One recent spring day, when I attended a protest against genocide in Bosnia, I heard a Bosnian woman who had been medically evacuated to the U.S. as she described the "ethnic cleansing" of her city of Visegrad, where Serbian ethnonationalists had used the famous 16th century bridge as a killing-center. Jasmina's brother and father were thrown off the bridge and shot. Her husband was killed in her arms by a shell that took off one of her arms as well. Surviving members of her family fled to Gorazde, a UN "safe haven" which was being shelled even as she spoke. Jasmina was not asking for American help, only that the arms embargo be lifted so that her people could defend themselves. I saw--in the eyes of this gentle and brilliant young woman, who had suffered beyond imagination--both the promise and the tragedy of Bosnia.
As an Islamicist, with Bosnian Serb relatives, I remembered the excitement I felt when the European Community and the U.S. recognized Bosnia's independence on April 6-7, 1992. Here was a multi-religious nation in Europe that could help bridge the widening gulf between the Islamic world and the West. With the "ethnic cleansing," excitement turned to horror. As a Friend who finds that of the divine in everyone, the religious elements of the genocide were particularly troubling. Bosnian Muslims, Croats, and Serbs speak the same language and trace their origin to the same South Slavic tribes. The term "ethnic cleansing" refers to the extermination of those of another religion.
The first scholarly article I had published, back in 1984, concerned the idea of Islamic thinker Ibn `Arabi that ultimate reality cannot be contained in any single form or image. Reality manifests itself to us in various forms in different beliefs, always appearing anew in each new moment. For Ibn `Arabi, the human being can only receive the divine image and hear the divine voice when empty of dogmatic constructions of what reality is, and open to receiving new understanding. This article became the basis of a ten year scholarly project and my recently published book on the mystical language of Ibn `Arabi and similar figures in Greek and Christian traditions. The article had also been translated into Serbo-Croatian and published in Yugoslavia. As the "ethnic cleansing" began, I thought of how much Ibn `Arabi's philosophy is needed in this day of religious militancies, and I wondered at the fate of those who had published the article in a country where any association with Islamic culture can now mean death.
As I came to know more Bosnians, the human element of the tragedy became more immediate. Amila Buturovic, a Sarajevo native and PhD candidate at McGill University in Montreal, came to Haverford last winter as a visiting instructor. Her only sibling, her sister Aida, had been a PhD candidate at the University of Sarajevo. Aida had volunteered to help save manuscripts from National Library when it was shelled during the Bosnian Serb army's campaign of cultural annihilation. She never made it home. Amila's father, who had fought in WW2 against the Nazis, was killed outside his home by a Serb army sniper. Her cousins were in concentration camps. Her mother was trapped in Sarajevo without water, electricity, or heat.

Last fall, some of us at Haverford started a non-profit foundation, The Community of Bosnia, to support a multireligious Bosnia and to help victims of "ethnic cleansing." We attained tax-exempt status, and began programs to help Bosnian students attain scholarships at U.S. colleges and universities, to support Bosnian refugees, and to "adopt" a Bosnian town as our sister-community. The situation in Bosnia was integrated into a new course taught by myself and Amila Buturovic.
Our activities are based on the following principles
1. Humanitarian and Political Action Must Go Together. The UN response in Bosnia is false humanitarianism. UN forces cannot interfere with "ethnic cleansing" (genocide), we are told, because that might endanger their humanitarian mission. Bosnians call such a mission a last meal before execution. Political resistance--without tangible, humanitarian action--is easily marginalized; people have told me that until they met a Bosnian, Bosnia was distant. When they meet someone like Jasmina or Amila, the human element becomes immediate. True humanitarian endeavor, which helps bring people like Jasmina and Amila into our community, remains focused on an end to the aggression and "ethnic cleansing" that are root causes of the suffering.
2. Active Non-Violence vs. Passive Violence. The same officials that recognized Bosnia's sovereignty refer to the invasion of Bosnia from Serbia as a "civil war," maintain an arms embargo that keeps the victims helpless in the face of heavily armed aggressors, and refuse to authorize enforcement of UN resolutions. These officials piously claim that allowing Bosnians anti-tank weapons will "result in more violence" when they know that anti-tank weapons might have saved hundreds of villages from genocide. They repressed reports of death camps, allowing thousands to perish before the most notorious camps were forced to close.
"Speaking truth to power" requires that the UN use accurate language, "genocide," rather than euphemisms like "civil war" or "age old ethnic antagonisms." It insists that the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions against genocide be honored. It opposes imposed, false peace that rewards "ethnic cleansing." It clarifies Bosnia's relevance to "U.S. interests" by showing how the success of "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia emboldens ethnofascism in Europe, exacerbates the polarization between Islam and the West, and leads to other "ethnic cleansings." The Rwanda genocide was plotted in 1993 at the very time when "ethnic cleansing" was being rewarded in Bosnia.
3. Generic Blame and Moral Equalizing. UN War Crimes Testimony shows that Serbian forces carried out the majority of atrocities. Yet to attribute a given atrocity generically to "the Serbs" rather than the particular Serb government or army is to forget many Serbs who oppose ethnic cleansing, some of whom have been killed for trying to save their Muslim neighbors. It also reinforces Serb government claims that a Serb against "ethnic cleansing" is not a "true Serb." The fallacy of moral equalizing centers around phrases like "blame on all sides," and "warring factions." In most conflicts there is blame on all sides. But the overwhelming number of atrocities in Bosnia have been committed against Muslim civilians by Serb regular and irregular forces. We need precise, clear, and open direction of responsibility to those groups and people who must bear it. The War Crimes Trials, which some European governments are working to repress, are needed for such clarity.

Practical Actions
Though small-scale and personal, the actions of our Community of Bosnia are tied to a moral and political horizon in the larger sense: resistance to ethno-fascism; support for multicultural Bosnia and multicultural societies; healing of religious and ethnic polarization; and implacable opposition to religious persecution and genocide. The Bosnians we know have not given up; it would be a luxury for those of us more fortunate to give in to defeatism.
1. Bosnian Scholarships Ruth Gruber's book Haven describes the arrival in New York of 1000 refugees from Nazi persecution. The contributions they made to humanity are beyond any statistical probability; they had been given a new opportunity and did not waste a particle of it. The six Bosnian students we have help obtain scholarships show the same commitment. Three examples: Aida Premilovac has received a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College. She was a first year student at the University of Sarajevo when the "ethnic cleansing" began. Aida's family was attacked by Croat fascist militias in her home town of Stolac, and were saved by a courageous Croat neighbor.
Dzevad Sukilovic has a scholarship to Swarthmore College. Dzevad is from the Northeast Bosnian city of Bijeljina which was taken over by the forces of Arkan (Zeljko Raznjatovic), a former assassin for the communist government, turned gangster, turned leader of genocide squads known as the "Tigers." It is the center of the new European ethnofascism; after Russian neo-Nazi Vladimir Zhirinovsky went to Germany to embrace the highest ranking living member of Hitler's SS, he then went to Bijeljina where he was received as a hero by Bosnian Serb nationalists.
Irvana Kapetanovic has a tuition scholarship to Villanova University. Irvana is from Prijedor. Her family fled the city on July 23, 1992 as the "ethnic cleansing" intensified. Her father was last seen being taken away to Omarska death camp. Irvana will be living at the home of Haverford Professor Sid Waldman and his wife, Dr. Kay Reed, and we have started an educational fund for her and other students. The Haverford Senior Class of 1994, and the Haverford-Bryn Mawr student coalition on Bosnia have made major contributions to the fund. At a Bosnian Student gathering at Pendle Hill, Irvana demonstrated courage and articulate determination to help rebuild her country.
This fall I will lead a weekend seminar on Bosnia at Pendle Hill. One item of discussion will be expansion of the scholarship program, with the goal of 100 scholarships for next year.
2) Sister-Communities Reporter: "Why did you destroy the mosques in Foca"
Serb nationalist "mayor" of Foca: "There never was a mosque in Foca."
In May-June 1992, genocide squads from Serbia and Montenegro took over the ancient, Muslim-majority city of Foca, famous for its magnificent "Colored Mosque" (Aladza dzamija) built in the 16th century and numerous other priceless monuments. After mass-killings and rape, Foca is now 100% "Muslim-free." All evidence of Bosnian Muslim culture, including the Colored Mosque, has been obliterated.
The Community of Bosnia has adopted Foca (pronounced F—-cha) as a sister-community. We are preparing letters and packets for surviving families. We are also documenting the Bosnian Muslim culture of Foca. We have gathered over 10,000 pages of scholarly material, 1500 photographs, and data-base information on survivors, casualities, and war-crimes.. We are now in contact with the organization documenting war-crimes material for the U.N. War Crimes Commission. We cannot let people like the "mayor" of Foca control memory. As our organization grows, we hope to sponsor sister-community programs with other Bosnian communities.
3) Bosnian Refugees
We work with both international and local refugee resettlement agencies, and with Bosnians in the Philadelphia area, to support education and employment, and to facilitate communications among Bosnians. This fall, we will host a reception at Haverford for local Bosnians. When Amila Buturovic arrived at Haverford, she had just received a letter from her father, who had been killed months before. Because of Sarajevo's isolation, Amila continues to receive mail from deceased relatives and friends. I remember looking at pictures of Amila's family and feeling as if they were my own family. Those letter from the dead speak to us all.
Michael Sells, teaches in the Religion Department at Haverford College, is a member of Landsdowne Friends Meeting in Philadelphia and President of the Community of Bosnia Foundation. His recent book is Mystical Languages of Unsaying (University of Chicago Press, 1994).
How to Get Involved: Speak up about Bosnia. Vocie your concern in your Meeting. Connect with Yearly Meeting, AFSC, QUNO, FCNL or other organizations to develop specific strategies. Consider sponsoring a Bosnia student or adopting a Bosnian sister-community.
Attend the workshop on "'Ethnic Cleansing' in Bosnia: Practical Avenues of Constructive Action. " at Pendle Hill, October 28-30. Call 215-566-4507 for information.
Join the Community of Bosnia. You'll receive a newsletter, updates on activities, and suggestions for involvement. Send a donation in any amount to The Community of Bosnia Foundation c/o Michael Sells, Dept. of Religion, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041. email: msells@haverford.edu. Donations are tax decutible to the full extent allowed by the law.