Voices of Sarajevo for the Children of Gaza
There is a group of people in Sarajevo. Some have been friends for many years, while others met only recently, but today they are united by the same idea and the same sense of responsibility. Since February 2024, every Tuesday evening, they gather by the Eternal Flame, a symbol of antifascism and resistance in the very heart of Bosnia and Herzegovinaโs capital, to read aloud the names of Gazaโs murdered children.
In their hands are Palestinian flags, which they see not only as a national symbol, but as a flag of freedom, courage, and dignity for the entire world. Citizens of Sarajevo recognize them, tourists photograph them, and passersby stop to listen, because this act reminds everyone that the voice of conscience must not fall silent.
On October 4, during the opening of the International Theatre Festival MESS, the oldest of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1960, it was this very group who stepped onto the stage together with Festival Director Nihad Kreลกevljakoviฤ to read the names of Gazaโs murdered children. The audience joined them spontaneously, taking the lists that were available at the entrance to the hall.
Just days later, on October 12, they organized a large protest titled โBosnia and Herzegovina for a Free Palestine.โ Their slogan was simple, yet clear: โA ceasefire is the beginning, freedom is the goal.โ Thousands of citizens gathered peacefully and with dignity, standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people at the monument to the children killed during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.
For them, empathy is not abstract. It comes from lived experience, from the time when they themselves were children or teenagers under the shelling.
After the gathering, they decided to continue. To keep speaking about Palestine, clearly, loudly, and until everyone hears them. They will not give up, because they know how important it is not to remain silent.
Here before you are photographs from the opening of the MESS Festival, shared for publication, as well as photographs of the members of this group of Sarajevoโs citizens, guardians of memory, empathy, and humanity, taken during the street readings and the protest.ย Text by Edin Krehiฤ, photos by MESS and a group of citizens of Sarajevo.
