JEWS IN AMERICA VIEWED PROMOTION OF HAGGADAH BY BOSNIAK POLITICIANS AS MOCKERY

BELGRADE, MARCH 27 /SRNA/ - The President of the Jewish Community of Novi Sad Ladislav Trajer told SRNA that most of the Jewish community in the United States viewed the promotion of the Sarajevo Haggadah by Bosniak politicians in Washington as something shameful and as an event that mocks Jewish history and appropriates Jewish suffering.

Trajer pointed out that Milorad Dodik has become a favorite of the Jewish lobby in the United States and that the authorities in Sarajevo are now concerned because they are losing primary support from America. "They are now trying to use the Sarajevo Haggadah to create a narrative abroad, as if they brought the Haggadah, but with that move they are only mocking Jewish suffering," Trajer said. He recalled that Dodik had previously requested that the Haggadah be urgently transferred to the Jewish state, where it belongs. According to him, Dodik is fighting for what is currently in the shared interest of Jews and Serbs, "Republika Srpska as independent as possible from the authorities in Sarajevo". He stressed that if Bosniaks were truly such great friends of the Jewish people, they would prosecute and charge their own officials for anti-Semitism when they make anti-Semitic statements publicly or on social media. "We all sense the narrative that is developing; every day, hatred toward Serbs and Jews in BiH is increasing at all levels, in government, in the media, and on social networks," Trajer said. Thus, he added, it is clear that Bosniak politicians are trying to present themselves externally as friends of the Jewish people, and internally, they do not acknowledge that this is not the case. Trajer also reminded that while others were advocating for the release of dozens of Jewish hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the National Museum of BiH issued a controversial statement that proceeds from the Sarajevo Haggadah, ticket sales, and replicas would be donated to help Palestine. That statement, published with a Palestinian flag on letterhead and condemning Israel "for calculated cold-blooded terror and genocide," is, according to Trajer, completely contradictory to what is now being done in Washington. "A relic that celebrates a Jewish holiday, the exodus to freedom, was used to provide moral and financial support to those who literally held Jews captive underground in tunnels," Trajer said. He reminded that the Embassy of Iran in Sarajevo has more than 400 employees, and that leaders of Republika Srpska have repeatedly warned about a terrorist training camp in Pogorelica allegedly used to prepare militants for attacks across Europe, and even for the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11. Earlier, the President of the Republican Party in Israel Mark Zell and political analyst Dana Levinson assessed that the event in the US House of Representatives building, announced as a "Congressional Passover Seder with the Sarajevo Haggadah," seeks to legitimize the misuse of an ancient Jewish religious artifact by Muslim authorities in BiH. The Sarajevo Haggadah is a Jewish illuminated manuscript codex originating from medieval Spain. It is believed to have been created around 1350 in Barcelona, which was then part of Aragon, and was taken out of Spain in the 15th century. It is considered one of the most beautiful books of its kind and has been in the possession of the National Museum in Sarajevo since 1894. Before that, it belonged to the Sarajevo Jewish family Cohen.