may never accept oblivion. That we may never become numb to the suffering of others. And that wherever injustice arises – from Palestine to Rwanda, from Ukraine to Myanmar – we recognize the truth in the white flower that speaks without words.

Let this flower become a universal symbol of humanity – just as the poppy is for fallen soldiers, let the Srebrenica Flower be a symbol for the innocent, for the victims, for those who never had the chance to become. So it is never forgotten. So it never happens again.

 

We wear it with pride, we wear it with sorrow – but above all, we wear it with faith in human dignity.