This year marks the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, in which over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered in the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War because of their identity. The lessons from Srebrenica are that hatred and intolerance can flourish if left unchallenged which underlines the importance of why we must never forget about the tragic events that took place and remain resolute in our commitment to tackling hatred, intolerance, prejudice and discrimination in all forms.
The Srebrenica Memorial Day theme for 2022 is ‘Combatting Denial: Confronting Hatred’. Despite the unequivocal fact that genocide was committed, denial of the Srebrenica genocide as well as the crimes against humanity committed across Bosnia and Herzegovina between
1992 to 1995 remains prevalent. Denial brings not only more pain and suffering for the survivors who live in the UK and elsewhere but serves as a rallying call to continue the division and hatred as well as to glorify the murderers. In the UK, communities are only too aware of the
damaging impact that denial can have for individuals and community cohesion. Divisive propaganda and misinformation is thriving, and clear and established facts are denied and manipulated, frequently resulting in minority communities being scapegoated and vilified to create mistrust and promote hatred that threatens community cohesion.
This year’s twin-aimed theme, therefore, seeks to shine a light on the importance of combatting denial and the need to confront the hatred behind the denial.
Kehillat Kernow, therefore, joins others in remembering and honouring the memory of the victims and will continue to work towards building a more cohesive, stronger and safer society free from hatred, discrimination and prejudice.