International Initiative for AntiSerbism Monitoring

INTERNATIONAL
Initiative for
Fundraising brochure
Antiserbism
Monitoring
Unless
we
fight
it
Antiserbism is prejudice against Serbs just because
they are Serbs. In the 20th century it repeatedly led to systematic killings, including the genocide conducted at one of
the largest death-camp networks of WWII: Jasenovac.
During the 1990s, it was brought back to life as war propaganda in armed conflicts that united local peoples and the
international community against the Serbs.
The prime postulates are: Anything Serbian is bad;
Serbs are guilty; Serbs are villains, not victims; Serbs
are sub-human, and deserve inhuman treatment;
Serbs are monsters.
In 2012, the wars are long over, but Antiserbism is
here to stay.
Unless we fight it...
Antiserbism has been manifested through bias, distortions of facts, hypocrisy, discrimination,
defamation, dehumanization, hate speech, culture of impunity and physical violence - not only locally,
but globally. It has been present in art, entertainment industry, scholarly works, policies, legal decisions,
economic and military measures, and above all - in the media.
What
we’ve done
so far
X
A group of volunteers including academics, artists, journalists, social and political activists from Serbia and the
Serbian diaspora have founded the Initiative for Antiserbism Monitoring (IAM), to turn the tide against two decades
of anti-Serb media bias, discrimination and racism. After less than a year, we can report significant progress:
Jasenovac, which was specifically
established to exterminate Serbs.
A global audience of 400 million
heard a misleading claim that the
more than half-million victims of the
camp included “Partisans, opposition
figures, Jews and Gypsies” - without
Serbs.
1
…
Spanish
TV omission
In September 17, 2011, Spanish
national television RTVE broadcast a
program on a Croat Nazi commandant of the World War II death camp
We sent ten letters of complaint and
circulated a petition ( 9 srb.am/Petition )
demanding a public correction and
apology for omitting the genocide
victims.
On October 5, 2011, RTVE apologized.
It was the first apology by any inter-
national media network to the Serbian
people in the past 20 years – a period
virtually defined by anti-Serb media
bias.
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srb.am/Apology
Catholic
masses for
Ustasha Nazis
When in December, 2011, masses were
held in Croatia for top Ustasha Nazi
war criminals, we called in Nazi hunter
Efraim Zuroff who got the story to the
world media.
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Jolie’s
“Blood and
Honey”
We followed up by interviewing Serb
victims, including women raped in
prison camps. On March 26, together with victims’ associations, we
issued a press release supported by
a video titled “Angelina Jolie insults
rape victims”. All the materials were
published in Serbian and major world
languages.
When actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie announced that she would
make her directorial debut with a film
about Bosnia, we knew we should be
on the alert.
Going to great lengths to get access
to and to study the film before its
public release, we submitted it to a
detailed content analysis to explore
anti-Serb bias. The result was overwhelming: the film featured not even a
single Serb civilian victim, while all the
war criminals were Serbs.
On the eve of the movie’s premiere
in Serbia on February 23, 2012, we
presented our findings at press conferences in Banja Luka, Bosnia and in
Belgrade, Serbia.
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Fylking’s
hate speech
When in April, 2012, Swedish radio
host Gert Fylking referred to Serbs
in general as “Breiviks (the name of a
Norwegian mass murderer), damn pigs,
psychopaths and retards” we reacted
to the defamation. By networking
organizations and the media we helped
Swedish democracy to bring Fylking to
task, forcing him to apologize, getting
him suspended and having him sued.
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after we objected via the worldwide
Twitter social network, it was corrected
to “Albanian shoots…”
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Blic’s rigged
questionnaire
srb.am/HateSpeech
srb.am/Apology2
Bild’s
misrepresentation
When the German newspaper Bild ran
a story headlined “Serb shoots exwife” we noted the false report.
The killer, Kurtim Nuraj, was not a
Serb but an Albanian. Thirty minutes
When an online poll on the Blic Serbian newspaper’s news portal posed
a rigged question about Kosovo, we
stopped them. They had listed three
answers but allowed participants to
pick from only two choices - in favor
of “letting go” of Kosovo. One hour
after our tweet, the rigged poll was
permanently removed.
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srb.am/Correction
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srb.am/Poll
srb.am/Analysis
srb.am/Video
srb.am/Release
War criminals
Civilian victims
Women victims
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Many regional media published our
findings and releases and the video
remains ranked among the top results
for searches including the terms “Jolie
Victims”.
Exposing
violence
against Serbs
in Kosovo
When on June 1, 2012, German NATO
troops in the Kosovo Peacekeeping Force known as KFOR fired at
unarmed Serbian demonstrators,
we went to the scene of the crime to
determine the facts. International
media reports were contradictory and
inconsistent. Our upcoming analysis
is aimed at letting the German citizens
know in detail what human rights violations their soldiers are committing in
their name.
Meanwhile, unarmed Serbs were shot
again by Kosovo police on St. Vitus
Day, and ten days later two returnees
were murdered. Our reactions include
a video with eyewitness reports about
police brutality.
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Two commemorations in
Srebrenica
srb.am/Article
In July, 2012, two commemorations
were held for victims of the Bosnian
war of 1992-95 in the Srebrenica region – one for Bosniaks and the other
for Serb victims.
The media coverage was biased: the
Serb commemoration was omitted,
undermined and even labeled as a
“feast” and a shame and insult to Bosniak victims. Such a definition indeed
meant offending the victims, but Serb
ones. We unmasked the hoax and are
filing a lawsuit.
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Victories
building
momentum
…
For two decades, human rights, legal
and ethical norms were ignored when
it came to Serbs without any consequences.
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Ustasha Nazi
salute in
Europe
srb.am/Article2
Tens of thousands were again shouting
the fascist salute “Za dom spremni”
(For homeland ready) at the concert for
the Croatian national holiday - commemorating the anniversary of August
4 and 5, 1995, when the Croatian army
cleansed a quarter of a million Serbs
from their ancestral homes.
It is safe to say that next year the
controversial singer Thompson and
his fans will continue this tradition as
citizens of the European Union. To act
preventively and in a timely manner we published a press release the
morning after the concert, produced a
video, and are now undertaking further
actions with Jewish and Serb organizations from Croatia.
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srb.am/Video3
Holocaust
denial on
Jasenovac
anniversary
On August 22, 2012, one of the leading Croatian newspapers published
an article containing the denial of
the Holocaust at Jasenovac. Claims
that the camp was but a “Greater
Serbian myth” were put forward by a
Roman Catholic priest, the head of
the Archdiocesan Archives in Zagreb.
What especially hurts is that the 71st
anniversary of Jasenovac passed in
utter silence the day before, so this
insulting article was the only remembrance of the victims. By informing
the Serbian public we enabled an
avalanche of reactions, thus achieving a double success. Serbs didn’t
remain silent about Jasenovac after
all: neither for the insult nor for the
anniversary.
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srb.am/Avalanche
Our early activities changed all that
- setting a historic milestone, almost
exactly 20 years after Antiserbism
reappeared (see the New York Times
article from September 1991, U.S.
Policy on Yugoslavia Shifts to Curbing
Serbs, 9 srb.am/Curbing ).
The attention is growing: our YouTube
video clip about the Spanish TV correction drew 15,000 views in a single
day (October 6, 2011). Six months
later, our clip about Fylking’s hate
speech drew 34,000 views in one day
(April 23, 2012).
Since then, our results keep proving
that turning the tide is an attainable
objective.
When the Serbian daily Press informed readers about the founding
of IAM, it was the first mention of the
term “Antiserbism” in the media. Since
then, the topic has hit the front pages
five times in Serbia.
The momentum is on the side of truth:
it took a month and a half for Spanish
television to apologize, then only
three days for Swedish radio to do the
same, and finally just half an hour for
the German tabloid to correct itself.
The new wave of Antiserbism that
came with Jolie has encountered organized resistance. Meanwhile, tennis
star Novak Djokovic - no less famous
these days than the Hollywood star brought a crew of a top US TV show to
the basement in which he took shelter
from NATO bombs as a boy.
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srb.am/Djokovic
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srb.am/Pressclipping
Our Facebook page reaches an average of 25,000 people per week, and
the number is constantly growing.
We have quickly become the most
active Twitter account in the region in
the broader field of human rights, let
alone media bias and Antiserbism.
Although short and informal, our
Twitter conversations illustrate all the
strength of our arguments.
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srb.am/Conversations
We only ask you to keep an open mind and remember the biggest
difference: it works.
How
we’ve done it…
Reactions against Antiserbism existed before. We are indebted to all the pioneers,
and proud to work with some of them. They know best how hard they tried, and
how little response they got. The wall of silence was too thick to get through. Just
a few months before the RTVE incident, tens of thousands signed petitions against Chelsea
Handler about her anti-Serb hate speech. She simply ignored us ( 9 srb.am/Unrepentant ). So
what have we done differently this time?
The following 12 points are cornerstones of our approach, and more than that – of our strategy. It is a product of research and experience over years of suffering and fighting, by a new
generation of Serbs, ones who have lived through Antiserbism on a daily basis since childhood. It is new and different. To many, it will come as a surprise, to some, as a shock. We
only ask you to keep an open mind and remember the biggest difference: it works.
1
Start from
the grassroots,
bottom-up
Why was success achieved outside
existing Serb institutions? Because the
institutions belong to a system – not
only political and organizational, but
a conceptual one – that was unfit and
closed. The system lacked capacities and planning, while on the other
hand, capable individuals with plans
lacked system support.
The only way to succeed was to rebuild from the bottom-up: new ideas
appear among individuals, who gather
and implement those ideas, promote
3
Community
cooperation
We are truly an international
initiative. Everybody is invited and
welcome to participate in our values,
work and merit alike. Our successes
consist largely in connecting different individuals and institutions and
getting them to work together.
them and build support, thereby presenting the new method to the system.
2
Personal
responsibility
Fighting Antiserbism is of great interest for the community, but of no immediate interest for the individual.
That is why so many are aware while
so few are actually doing anything.
But let’s be clear about one thing: if we
don’t do it, nobody will.
We stopped waiting, stopped finding
excuses, and are now hoping to find
a critical mass of like-minded people
ready to join or support our cause.
All our texts and translations are
produced through collaborative editing. We have coined a Serbian word
for that – e-moba. It comes from the
first sound of e-mail and “moba” the Serbian custom of joint labor as a
form of solidarity.
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Internet at
the foundation and
forefront
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Hard work
comes first
Before, work came last: after opinions,
debates, patience, doubts, fears....
A culture of inactivity was in place.
We are harnessing the information
revolution. Without the Internet - free,
open and powerful - our achievements
wouldn’t be possible. It has allowed
us to connect, to work together and to
exert influence, - in real time, around
the globe and at low cost.
In response to the Spanish RTVE oversight, distinguished Serbs said to us: “It’s
good that anyone even remembers Jasenovac”. About Jolie: “You’re just giving
her more importance”. About resurrected
Antiserbism, harking back to 1992: “The
truth will fight for the Serbs”.
The new media such as blogs, video
clips and social networks are our
specialty.
In 2012, we say “We Serbs will fight for
the truth.” We have built an organizational culture where work comes first and
achieving matters.
5
Self-respect
Serbs had been self-censoring any
mention of their own Jasenovac victims
long before Spanish RTVE did the
same. The domestically produced “A
Serbian Film” is far more anti-Serb
than Jolie’s “In the Land of Blood and
Honey”.
When we asked a badly wounded Serb
man, shot for no reason by NATO
troops in Kosovo, “How did it become
commonplace for a people to be
hunted like animals?”, his answer was:
“Well, we're no angels either.”
Unconscious anti-Serb prejudice is
globally pervasive – Serbs included.
But Serbs are human beings, and have
the same human rights as others. There
is no “Well...” about it!
6
Winning is
important!
In the past, many Serbs expected to
lose and some even wanted to lose,
only “justly and gloriously”. That
approach was a defeatist misinterpretation of our Kosovo founding myth.
Others just wanted to voice their anger.
Both groups got what they wanted, or
deserved.
On the other hand, we wanted positive
results. Not to just do our best, not to
just clear our own conscience, but to
win in the minds of others as well as
our own.
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Reaching
the highest
standards
Winning means reaching the goal.
Whether we are 0% or 90% of the way
along our road, nothing is really done
till we get there.
We must be good enough. Not only to
get things done, but also to overcome
adversaries.
Many of our members are highly
skilled and educated. If you compare
our activities with Media networks,
Institutes, Tribunals, you’ll see that we
are up to the challenge.
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Thorough
preparation
and strong
basis
Like the tip of an iceberg, visible
achievements rely on a much larger
invisible preparation. That is why from
the first day, with Spanish TV, we prepared carefully and thoroughly.
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srb.am/Preparation
We obtain a comprehensive insight into
the instances of Antiserbism and then
prioritize our reactions. We go to the
sources and verify them to determine
facts. In debate, we make arguments,
not merely argue. In our criticisms, we
don't get emotional, but we do let the
facts speak for themselves.
10
Sound values:
the best motivation
Our actions are based on the positive human values of
truth, justice, equality and human rights. We know that
victims deserve respect, criminals deserve blame, and
that truth is above politics. We also put “ethical above
ethnical”.
Even when dealing with the worst sufferings and
insults, we believe the good will overcome. That is
why we stay respectful and positive.
11
Consistency
is critical
There can be no unworthy victims, no selective indignation, no exclusive human
rights and no partial truths. If any of
these are allowed to exist based on
ethnic criteria, we call it racism.
Serb victims are our priority because they are the most ignored and the only ones to be systematically and universally
blamed in the latest Balkan wars. But we keep remembering
that they are just one part of all the victims.
Open to
the world
12
The problem needs to be dealt with where it originated: in the
world. Global Antiserbism cannot be influenced from a local
viewpoint. For the world, Serb victims are important because
they are victims, less so because they are Serb. The more
we insist on the local dimension, the global public becomes
more indifferent. On the other hand, staying open opens
many doors previously closed for Serb arguments.
We speak to the
world, and the world
is starting to listen.
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Why are we
doing this?
Once we had to call a busy father of two, who was himself recovering from cancer, in the middle of the night to translate
a subtitle. He did it right away, instead of sleeping. He never met us, or any of our other members. Why are outstanding
individuals from around the world ready to do high quality work, without being paid or even knowing each other?
Because Antiserbism has become unbearable and they were just waiting for the chance to fight it.
Antiserbism, like any other form of racism, was always false, unfair and just plain wrong. But we comforted ourselves
that it was only a relic of the war propaganda from the infamous decade we thought we’d left behind.
Until we finally came to realize that Antiserbism was here to stay.
Now, we decided to fight and win. Because the future is at stake:
• The future of every Serb and every citizen of Serbia and Republika Srpska, because the ball and chain of Antiserbism is
weighing us down in everything we do. Even regarding the economy: global brands don’t come from despised nations.
• The future of the region, because Antiserbism is the main obstacle to reconciliation. The anti-Serb prejudice has become
the ideal excuse for everybody not to face the past. The crimes of others are whitewashed by “Everybody knows that the
Serbs are to blame”. Serb crimes are relativized by: “Everybody lies against us”. Unacknowledged crimes are doomed to
repeat themselves: as we’ve seen with atrocities from the suppressed WWII genocide committed against the Serbs.
• The future of our world, because Antiserbism means feigning commitment to the core values on which that future
is built on, while practicing the exact opposite. It leads to what we’ve called anti-Serb absurd: humanitarians ignoring
human suffering, racism fighters promoting racism, genocide fighters denying genocide and women rights activists
insulting rape victims.
Who
Next
step
are we?
Several dozen people have so far
become engaged in our activities.
The majority are highly educated
diaspora Serbs in the West, but
many others are also contributing,
even anonymously. Two people are
engaged on regular bases:
Andrej Fajgelj (34), the founder of
IAM. Associate professor at Kragujevac University, Serbia. As a student,
he was involved in protest activities against the NATO bombing. He
defended his doctoral thesis about
Serbian epic poetry in France, where
the 2004 March pogrom in Kosovo
found him. He complained to the
national TV because they were reporting “interethnic conflicts” instead of
organized violence against Serbs.
They declined, explaining that they
didn’t mention “affrontements interethniques” but “violences intercommunautaires”. However insignificant
(both qualifications imply victims
and perpetrators), this subtlety was
enough of an excuse. Next time, with
Spanish TV, Fajgelj decided to leave
no place for excuses. Recently, he also
pioneered the production of the first
Serb-developed Cyrillic keyboard. He
is a father of three.
Miroslav Ilić (31), the operations
manager at IAM. He is also a history
professor and has a long experience in
citizen activism. In the NGO Center for
Contemporary Education ( 9 CSE.rs ), he
advanced from a lecturer to a trainers’
trainer, to project manager and finally
to a president. He helped organize
two celebrations of European Neighbor’s Day ( 9 komsha.rs ) in Novi Sad.
He is also now a deputy in the City
Council of Novi Sad. His grandmother
is one of the last survivors of the
Jasenovac death camp.
Our vision is to take Antiserbism
from globally implied to globally
unacceptable in the next ten years.
It can be done only by sufficient
pressure on its perpetrators and
promoters.
It is as-it-happens, while it needs to include retroactive instances of Antiserbism up to 1991 and beyond.
It is largely limited to the media, while
it needs to cover other fields, scientific
and legal first.
Our groundbreaking successes have
proven our capacities, but it is only a
pilot project for the real fight against
Antiserbism.
In general, activities have to reach
critical levels of quality, scope and
regularity. They need to be developed
and diversified: blogging and video
production must be taken to another
level; field work and correspondence intensified; publications must
include news articles, scientific papers
and books. Above all, research and
documentation must provide exhaustive databases of Serb victims and
instances of Antiserbism.
Right now, that fight is mostly reactive,
while it needs to become proactive as
well. For instance, we can predict that
the anniversary of WWI in 2014 will
open the way to anti-Serb historical
revisionism, and anticipate it, instead
of passively waiting.
Activities
sporadic
strategic
reactive
as-it-happens
in the media
voluntary
professional
regular
systematic
proactive
retroactive
in other fields
viable
Pilot
Full-scale
Getting
there
with
your
support
Our vision cannot be realized by enthusiasm and crowdsourcing
alone. In the next phase, we want to fight Antiserbism as our top
priority. Not as a pastime, not as charity work, not as a second job.
The Serbian fight for truth deserves
and needs to become professional.
Our objective is to
raise 100,000 € for the
next year of action. That
budget would cover salaries
and travel expenses for four g
full-time employees, honorariums for non-employees and
office equipment and expenses. In addition to the aforementioned activities on a regular basis, it would serve for the
realization of at least one big annual project:
• an interactive online map of Balkan wars including Serb
victims, with database and timeline.
• an international conference on topics that need to be
explored in greater depth such as: Staro Sajmiste death camp,
Balkan genocides, Emergence and development of Antiserbism.
The budget, like everything else, is planned for winning. The
size and quality of future activities can be deduced from existing results, which were achieved on a voluntary basis, with
our own contributions and donations amounting to only one
tenth of the proposed budget.
Why
get? you?
What do
donors
• Justice for Serb victims and comfort
for their families.
• Saved lives: until the culture of impunity ends, Serbs will be in danger – as
demonstrated by unsolved murders of
returnees in Croatia and Kosovo.
• Life and career free of prejudice for
your children.
• Improved image of Serbs in the
world.
• Improved political positions of Serbs
in the region, including the issues of
the abolition of the Serb Republic in
Bosnia and of Kosovo independence.
• Sound basis for the future of the
region.
• Careful and efficient use of your
money.
• Monthly reports on our activities and
finances.
• Name featured in our donor list.
• Awards depending on the level of
the donation.
Serbs as a community have a
problem carrying out projects
of national interest.
It is a bad tradition dating back to
late 19th century, when the Serbian
elite started abandoning the Serbian
viewpoint in favor of the Yugoslav one.
Since then, Serb national projects have
been less and less desirable.
Today, they are virtually non-existent.
Good intentions usually remain three
steps away from realization: 1) work 2)
cooperation 3) support.
We have made the first two steps - or,
more exactly, giant leaps. But who will
support the fight against Antiserbism?
Whose job is it to defend Serb victims, or the common good in general?
As the answer changes from “everybody” to “somebody” to “nobody”, the
common good collapses.
don’t allow another
20 years of Antiserbism!
On the other hand, neighboring nations
have supported their own national projects for decades. Accordingly, Antiserbism promoters enjoy lavish support.
The defense of the common interest starts with you. If not us, support
somebody else. If nobody is good
enough, lead the way. But don’t
allow another 20 years of
Antiserbism.
Donate
Beneficiary:
Međunarodna inicijativa
za praĆenje antisrbizma
In RSD
160-371475-84
Banca Intesa
In foreign currencies
IBAN:
RS35160005400000191381
SWIFT: DBDBRSBG
Banca Intesa, M. Popovica 7b
11070 Novi Beograd, Serbia
More information:
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If you are not interested in donating, there are still
so many ways you can help: from helping organize a
fundraiser, to spreading the word, to reporting
Antiserbism: 9 [email protected]
We are always in need of information, contacts and
work. Of particular need are skills in the following areas:
writing, translating, proofreading, correspondence,
legal, social networks, web design, video editing, database management, research, project writing and project
management.
srb.am/Donate
Links:
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Antiserbism.com
twitter.com/Antiserbism
facebook.com/Antiserbism
youtube.com/Antisrbizam
youtube.com/SerbVictims