Speaker of the House of Peoples, Kemal Ademović, addressed the participants of the Fifth Conference of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds in Istanbul

The Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PA BiH) Kemal Ademović addressed the participants of the Fifth Conference of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds (Jerusalem), which is being held in Istanbul. We transcribe the address of Speaker Ademović in full:

„Esteemed and highly respected President of the Republic of Turkey,

Your Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Distinguished President of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey, Professor Dr. Numan Kurtulmus,

The President of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, Mr. Hamid Abdullah Al Ahmar and the Chairman of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds of Turkey, Mr. Nureddin Nebati,

Dear colleagues parliamentarians,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This highly respected gathering of parliamentarians from around the world is meeting at an immensely important moment for humanity.

As we speak, the Palestinian people are under the brutal threat of their biological extinction.

What kind of world have we created?! While we send satellites into space, transplant organs and prolong the lives of mortals, as well as create artificial intelligence and make smartphones so that at any moment we can see the whole world in front of us, we cannot protect children from being killed! What are smartphones for?! To watch dismembered corpses and hungry and crying Palestinian children! And all the other children who are being killed all over the world, whatever nation or religion they belong to!

A few months ago in Sarajevo, at a large NATO conference with over 130 guests present, I said that as a civilization we have brought forward many great and difficult revolutions, but that we failed one test – we failed to protect civilians in wars! And all the revolutions and all the scientific and technological advances seem so small and worthless before the dead body of an innocent child!

Today we must raise our voices and do everything, everything in our power to protect the lives of innocent people, old men, women and children of Palestine. Today's session is a gathering of representatives of the hundreds of millions of people we represent, and their voices must be heard!

I come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from a people that survived the genocide. I am completely aware of what is happening in Palestine today and I am afraid that the Palestinian people will experience the same thing that my Bosniak people have experienced. Or they have already experienced it, all that remains is for some international tribunal to confirm that the genocide has been committed against the Palestinian people!

I welcome the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from 26th January adopting interim measures and the order for Israel to immediately and without delay suspend all acts that may result in any act of genocide.

I call on all members of the United Nations (UN) to take all measures in accordance with international law and stop the suffering of the Palestinian people.

The Bosniak people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still living the consequences of genocide both de facto and de jure even though the International Court of Justice ruled on 26th February 2007 that genocide took place in Srebrenica in 1995. I am afraid that the promise of "Never Again" will be broken today in Palestine as it was in Srebrenica, and tomorrow who knows where else.

That is why we must ensure that our promises do not end in political messages but on secure legal and factual mechanisms to protect the lives of people of whatever race, creed, ethnic or national affiliation they may be.

As the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I call for an immediate cessation of armed actions in Palestine and the resolution of all outstanding issues through peaceful means and negotiations!

Maybe my country is geographically and by the size of its population small, but we have the full right and legitimacy to express our position on suffering and genocide, and the whole world knows why.

I hope that soon the United Nations General Assembly will adopt the Resolution on Srebrenica and thus once again confirm our moral right, but also send a message that the perpetrators of genocide, wherever and whoever they may be, will remain eternally inscribed on the dark side of history and that this burden will be placed on the shoulders of their descendants  even though they were not guilty of crimes committed by their fathers or grandfathers. I hope that new generations of politicians will soon find the strength to approach the great task of confronting the past with common sense, so that we can work together to improve relations between our peoples based on truth and justice.

In closing, all the failures that the international community has made in Bosnia and Herzegovina must not be repeated today in Palestine! (End)