Monthly Archives: July 2020

Remembering Srebrenica

25th Anniversary Commemoration
South West
This year marks both the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the 25th anniversary of the genocide in which 8,372 men and boys in the UN-protected area of Srebrenica were killed purely for being Muslim.
It remains important that we remember these events – Srebrenica Memorial Week is 5th-12th July 2020.

In these unprecedented times, there is a pressing and increasing need to ensure that we stand up to hate, intolerance and prejudice.  Between the events which prompted the Black Lives Matters movement across many countries to the hate crimes committed in the wake of Covid-19, we are seeing more and more public expressions of hatred and injustice and more focus on what divides us.
 
In response to the Covid-19 situation we have moved our Srebrenica genocide commemorations for the South West (including Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire) online and invite you to join us marking this reminder of man’s capacity for inhumanity and our ability to learn the lessons from this.  The commemoration will remember all those killed in the Srebrenica genocide, all those killed in acts of inhumanity during the Bosnian war, the 50,000 women and girls who were genocidally raped and all who stood for and stand for stronger communities, understanding, solidarity and peace across the world.  This interactive online event will take place on Friday, 10th July at 18:30:
Register here
As the founder and Chair of Remembering Srebrenica, Dr Waqar Azmi OBE has said:
Though it has been very hard to cancel face-to-face events it has been inspiring to see the various online ideas and innovations our team have created to still commemorate fitting for those victims who were murdered for no other reason than their identity.   We continue to draw strength and inspiration from those who, during the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Europe’s worst atrocity since the second world war, were bold enough to resist an ideology of division, protect their neighbours and speak out for truth and justice.”

Remembering Srebrenica is the UK charity which works to bring the lessons from the Bosnian genocide to the UK.  We work within communities to celebrate upstanders, equip people to challenge hate and intolerance and to remember that, as our theme for this 25th anniversary states, Every Action Matters.

We also have a range of activities available to different organisations and local areas including:
  Publishing the Srebrenica Memorial Statement on your web pages and social media during Memorial Week. Sharing and doing the 11 Every Action Matters personal challenges. Hold a candle lighting and read the Srebrenica prayer Ask your local authority to adopt or reaffirm your commitment to the Srebrenica Council Motion. You can order a Srebrenica flag and fly it (we suggest at half-mast) for this year’s memorial week which runs from 5th-12th July or on Memorial Day itself which is 11th July. Ask your Library Services to have an exhibition in their open spaces when they re-open – materials are available on our website. Inviting a speaker from Remembering Srebrenica to your faith, community or social group. Hold a creative arts and crafts session around the Srebrenica flower and share the results on social media. Email southwest@srebrenica.org.uk for more ideas and suggestions.