Srebrenica mother at UNGA: We raised our children not to hate — learn from us!

“It is very difficult to speak and live for 30 years, carrying pain in our souls, listening to genocide denial and the glorification of war criminals. Our children were killed just because they had different names and because they were Muslims. The whole world and Europe watched and remained silent,” Subašić said, adding that the mothers of Srebrenica did not wait but “stood up and sought justice.”

“Our children were innocent and someone must be held responsible for their murders,” emphasized the president of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves Association.

Subasic highlighted that the surviving mothers had several tasks after the genocide, but one was especially important:

“We had to take care of 5,400 children who were left orphaned — without one or both parents. Many children don’t have photos of their fathers and often ask if they look like them. We raised those children without hatred and without a desire for revenge. Our children are professors, engineers, they speak foreign languages… I call on mothers around the world to learn from us. When you kill a mother’s child, you kill a part of her too. I would never want that to happen to anyone else,” Subasic said.

She repeated that the world and Europe were unjust toward Bosnian Muslims, just as something similar is happening now in Palestine.

“While I stand here, children are being killed and someone’s daughters are being raped in Palestine and Ukraine. I ask you to join us in the fight against the denial of crimes,” said Subasic at the end of her speech at the UN General Assembly, which was met with loud applause.