Why Serbian Media Scorned a Peace Message from Srebrenica

To understand how important this was, one has to know that the Srebrenica Memorial Centre operates in a very hostile environment in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, where denial of the Srebrenica genocide is widespread, alleged war criminals live freely, and there is little state support for truth-seeking and research of wartime crimes.

Most people who live near the Memorial Centre or in nearby towns know about Jasenovac and other crimes committed against Serbs, but do not accept that the Srebrenica massacres in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces killed some 8,000 Bosniaks, were genocide.

By acknowledging the suffering of others - an almost unknown concept in the former Yugoslavia - the Srebrenica Memorial Centre wanted to show that there could be a different way of living: side by side, together in peace.

One might have thought that this would have been welcomed by Serbs in Republika Srpska and neighbouring Serbia.

But many Serbian-language media outlets simply ignored it, while some, like Tanjug news agency and B92, decided to portray it as an attempt to 'equalise victims' that undermined the suffering of Serbs in World War II.  The message of compassion for the suffering of others was falsely interpreted as divisive and disrespectful.

Propaganda, falsehoods and hatred

A mural in a bar in Belgrade depicting former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic in the disguise he used while on the run in Serbia. Photo: EPA/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC.

Mainstream media in Serbia play a major role in forming public opinion and usually reflect the dominant narrative of the ruling class, enforcing divides, fuelling internal and external conflicts and attempting to construct national cohesion on...

Continue reading on: