The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today marked the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide. CAIR also said the Biden administration must take action to stop “history repeating itself” as the Israeli government engages in a genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Thousands from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad have gathered in the town of Srebrenica to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the 1995 genocide targeting Muslim Bosniaks committed by Serb forces. The newly-discovered bodies of 13 men and one teenage boy were laid to rest in the Srebrenica cemetery, which expands every year as new mass graves are discovered in the area. About 8,372 Bosniaks were killed in the genocide after the town, a UN-protected safe area, fell to Serb forces in July 1995.
SEE: Thousands mark 1995 Srebrenica genocide which is denied by Serbs, fueling ethnic tensions in Bosnia
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, who is of Bosniak descent and lost family members in the Bosnian war, said:
“On this day 29 years ago, more than 8,000 innocent people were slaughtered in Srebrenica for no reason other than being of the Islamic faith and Bosniak ethnicity. Srebrenica was the culmination of four years of ethnic cleansing and massacres carried out with the aim of carving out ethnically-pure, Muslim-free states.
“One of the most infuriating aspects of the Srebrenica genocide was the fact that Srebrenica was a UN Safe Zone. The battalion of Dutch troops stationed there by the UN simply allowed the Serbs to carry their victims off and execute them. We are seeing history repeat itself. The entire world, particularly the Biden administration, is playing the role of the Dutch battalion – impotently watching on as Israeli forces commit genocide in Gaza before their eyes.
“As we honor and pray for the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, we must come together and demand that the Biden administration and the world at large take action and stop allowing history to repeat itself. The Biden administration must stop enabling the genocide in Gaza, demand an immediate ceasefire, and hold Israeli war criminals to account.
“We pray that God grants paradise to all those martyred in Srebrenica and that He grants relief to the people of Gaza.”
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com