Muslims versus Muslims (minority, hell, islam, Zen)

[Djamila]

Just to share a little background, Mostar is perhaps one of the saddest stories of the entire war.

The city felt the effects of war much sooner than the rest of Bosnia, beginning in 1991. At that time, Roman Catholic refugees from Croatia and Bosnian border towns began arriving in Mostar fleeing the Croatian war. In that war, Orthodox Christian extremists attempted to ethnically cleanse Croatia's Roman Catholic population, which composed more than 95% of the total population before the war.

When the war began in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Orthodox Christian extremists surrounded Mostar and held it under a siege - bombing and sniping daily. All of the city's mosques and Roman Catholic churches were damaged or destroyed and thousands of civilians were killed.

Together, the city's Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Roman Catholics rose up to defeat the Orthodox Christian forces. Their measures were largely successful but they were not enough. Croatian soldiers from Croatia entered Bosnia and Herzegovina and armed Muslims and Roman Catholics in Mostar, allowing them to drive away the Orthodox Christian forces.

The backlash against Mostar's own 15,000-strong Orthodox Christian population was severe. Their church was dynamited and all but 200 Orthodox Christians were harassed and violently deported.

Once this was completed, Muslims in West Mostar were disarmed and deported to East Mostar. In response, Roman Catholics in East Mostar were rounded up and delivered to West Mostar. Then a bitter Muslim-Roman Catholic war erupted that killed thousands of civilians. The better-armed Roman Catholics caused the most death and damage because they were continually re-armed by the Croatian army.

By the time the war ended, the only parts of Mostar that remained undamaged were Roman Catholic districts in the extreme West end of the city where Muslims didn't have sufficient weaponry to strike. The Muslim side of Mostar was completely destroyed.

After the war, roughly 2,000 Orthodox Christians returned to the city, settling mainly in the no man's land between the Muslim and Roman Catholic portions of town.

Today Mostar is, according to the United Nations, officially the most divided city on earth. It's still common place for people to live their lives without crossing former front lines and all sorts of other things. So elections there tend to be very nationalist and very passionate.

[Djamila]

I've decided to vote for SDP this year, the Social Democratic Party. It's mainly Muslim but it has Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Jewish members as well. It's the only party that has offered anything in this election, so that's it!



"60 years since we last defeated fascism! Free our people! Youth Forum of Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina"

And the flag I'll be waving tomorrow:


And the song I'll be singing:
http://www.sdp-bih.org.ba/documents/...rnacionala.mp3



Go Besima! Give us Bosnia's first female, Muslim President!

[Djamila]

All done up for the election.


"Choose the best! Social-Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina! Hey, let's go!"