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On July 11, the world pauses to remember one of the darkest chapters of modern European history: the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over the course of just a few days, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were brutally murdered—solely because of their identity—while the world failed to take meaningful action. Honoring the victims, confronting silence, and preventing future atrocities remain moral imperatives for all of us, especially in a world where such crimes against humanity still occur with alarming frequency.
This tragedy remains a stark reminder of the catastrophic consequences of hatred, dehumanization, and the international community’s failure to respond decisively in the face of genocide. Sadly, the lessons of Srebrenica have not been fully learned. The lack of a timely and coordinated response to that crime opened the door for other atrocities in our world today.
As we mark this solemn day in 2025, the people of Gaza are enduring widespread and systematic violence that many international legal bodies, human rights organizations, and independent scholars have identified as genocide.
Authorities, officials, and experts have determined that what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide:
- International Court of Justice (ICJ): https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203454
- UN Human Rights Council (UNHR): https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide
- UN Special Rapporteur: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/046/11/pdf/g2404611.pdf
- Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org.au/amnesty-concludes-israel-genocide-in-gaza/
- Israeli Historian: https://witnessing-the-gaza-war.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bearing-witness-to-the-Israel-Gaza-War-v6.5.5-5.12.24.pdf
The absence of decisive and coordinated action from governments, international bodies, civil society leaders, and religious authorities enables perpetrators to act without fear of consequences. When there is no accountability, those who commit or plan such crimes—including genocide, forced displacement, and crimes against humanity—feel emboldened to pursue their political goals at the cost of innocent lives.
The memory of Srebrenica obliges us not only to mourn but to act. Silence and inaction are forms of complicity. Had the international community and moral leaders responded forcefully to past crimes, perhaps we would not be witnessing such suffering today.
At Roya Institute, we affirm that preventing genocide and crimes against humanity is a shared moral and legal responsibility. We call on people of conscience everywhere to raise their voices, defend the oppressed, and hold perpetrators accountable—wherever and whenever such crimes occur.
Only through remembrance, justice, and decisive action can we hope to break the cycle of hatred and prevent future atrocities.