European rabbis and everyone else are welcome to hold their conference in the Republic of Srpska, in East Sarajevo, whenever they wish, said Deacon of Serbian Orthodox Church Božidar Vasiljević, following the cancellation of the European Conference of Rabbis (CER) in Sarajevo.
The hotel, in which the three-day meeting was to take place, informed the CER that it could not host the event due to “security reasons.” Some hours earlier, the city of Sarajevo canceled the gala dinner it had planned for the gathering’s participants.
BiH’s Federal Labor and Social Policy Minister Adnan Delic openly opposed the rabbinical gathering in Sarajevo.
In an official statement, the Muslim minister said: “As a person living in BiH, as someone who believes in the values of truth, justice, and the dignity of every human being, I express my strongest protest against the announcement of the European Conference of Rabbis to be held in Sarajevo from June 16 to 18.
Delic added: “The conference announced as a ‘message of peace’ is essentially an attempt to send a message of legitimization of a genocidal entity and its shameful acts of crimes against humanity from Sarajevo, a symbol of resistance, survival, and human endurance,” adding, “This is absolutely contrary to everything Sarajevo is and has stood for throughout history”.
In a statement to Srna, Vasiljević noted that until 1991, about 40 percent—and in some areas over 50 percent—of the population in Sarajevo, including its municipalities and local communities such as Stari Grad, Grbavica, Nahorevo, Hadžići, Nedžarići, and Alipašino (excluding Novo Sarajevo and Ilidža), were Serbs.
“The fantasies that Serbs were ‘aggressors against themselves,’ that they attacked and killed themselves, only still work on the streets with South Korean tourists—where in front of Orthodox churches in Sarajevo, illiterate and inarticulate tourist guides tell them fairy tales about churches being built by the Ottomans and about the city being ‘occupied’,” Vasiljević said.
He emphasized that Serbs lived, worked, built, were born, died, and suffered in Sarajevo.
“Since the Serb people left behind their lives, property, and everything, and considering that today the Israeli people and rabbis are being prevented—in the name of a ‘multicultural state’—from coming and holding a conference, I want to say that European rabbis and everyone else are welcome to hold their conference in the Republic of Srpska, in East Sarajevo, whenever they wish,” Vasiljević stated.
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, reacted:“The CER’s biannual Standing Committee meeting was due to be held at the Swisshotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, next week. Chief rabbis from all over Europe, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, were due to convene to discuss the most pressing issues facing European Jewish life today and matters of freedom of religion or belief. Shockingly, we have been made unwelcome, and this last-minute, ministerial boycott of Jewish European citizens, dedicated to purely to promoting Jewish life in Europe and furthering dialogue and democracy across the continent, is disgraceful.”
“CER events foster dialogue, boost interfaith activity, and promote public engagement. It is Sarajevo’s loss. We are delighted that the Bavarian Government will support our event’s relocation to Munich, and we, as an organization, will continue unfazed to be engaged in supporting the Jewish communities of Europe.”
He added: “However, a wider question looms. This decision to block a European-Jewish conference on European soil is not only alarming, but also revealing. It is a clear violation of EU commitments and values (The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 10 and 22, The European Council Declaration on Antisemitism, 2020). Bosnia and Herzegovina should certainly be canceled and barred from accession to the European Union following this disgraceful castigation of a European faith group.
“Sarajevo has proclaimed itself a ‘city of openness and tolerance’ for anyone but Jews.”
Source: Srna and Jerusalem Post
