Amongst the organizations at the meeting were: Initiative for a Free Palestine (Croatia), Palestinian Community in BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Feminist Anti-Militarist Collective (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Montenegro for Palestine, Legis (Macedonia), For a Free Palestine (Serbia), EnNisa (Serbia), Solidarity (Kosovo), Free Palestine (Albania), and the Movement for Palestinian Rights (Slovenia).
The meeting was part of a larger festival and conference, called Grounded. Grounded is held annually and incorporates electronic music, activism, critical thinking, and debate into one event. It was first held in 2015, and every year since then it has chosen a theme to focus on. This year’s theme was racism and the Palestinian struggle.
Throughout the weekend, panels focusing on different aspects of the theme were held. Some of the topics covered were: the media’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine, Israel’s strategy of pink-washing (i.e. using LGBT+ rights to distract from apartheid and occupation), and the recent United Nations resolution about the Srebrenica genocide whose sponsors are waging the current genocide in Palestine.
In addition to the panels, the Balkan Palestinian solidarity organizations held a working meeting to discuss how they could collaborate to strengthen the movement and further amplify the calls for a free Palestine. This represented the first formal attempt to do so, but many collectives have already been informally collaborating on an ad hoc basis. For example, the Serbian group “Support for the People of Palestine” has collaborated with Aiša Omerčić from Bosnia and Herzegovina to put together a petition calling for the end of flights between Sarajevo and Tel Aviv. Amongst the passengers taking these flights are Israeli soldiers who have either fought in Gaza or otherwise enforce the larger occupation of Palestine.
During the conference, organizers described the methods they’ve undertaken to support Palestine. In Slovenia and Montenegro, the organizers described the fruitlessness of trying to appeal to and lobby those in power. The representative from Slovenia described how politicians would diligently take notes in meetings with them and promise the world. But when it came time to take action, the same politicians would play a game of hot potato and shift responsibility onto others. Even when they did take action, like reuniting Palestinian families who still have relatives in Gaza, they prioritized individuals who had personal connections with those in the government.
In Croatia, activists spoke to a heightened climate of repression surrounding their activities. For example, the police consistently arrive to their protests and events even before they do. Many times, they say, the only communication about these events has been on private group chats, suggesting that their organizing is being closely surveilled.
Organizers from Kosovo talked about the challenges they face in opposing US imperialism given the US’s role in their independence struggle. And in Serbia, many who oppose the genocide in Palestine fail to criticize the Serbian state’s historic oppression of Albanians in Kosovo or Bosniaks in Bosnia. In Croatia, many citizens don’t recognize the genocide committed against Jews and Serbs. In this way, the Palestinian plight has highlighted the need to grapple with the contradictions between populations in the Balkans.
As such, a crucial takeaway from this conference was that we cannot be selective in our opposition to genocide and oppression. Being consistent in that respect will require people across the Balkans to cast aside preconceived notions and engage in honest historical investigation and self-reflection. Doing such is part of the struggle for a free Palestine. And if we dare to do so, Palestine may be able to free all of us from the ideas that keep us divided.
A.M.
