I was excited at reading the title of Lea David’s book—The Past Can’t Heal Us. I thought we would finally have some useful research that would free us of the ballast of having to sift through the past and would reveal a new way forward, so I waited for the book with anticipation. It turned out my expectations were completely wrong. To put it mildly, I was shocked.
Veterans of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), the Croat Defence Council (HVO), the Croatian Army (HV), the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), the Army of Yugoslavia (VJ) and the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), together with activists from the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade, took part in the commemoration in Prijepolje and honoured the civilians killed after they were taken off the train in Štrpci, expressing their solidarity and support for the families of the victims and calling for the prosecution of those responsible and for finding the remains of the victims.
The first public exhibition of photographs, presentation of the publication “War of Memories” and the idea behind the published material on the kulturasjecanja.org/en/ website
Ex-combatants committed to peacebuilding have enormous potential for deconstructing enemy images and for reducing rifts of fear and hatred produced by violence.