Brian Masse (MP) to Hold Rally for Srebrenica Remembrance Day
Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada
Published: August 27, 2009
Windsor, ON – Brian Masse M.P., NDP Industry, Automotive, and Border Critic will be holding a rally along with the Canadian Bosniak community and supporters to launch the campaign for a Srebrenica Remembrance Day. Masse will be making public the motion he will present to the House of Commons in the upcoming fall session. Imam Dr. Zijad Delic (see backgrounder for more information) and Mr. Emir Ramic, President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks-Canada, will speak. Media availability will follow the speeches and the event.
WHEN: Saturday, August 29, 2009.
TIME: 12 PM NOON
WHERE: Charles Clark Square, City of Windsor
Located between Chatham St. and University E; midway between Goyeau and McDougall streets. In case of rain, the event will move to CAW Local 444 Union Hall 1855 Turner Road. For more information, please contact: Mohummed Peer, 519-982-8816.
Backgrounder:
The Srebrenica Genocide
After the fall of Srebrenica on July 11th 1995, Bosnian Serb forces, commanded by General Ratko Mladic (an indicted war criminal), and paramilitary units rapidly executed more than 8,000 Bosniak (Muslim) men, boys, and elderly, who had sought safety in the area. Moreover, approximately 30,000 people were forcibly deported in a UN-assisted ethnic cleansing. The European Parliament resolution referred to the Srebrenica Massacre as “the biggest war crime in Europe since the end of WWII.” This atrocity has been declared an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in 2005 have passed resolutions on the Srebrenica Genocide and all the atrocities that occurred during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The European parliament passed its resolution on January 15, 2022 institutionalizing July 11 as the day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide.
Imam Dr. Zijad Delic
Imam Dr. Zijad Delic, 41, was born in Bosnia. He is a formally trained Imam and holds a PhD from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His Doctoral thesis focused on tasks and activities relevant to building bridges between the Canadian Muslim community and mainstream Canadian society, in hopes of creating more cohesive cooperation among all Canadians.
From 1995 – 2006, Dr. Delic held a range of leadership positions within the BC Muslim Association. For the past six years, he has also worked extensively as a consultant to all three levels of government, as well as to a number of NGOs (non-governmental organizations).
In December 2005, he was selected by Simon Fraser University and the Canadian Embassy in Berlin to present a series of lectures on Canada’s Religious, Cultural and National Communities at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. This experience gave him a deeper insight into current needs, issues and developments that affect all Muslims living in the West.
In addition to his formal academic endeavors and a longstanding personal interest in emerging issues of the Canadian and global Muslim communities, Dr. Delic has invested much of his career energy in researching how Muslims can integrate more successfully into the Canadian context. He envisions the building of a new Canadian Muslim culture with an even greater collective potential for making positive social, cultural and professional contributions to the national fabric of the country while remaining faithful to the formative principles of Islam.
Dr. Delic has been invited to lecture on themes of Islam, leadership and educational issues at a number of BC universities and colleges; he has also presented lectures and workshops to various governmental agencies, written articles for BC newspapers, and been a regular guest on Canadian TV and radio shows. His energy and versatility on behalf of BC Muslims has earned Dr. Zijad Delic the compliment of being called “The People’s Imam.”
MASSE’s MOTION:
Srebrenica Remembrance Day Motion
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should declare the day of July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11 as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute week in memorial of the Srebrenica Massacre of July of 1995, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak civilians were executed under the policy of ethnic cleansing, the worst act of genocide in Europe since the Second World War, and 30,000 others were expelled from their homes by Serbian forces.
Que, de l’avis de la Chambre, le gouvernement devrait faire de la journée du 11 juillet la Journée commémorative du massacre de Srebrenica et de la semaine du 11 juillet la Semaine d’hommage à la Bosnie-Herzégovine afin de perpétuer le souvenir du massacre auquel les forces serbes se sont livrées à Srebrenica en juillet 1995 et au cours duquel elles ont exécuté plus de 8 000 civils bosniaques en application de la politique de nettoyage ethnique – le pire acte génocide commis en Europe depuis la Deuxième Guerre mondiale – et en ont forcé 30 000 autres à abandonner leurs foyers.
