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PISMO ALDINA MUSLIJA PREDSJEDNIKU UNIVERZITETA U VANKUVERU

I had a chance to read a letter sent to the University of British Columbia’s president Toop from Stephen Karganovic regarding the Srdja Trifkovic lecture. Mr. Karganovic defends Srdja Trifkovic and calls his upcoming lecture academic freedom. After reading countless articles by Trifkovic, I deeply disagree with his nationalist ideology and lack of compassion for human rights. In regards to this letter I am greatly concerned that Karganovic believes spreading hate and intolerance is a civil right. I feel it is my responsibility as a Canadian citizen and a human rights activist to respond to Karganovic’s absurd accusations.

Mr. Karganovic seems to suggest that an individual’s point of view has nothing to do with their academic work and Mr. Ramic bringing up the issue of the Srebrenica Genocide is irrelevant to Mr. Trifkovic’s lecture. If that is the case, I wonder if Karaganovic would feel the same way about a physics professor who openly supports Al Qaida. From my university experience, a political stance is corroborated by a personal view. Raising the concern of the Srebrenica Genocide in Mr. Ramic’s letter to President Toop is relevant because Trifkovic openly demonstrates his support for Republika Srpska, war criminals and Serbian Nationalism in most of his academic work. At the same time, his anti-Islamic views and denial of the Srebrenica Genocide and Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly suggests it is acceptable to openly hate other nations and religions. As a Canadian citizen, I was not aware that openly hating people based on their colour, religion or ethnic group is part of freedom of speech and having Trifkovic around young intellectuals, negatively impacts students.

I will focus mainly on the issue of nationalism because from the looks of his work, I cannot imagine Trifkovic promoting solidarity in the Balkans when he continues to see his nation as the dominant one in the region. If we look back to late 1980s, early 1990s Balkans, you will be able to see that nationalism, escalated by Serbs from Serbia proper resulted in Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by Kosovo. The fact that Srdja Trifkovic has taken his personal views and dedicated his life to breed hate and nationalism in young Serbs living in the Diaspora, is dangerous to the progress of democracy worldwide. Srdja’s ideologies and so called academic work is equal to that of Adolf Hitler prior to the Holocaust. Individuals that spread such a hateful message and promote hate in the Balkans should be criticized and prevented from lecturing because there is a line between freedom of speech and promoting violence. In this case, asking Mr. Toop to cancel this lecture is justifiable because through a human rights perspective, Srdja Trifkovic’s emphasis of hate towards Muslims, denial of the Srebrenica Genocide and Support for Serb nationalism initiates violence towards a specific group.

Mr. Ramic’s emphasis on the issue of Srebrenica genocide denial in his letter to President Toop is of vast relevance because Srdja Trifkovic is committing the eight stage of Genocide. According to Genocide Watch, genocide is a process that develops in eight stages. The eight steps are as follows: Classification, symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, extermination and denial.   The first seven steps have been committed by the Serbian army and Bosnian Serbs in the early nineties. The eighth step-denial- began in 1995 and continues to today. The fact that many Serbian politicians and academics, including Srdja Trifkovic deny the genocide that occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina, amidst International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia’s ruling is a legitimate concern to human rights activists and of course Emir Ramic.

As for the topic of discussion on February 24th, The Institute for Research of Genocide is aware that this lecture is going to be about the instability in the Balkans. From the topics of discussion presented in the invitation, it is suggested that Trifkovic’s main focus will be on the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since Mr. Trifkovic is not lecturing on “ancient Khamier art or the mating habits of Madagascar lemurs” but actually discussing Options for Bosnia: centralization, further devolution, or status quo? , Kosovo’s grim report card,   Is a new crisis brewing in the Sanjak?,  Causes and consequences of Serbia’s decline, Impact of Turkey’s growing involvement”, it is difficult for any individual familiar with Trifkovic’s work to assume he will be speaking about tolerance of nations in the Balkans or promoting a multiethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina. The fact that Trifkovic is well known for his role as an unofficial spokesman for the Republika Srpska government in the early nineties, is a current advisor to Biljana Plavisic- a Serbian war criminal -and an open Srebrenica Genocide denier, it is hard to believe this lecture will not promote a succession of Republika Srpska, Serb nationalism or emphasize the danger of Muslims to Serbs in the Balkans. With the evidence presented above, I have to completely disagree with Karganovic and say in the case of Trifkovic, his personal views are deeply embedded into his work. Spreading hate and intolerance is unacceptable in Canada and as a citizen of this country Emir Ramic and every individual appalled by UBC’s decision to host Trifkovic has a right to speak up.

As an active member of the Canadian society and a strong believer in Human Rights I am concerned and sceptical about the information provided in Stephen Karganovic’s letter, since he is a Srebrenica Genocide denier himself. He argues that preventing Trifkovic from lecturing at University of British Columbia impedes on academic freedom. What about the fact that Trifkovic’s hate towards Muslims goes against the values of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. In an interview in 2006, he states: “It is the particular emphasis of my book that we need an absolute moratorium on the immigration of Muslims into both Western Europe and North America, coupled with the denial of citizenship to all practicing Muslims.”

 

Trifkovic’s statement is alarming and allowing him to give a lecture to UBC students is a legitimate concern of Mr. Emir Ramic and the members of his institute. Adolf Hitler publicly expressed and promoted German nationalism and hate towards Jews and that resulted in a Holocaust. Emir Ramic’s concern is clearly justified since Srdja Trifkovic continues to deny the 1995 genocide and far too many times, history has repeated itself. Today, we are speaking on behalf of all human rights abuse victims and we kindly ask Mr. Toop to help prevent the spread of hate and intolerance. Freedom of speech is a right however, if an individual abuses this right and begins to promote hate and violence against other groups; it is the responsibility of the institution’s administration to apply appropriate measures.

Aldina Muslija

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