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Nemoj da podižeš svoj glas već poboljšaj svoje argumente

Don't raise your voice improve your argument

 

On Saturday 03/31/2012 about 100 people showed up to see the speech on the Concentration Camps and Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Professor Emir Ramic and the book presentation by Dr. Esad Boskailo “Wounded I Am More Awake” organized by “Bosniaks Association Lily”.

 

Program started with the opening remarks by Sabina Mujanovic the MC of this event by welcoming guests and presenters as well as giving a wonderful introduction to our audience.  

 

As you all may suspect by the title "Concentration Camps and Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina” the subject matter was extremely difficult and heart wrenching, but by the same token an exceptionally important one to be discussed and shared. Many of the people in the audience have lived through the most atrocious crimes that no person should ever have to hear about - let alone live through.   

 

The event is not only important that audience learn about historical facts and cruelty that took place in that little country called Bosnia half the world away from here- but to understand that evil has no regard for a child, a pregnant woman, an elderly grandfather,  a newborn baby, or a young man.  Evil has no regard for an institution, for a library, for a place of worship - evil destroys, it mutilates, it demolishes not only buildings, economy and a society, but it hurts souls of those that carry the most painful memories on what have happened in the past.

This event we hope will show that no matter how great evil may be, that goodness in the end is by far more powerful and can lift you up to the places you never even dreamed of ascending to.

 

We hope that people that attended this event will be able to see that it is possible to rise from the ashes no matter what your struggles are.  The stories shared no matter how painful, left us with courage and desire to push through our own struggles and be appreciative of everyone and everything we may have today. 

 

Our first speaker was Professor Emir Ramic from the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada.

In his speech Professor Ramic covered the impact of the Genocide on Bosniak people and its affects in the future as well as the how the Genocide was planned and executed by our enemies.  Profesor Ramić also covered the historical importance of Bosnian statehood and challenges facing Bosnia and Bosniaks today and Bosniaks declaration.

 

Our second speaker presented his newly published book “Wounded I Am More Awake”.

Dr. Esad Boskailo is a doctor who survived six concentration camps in Bosnia emerges with powerful new lessons for healing in an age of genocide.  Dr. Boskailo presented his book and covered the importance of dealing with trauma from concentration camps. He also told couple stories about his experience in the camp and how he survived. Time spent in the concentration camps was the time that he showed the true courage and determination to survive even under the most adverse conditions.  

 

During the Dr. Boskailo presentation we discovered that one of the members in the audience was in one of the pictures that were shown during the presentation. Picture was showing Bosniak man in the concentration camp behind the barb wire fence, starved with their bones protruding staring at the camera. He stood up so he can get recognized but the audience rewarded him with the big applause and he was also invited to sit on the stage with our guests. We had no idea that he went through hell and all this time he was living among us. After the presentation Dr. Boskailo signed about 50 books which was obviously not enough due to the level of interest for the book so he is going to send some more to be distributed.

 

At the end of the program Sabina finished with her closing remarks and an interesting quote by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who stated: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” 

 

Sometimes I feel that Bosniaks were unfortunately that mouse, and the heavy artillery and army of well-armed men were the elephant that were shelling and destroying our beloved country and killing the innocent children and civilians for years.  UN was neutral – we all remember them driving around in the big army vehicles around the towns doing absolutely nothing.  They did not react to the screams and calls for help from those that were on the verge of starvation, hunger, or being near execution.  Their response to the human who is about to die was that they are there to keep peace by remaining completely neutral and not taking sides.  Many times felt worse than being attacked. 

 

Furthermore, this brilliant man once stated, “Don't raise your voice improve your argument”.

We need to actively speak intelligently not loudly in order to change this world for the better and fight for the justice and human rights everywhere in the world.

 

Moreover our religion Islam calls us to speak of crimes against innocence so that they would not return and be repeated.  In our holy Book Quran (chapter 5, verse 82). It says: "Those among the children of Israel who rejected truth were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary because they disobeyed and committed excesses, because they did not use to forbid one another the wrongs they committed." (5:82)

A similar point is made in that well known Hadith in which the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) is reported to have said:"If one of you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart and this is the weakest faith." Some versions add: "there is no part of faith behind that, not even so much as a mustard seed."

After the program guests and audience enjoyed delicious authentic Bosnian food made by local Bosniak woman.

 

As a small token of appreciation our local artist Ismar Hasanovic painted two pictures for our guests; for Dr. Boskailo his bellowed Pocitelj and for Professor Ramic his hometown Prijedor.

 

Through this event we were able to spend some time with our extraordinary guests and make new friendship that will most likely last for a long time.

 

Bosniaks Association Lily

 

 

 

 

Nemoj da podižeš svoj glas već poboljšaj svoje argumente

 

U subotu 03/31/2012 oko 100 ljudi došlo je da vidi i čuje  govor o koncentracionim logorima i genocidu u Bosni i Hercegovini od prof Emir Ramića i predstavljanje knjige dr. Esada Boškaila "Ranjen ja sam više budan", u organizaciji „Bošnjačkog Udruženja Ljiljan“.


Program je započeo s uvodnim govorom od Sabina Mujanović voditeljice programa, Sabina je pozdravila goste i predavače i dala prekrasan uvod za našu publiku.


Kao što se vidi iz naslova "Koncentracioni logori i Genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini" tema je izuzetno teška za slušanje, ali isto tako iznimno važna da se raspravlja i podijeli sa drugima. Mnogi ljudi koji su bili u publici taj dan preživjeli su najokrutniji zločini o kojeme niko nikada nebi trebao ni čuti - a kamoli preživjeti.


DogaÄ‘aj nije samo važno da publika uči o povijesnim činjenicama i okrutnosti koje su se dogodile u toj maloj zemlji zvanoj Bosna i Hercegovina, pola svijeta odavde, ali shvatiti da zlo nema obzira prema dijetetu, trudnici, starijim osobama, novoroÄ‘enčadima ili omladini. Zlo nema poštovanje prema ustanovi, biblioteki, prema mjestu gdje se molimo bogu - zlo uništava, sakati i ruši ne samo zgrade, ekonomiju  i društvo, vrijeÄ‘a duše onih koji nose najbolnija sjećanja na ono što im se dogodilo u prošlosti.


Nadamo se da će ovaj događaj pokazati da bez obzira koliko je zlo veliko, da je dobro na kraju daleko nadmoćnije i da vas može uzdići do mjesta koje nikada nisu ni sanjali da možete dostići.


Nadamo se da će ljudi koji su prisustvovali ovom dogaÄ‘aju biti u mogućnosti vidjeti da je moguće ustati iz pepela bez obzira koje su vaše poteškoće. Priče koje smo čuli bez obzira koliko bolne, daju nam hrabrosti i želje da nastavimo da se borimo i da budemo zahvalni na sveme što imamo danas.

 

Naš prvi gost predavac bio je profesor Emir Ramić Direktor Instituta za istraživanje Genocida Kanada.

U svom govoru profesor Ramić je pojasnio historijske činjenice o državnoj opstojnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, historijskoj važnosti Ideje Bosne i Bosanskog duha, te pokušajima da se kroz višestruku agresiju na Bosnu i Hercegovinu i genocida nad njenim najmnogobrojnijim narodom poništi država, njeni graÄ‘ani i narodi. Na kraju Ramić je govorio o Bošnjačkom proglasu, svojevrsnom dokumentu koji se aklamacijom prihvaća na mnogim bošnjačkim akademijama širom Sjeverne Amerike.


Naš drugi gost dr. Esad Boškailo predstavio je svoju nedavno objavljenu knjigu "Ranjen ja sam više budan". Dr. Boškailo je pokazao važnost suočavanja s traumom iz koncentracijskih logora. On je takoÄ‘e ispričao priče o svom iskustvu u logoru te kako je preživio. Vrijeme provedeno u logorima je bilo vrijeme kada je on pokazao pravu hrabrost i odlučnost da preživi čak i pod najnepovoljnijim uslovima.


Tokom prezentacije dr. Boškaila otkrili smo da je jedan od članova publike bio u jednoj od slika koja je prikazana tokom prezentacije. Slika prikazuje Bošnjake u koncentracijskom logoru iza ograde od bodljikave žice, izgladnjeli sa kostima izbačenim gledaju u kameru. On se ustao tako da ga možemo vidjeti a publika ga je nagradila sa velikim aplauzom, bio je pozvao da sjedi na pozornici s našim gostima. Nismo imali pojma da je ovaj čovjek prošao kroz pakao i sve ovo vrijeme živio je meÄ‘u nama.
Nakon prezentacije dr. Boškailo je potpisao oko 50 knjiga, što je bilo očito nije dovoljno s obzirom na nivo interesa za knjigu, tako da će nam on poslati još knjiga koje ćemo mi podjelitii.

 

Na kraju programa Sabina je završili sa  citatom od  Nadbiskupa Desmond Tutu, koji je izjavio: "Ako ste neutralni u situacijama nepravde, izabrali ste stranu tlačitelja. Ako slon ima nogu na repu miša, a vi kažete da ste neutralni, miš neće cijeniti vaš neutralnost ".


Ponekad osjećam da su Bošnjaci, nažalost bili miš, a teška artiljerija i vojska dobro naoružanih muškaraca je bio slon koji su granatirli i uništavali našu voljenu zemlju i ubijali nevinu djece i civile godinama. UN-a bio neutralan - Svi se sjećamo kako su se vozili u velikim vojnim vozilima po gradovima i radili apsolutno ništa. Oni nisu reagovali na krikove i pozive za pomoć od onih koji su bili na rubu gladi i sitrijebljenja. Njihov odgovor čovjeku koji je na samrti je da su tamo kako bi sačuvali mir,  potpuno neutralani  i ni na čijoj strani. Mnogo puta osjećali smo se gore nego kad smo bili napdadnut.


Nadalje, jedan briljantan čovjek jednom je rekao: "Nemoj da podižeš svoj glas već poboljšaj svoje argumente".
Moramo aktivno govori inteligentno ne glasno kako bi promijenli ovaj svijet na bolje i boriti se za pravdu i ljudska prava svugdje u svijetu. Osim toga naša vjera islam poziva nas da govorimo o zločinima protiv nevinosti, tako da oni nebi ponovili. U našoj svetoj knjizi Kur'anu (poglavlje 5, ajet 82) Kaže: "Jezikom Davuda i Isaa, sina Merjemina, prokleti su oni od sinova Istailovih koji nisu vjervali – zato što su se bunili i uvijek granie zla prelazili" (5:82)


Slična stvar je pomenuta i u tom poznatom hadisu u kojem Poslanik Muhamed (saws) je rekao:
"Ako jedan od vas vidi nešto loše, neka ga promijeni sa svojom rukom, a ako on ne može, onda svojim jezikom, a ako on ne može, onda svojim srcem i to je najslabiji vjera." Neke verzije dodaju: "ne postoji dio vjere iza toga, čak ni toliko koliko zrno sjemena."


Nakon programa gosti i publika su uživali u ukusnoj hrani iz autentične bosanske kuhinje koju su napravile lokalne bošnjačke ženu.


Kao mali znak zahvalnosti naš lokalni umjetnik Ismar Hasanović naslikao je dvije slike za naše goste, za dr. Boškaila njegov voljeni Počitelja i za profesora Ramića njegov rodni Prijedor.

Ovaj  dogaÄ‘aj dao nam je priliku da provedemo neko vrijeme sa  našim izvanrednim gostima i da napravimo nova prijateljstva koji će najvjerojatnije trajati još dugo vremena.

 

Udruženje Bošnjaka Ljiljan, Dallas

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