ĐURAGIĆ: HAGGADAH FOR AMERICA, ANTISEMITISM AT HOME

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 1 /SRNA/ – The incident in which the BiH junior national team refused to shake hands with Israeli players is not a sporting detail but a political message and a perfect reflection of the society the Sarajevo political elite has been building for years, but now pretending not to recognize it, said Mario Đuragić, the head of the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Brussels.

"Where are Denis Bećirović and Elmedin Konaković? No condemnation. No statement. Not even the minimum of consistency. Recently in Washington – a carefully staged performance. Bećirović, Konaković, Lagumdžija and Alkalaj stood next to the Haggadah, spoke about Jewish cultural heritage, and demonstrated tolerance, coexistence and a multiethnic BiH for an American audience," Đuragić told Glas Srpske.

He also recalled that Emir Suljagić had sent letters to the U.S. envoy for combating antisemitism.

"Photos are shared, quotes are published, others are accused. Afterwards, they return home and remain silent while an obvious antisemitic act takes place in the jersey of a national team that should represent Republika Srpska and the Croats as well," Đuragić stated.

He stressed that with such silence they say everything they carefully avoided saying in Washington, and that every story they tell about tolerance has an expiration date.

"When sport and the BiH national team become an extension of only one policy, then only those who share that policy will support it. A national team carrying a political burden cannot be a joint one; it can only be a symbol of one part of the state, never of the entire," he said.

Đuragić added that Washington was a performance, while Sarajevo politics is reality, which can no longer be hidden behind the Haggadah.