Muslims have become radicalized toward Israel and Jews, and such a policy is also being expressed by Sarajevo, which has been plastered with posters and calls for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Frano Jehuda Kolonomos Martinčević, a member of the Jewish Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an expert in international relations.
He said that Muslims from Sarajevo have continued a policy rooted in Yugoslav tradition, but in a much more radical form, because over the past three decades they have actively integrated into the Muslim world’s perspective toward Israel and Jews.
“Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina are trying, through their negative stance toward Jews and Israel, to express their loyalty to Muslim positions and policies coming from Islamic centers of power. These are the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, as well as all other movements and organizations that advocate the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. This is a neo-Nazi policy wrapped in Muslim fundamentalism,” Martinčević said.
He recalled that Sarajevo has for years demonstrated a negative attitude toward Jews, adding that a Conference of Rabbis was canceled in the city and that Israeli citizens’ passports were confiscated.
“Muslims are taking it upon themselves to commit such a gaffe in the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to declare the prime minister of Israel as someone who should be arrested. Decisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are also made by Serbs and Croats, who do not agree with such actions. I hope that everyone will react. The question arises as to what the final outcome of this action against Prime Minister Netanyahu will be,” Martinčević told Srna.
He criticized the work of associations in Sarajevo that view everything as an isolated incident rather than as a general attack on the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
“It turns out that the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which for three decades since the war has been led by Jakob Finci without re-election or a confirmed new mandate, will most likely once again not react at all to these low-level provocations by political Sarajevo. And even if they do react, they will, in their recognizable style, attempt to relativize the matter in favor of those they serve through their behavior and public positions,” Martinčević noted.
According to him, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs and President Milorad Dodik, as well as Croats, support Israel and the Jewish people more than some Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina do.
“Although this sounds illogical, that is what we have been witnessing for 30 years or more,” Martinčević said.
He stated that the posters in Sarajevo are just one in a series of provocations, pointing out that for Muslims, one day Serbs are the problem, the next day Croats, and the third day Jews and Israel.
“A new current has also arrived in American politics. President Donald Trump has come, who is a sovereigntist and represents a different policy. We are seeing changes on the geopolitical map of the world that do not suit many people, especially in Sarajevo,” Martinčević said.
He emphasized that formal Jewish associations in Sarajevo do not express objective positions, stating that at this moment it is necessary to clearly express a stance toward everything being done against the State of Israel and its leadership.
Martinčević recalled that Yugoslav policy was not favorable toward Israel because of its relations with Arab countries and the Non-Aligned Movement, and that Jews gravitated toward local national communities after the breakup of the state.
“Jews in Sarajevo gravitated toward Bosniak politics. I want to make a distinction regarding Jews in Sarajevo. I am a member of the Jewish Community in Sarajevo, and because of that I have come into certain conflicts, because it bothers them that I have good personal relations with Serbs, and that I am of Croat origin, which does not suit Sarajevo,” Martinčević concluded.
