Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Bethlehem - The first time I read "Night," the memoir that describes your horrific experiences during the Holocaust, was in 2003.
In my opinion, two books everyone in the world should read are "Night" and Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom."
Like you, I also suffered during my childhood. In 1992, my life was turned upside down when the civil war broke out in Bosnia, my country. At the time, I was 13 and my sister was 11.
My family is Serbian and we stayed in our city, Gorazde, which was held under siege by Serbian forces. Over time, many of our Muslim neighbors and even some friends began to view us as the enemy.
For two years, my family endured treatment that no human being should ever be subjected to. We were shot at, terrorized, put in a detention camp, starved and eventually stripped of everything we owned. All this because of our ethnicity.
When I was 17, I almost killed a man who had attempted to kill my own family during the war. After years of emotional struggle, I considered revenge the only way to move on with my life.
But I was later blessed to get involved in a youth program designed to help young people in Bosnia become leaders in their communities. I worked with "former enemies," helping me open my mind a bit.
Over the years, your and Nelson Mandela's books, experiences and work for peace have made me think about my own wartime experience and subsequently led me to a complete personal transformation. I went from a teenager seeking retribution to a person seeking healing, reconciliation and peace.
Like you, I wrote about my wartime experience and search for peace and reconciliation in a book of my own, "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia," which was published in March 2008.
Some time ago I found one of your quotes: "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented," you said.
I completely agreed with you. I still do.
I'm not influential like you, but I voice my opinion; I write and publish articles. Over the years, I've written extensively about Rwanda, Darfur, Zimbabwe and other places where people suffer.
Like you, I've dedicated my life to building peace and transforming conflict worldwide. I too have promised never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.
But late last month, when Israel began its onslaught in Gaza, I tried to find an op-ed, an interview, some statement made by you, in which you said something about the current conflict and condemned the killing of innocent people.
But this time, I couldn't find anything.
Regardless, I've started writing about the crisis in Gaza, condemning the killing of over 200 innocent Palestinian children who were brutally murdered by Israeli forces in less than three weeks.
Will you?
***Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia." He is also a writer at www.savoheleta.com.
