After the City Administration of Sarajevo rejected a demand for illuminating the City Hall on the occasion of an event marking Israel's 75th anniversary or to host the event, mayor Benjamina Karic explained what those demands set by the organisers of the event actually contained and why she made such decision. Pročitaj više

According to the mayor, there was “obviously the expectation that those demands would be met without question,” but that she had her own stance and was “not afraid to make decisions.”

“For example, I did not want to publicly share the information that friends from Israel wanted to illuminate our City Hall, not with the flag of Israel, but with scenes from the song Jerusalem of Gold, which, in addition to the official anthem of Israel, is also considered an unofficial anthem, and talks about the “conquest” of the Temple Mount by Jews. I didn't allow that. The Temple Mount is normally the most sensitive point of contact between Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem and is the scene of constant clashes,” Karic tweeted on Friday, two days after the event in question was held at the Sarajevo Synagogue.

She unveiled that the organisers, the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, also asked for a permit for fireworks but that the reason why she rejected it was simple.

“Let me remind you that the City of Sarajevo has joined the cities that will not organise even New Year's fireworks, due to the negative consequences for the population, animals and the environment. A pyrotechnic spectacle in the sky will be replaced by light visual effects and confetti,” said the mayoress.

The final, likely the most controversial demand, referred to the plaque on the entrance of the City Hall.

“In the end, I didn't even want to share the information that friends from the Israeli Chamber of Commerce asked me to hide the plaque on the City Hall that talks about historical facts. The above was requested in order to satisfy the SNSD (the ruling party in Bosnia's Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska), whose members do not want to enter the building because of the plaque on the City Hall,” Karic added.