re: #257 electrotek

I have a huge problem with nationalist Serb idiots, but that goes for any group where they take pride in the past to make up for their failures of the present.

But while I realize that Serbs do deny the crimes of their own like Turks do with Armenians, that doesn’t necessarily mean all Serbs are evil; same with Turks.

Unfortunately, Serbs as a whole are victims of nationalist propaganda so despite their vehement denial and victimhood, that doesn’t make them ‘genocidal’ or horrible people all to their own. I admit I still have some kind of prejudice against Serbs because in the past the ones I encountered were nationalist blowhards who justify their anti-Muslim bigotry by citing their supposedly “heroic” efforts in the war. However, after meeting quite a few Serbs in the interim who not only admit their fucked up in the war, but also have the courage to apologize and make amends for what they did and to ensure it never happens again. That struck a chord in me because I’m the same way, as a Pakistani, when it comes to the genocide of Bengalis in the 1970s which is undoubtedly a dark stain on the country’s history (which can also explain why I’m unapologetic about being critical of Pakistan and the nationalist sentiments of many Pakistanis). Hopefully in my case, I will eventually have ZERO prejudice against Serbs with the more I meet and realize that they are just people, like Bosniaks and Croats.

Unfortunately, only 8% of Serbia’s population admit that Srebrenica happened, so there will be a lot of work that’s needed for Serbs to admit their crimes and to ensure they don’t happen again. Not to mention that they won’t be tarred even further when another anti-Muslim fascist commits a massacre in their name like Anders Breivik did. They are unfortunate victims of nationalist propaganda that strives to cover the truth by all means necessary. This is not unique to Serbs so we can’t pin this entirely on Serbs or on Orthodox Christians in general.

Years ago I was friends with a woman whose father was Serb; she would talk vividly about the Kosovo war of 1389 when the Serbs confronted the Turks. She was still hostile to Muslims because of that battle.

At one time I believed that if Tito could have lived another 50 years this hostility between these nationalities would have disappeared, but it looks like it takes only one malicious leader to reignite hatreds that had been slowly dissipating.