More than 1000 people rallied in Melbourne on Sunday, May 8, for the third time in as many weeks to protest against the continuing Serbian war against Bosnia and the hypocrisy and complicity of world leaders. Comprising Bosnians, Croats, Macedonians, Albanians, Slovenians, a significant number of Serbs and a range of other opponents of the war, the rally demanded an immediate end to the arms embargo that has held the communities of multi-ethnic Bosnia defenceless in the face of Serbian expansionism and "ethnic cleansing".
Speakers included members of the Committee in Solidarity with Gorazde, other members of the ethnic communities and Dave Holmes from the Democratic Socialist Party. They emphasised the contradiction between the verbal commitment of the United Nations negotiators to protecting lives and assuring the rights of all the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, and the realities of the UN and NATO interventions. The United Nations "protected zones" have served no function other than to pacify endangered communities with promises of protection until the Serb forces arrive. The following is the text of Dave Holmes' speech.
The Democratic Socialist Party joins with you in calling for a united, independent Bosnia in which Muslims, Croats and Serbs can all live together in peace and cooperation.
We add our voice to yours in demanding an end to the criminal Western arms embargo on Bosnia and Croatia, which has prevented the victims from defending themselves from the Serbian-Chetnik aggression.
With the end of the Cold War, the United States began to talk up its so-called New World Order. The terrible events of the past three years in the territory of the former Yugoslavia show what a cynical fraud Washington's New World Order really is.
The Western powers are not interested in justice, resisting aggression or defending the weak — they are interested solely in containing a "problem" and that means placating Milosevic and his Bosnian Serb allies. That's been the basic element in their whole policy from start to finish.
The United Nations and the whole international community have recognised the right of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina to independence. But at the same time they have imposed a crippling arms embargo on them.
This policy has had no effect on Milosevic's forces — they are armed to the teeth, with a large war industry to back them up. But the embargo has meant that Bosnia and Croatia lack the heavy weapons to counter the Serbian artillery and tanks which surround and pulverise town after town and then move on to the next.
Through this policy, the Western powers share the responsibility for Milosevic's aggression and the massive carnage and dreadful atrocities which have marked this war so heavily. Without the arms embargo, we can safely say, the Serbian-Chetnik forces would not have got away with so much for so long. Without the arms embargo, Milosevic's forces would have been halted long ago and meaningful peace talks held.
Instead, we have had the cynical fraud of United Nations "peacekeeping" forces and "safe havens". This shameful policy has done absolutely nothing to stop the aggressor — it has simply encouraged him. Milosevic and his Bosnian Serb allies understand full well that the UN's "ultimatums" can be safely ignored.
In the context of Milosevic's drive to create a Greater Serbia, the fighting between Croatian and Bosnian forces was nothing short of disastrous. It only gave comfort to the aggressor. Those who instigated this tragic and criminal conflict between peoples who should be allies in the face of a common enemy bear a heavy burden of guilt. The recent cessation of this fighting is a very encouraging development. We hope that it never recurs.
We look forward to a united, multi-ethnic Bosnia within its original borders. We reject any Western-imposed settlement which would carve up Bosnia and legitimate the Serbian conquests.
We also oppose the idea of Western intervention in the region — the whole experience of this war shows that Western involvement has only served to aid the aggressor and offer false hope to the victims.
The Bosnian government has stood and continues to stand for a state in which Muslims, Croats and Serbs can all live together. This is an ideal which deserves our full support. It is worth emphasising that a fifth of the Bosnian army is Serb — this fact alone gives the lie to claims that this is an ethnic war.
This war arose precisely because Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbian bureaucratic elite cynically played the nationalist card to maintain their grip on power.
Originally Milosevic gained power by promising to deal with the Albanian majority in Kosovo. This region has escaped full-scale war but the Albanian people there remain under a regime of military-police terror. We cannot talk of a just settlement of the conflicts in the region without self-determination for the people of Kosovo.
And the same goes for Macedonia. We denounce the economic blockade against Macedonia by Serbia and Greece. We also condemn the chauvinist campaign against Macedonia and the Macedonian minority in Greece being waged by Greek chauvinist forces in both Greece and Australia.
For a united, independent Bosnia!
End the arms embargo against Bosnia and Croatia!
Self-determination for Kosovo!
Stop the campaign against Macedonia and the Macedonian people!