What the World can Learn from Mostar's Christian Croats and Muslim Bosniaks

selfie in front of the Stari bridge

About a week left before ending my trip through the former Yugoslavia, and decided to return to Bosnia to visit the city of Mostar rather than stay the remainder of the trip in Croatia.  Bosnia is just much more a virgin landscape compared to the tourist saturated beaches and seaside towns that dot the Dalmatian coast.  It wasn’t an easy decision as I love the beach and sea, but after a two months of backpacking, I just want a more peaceful existence.  Didn’t want to be overwhelmed in the chaos of hordes of crowds and overpriced food. 

Mostar's old town is like a scene from a fairy tale

So, after a one of a kind border crossing, entering Bosnia, leaving Bosnia, only to reenter Bosnia, my bus arrived in the town of Mostar.  Such a beautifully kept old town with the iconic Stari Bridge that so many people travel here for.  You immediately understand why this place is so popular with the tourists.  Especially, with Muslim tourists from the Middle East and other places throughout Europe.  It just feels so differently than any place in Europe.  Although there was a small Christian settlement prior to Ottoman conquest of the area in the mid fifteenth century, the town of Mostar gets its namesake from the Turks.  They transformed this site to an important trade route once they build the iconic stone bridge, passing over the Neretva River.

Mostar has Turkish roots

The few days in Mostar were well spent, as I ran into an America traveler I had met earlier in Montenegro, which is not all that uncommon when backpacking.  Americans come in all differently flavors, and this one happened to be Persian descent.  Being that this was the Muslim quarter of the city, we ate some familiar food and a few nights having hookah.  From an outsider’s view, the residents live and love life without any hesitation or thought of the past. Tourism and business is good… but behind the picturesque views of the old town lays a very dark and painful past. 

This is Bosnia and like so much of the country that suffered through the Nineties, Mostar suffered horribly.  But, the story here in Mostar is a bit different compared to Sarajevo.  The war involved former allies, the Croats broke alliance with the Bosniaks and Mostar became ground zero of one of the deadliest sieges of the Bosnian War.  All while, the Serbs posted high on the mountains above the city and waited for the winner to emerge.

famous photo from Stari Bridge of a Bosniak woman who was shot and killed by a Croatian sniper.  Over 2,000 people were killed during the siege.

look at Mostar from surrounding mountains.  The main street to the left of the river was the dividing line between the Croat controlled west and Bosniak controlled east.  The old town or Ottoman quarter is runs parallel, east of the river.

the Croat flag show the ethnic majority of this neighborhood

The nationalist’s movements that led to the Bosnian War offers a unique case study of how a multi ethnic country can descend into civil war.  Only, this civil war involved three factions: Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks.  In most cases, the Serbs were the common enemy of the Croats and Serbs.  But for the city of Mostar, the Croats turned on the Bosniaks, as they saw this was an opportunity to win territory for itself and be annexed to the newly declared independent Croatia which borders Herzegovina (Bosnian state).  It is as if a family had turned on itself, resulting in a family feud - abandoning any hope of peaceful resolution.  As the conflict escalated, Mostar divided into two cities.  The west side, Croats and the east side, Bosniak.  From 1992 to 1994, Mostar became a war within a larger war with Bosnian Serbs.

Many of the tombs outside of mosques are of victims from the siege.

Close up of sniper tower.  The building has not be razed as it is sort of a reminder of the carnage.  

view from the roof of sniper tower

hearing the story of sniper tower from a guide

one more view at sunset

As, the stories and images from this period surfaced, I couldn’t help but imagine similarly suppressed White nationalist and antagonist feelings towards minorities and immigrants in the US.  How similar the scapegoating and how the quality of life has deteriorated for so many conservative Americans.  How the mantra, of “Make America Great Again”, sounds more and more like a battle cry as America waits to see how this plays out.  It’s hard to imagine the darker forces of human nature: nationalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and all the other forms of bigotry from winning in a country that was founded on freedom.  But then again, we are a nation build on the genocide, slavery, and oppression just as much as we get on our soapbox and preach equality, tolerance, and freedom. 

Even though the war is over in Mostar, the wounds are still there.  The self-segregation is still the status quo.  The younger generation has inherited the distain for the other.  Stark reminders are everywhere.  Most of the tourism is centered in the Bosniak park of Mostar.  Tours take you through bullet riddled abandoned buildings.  The infamous sniper tower in the city center, offers a commanding view of all the city and the vantage point the Croats had as they laid siege of the Bosniak controlled east.  There are nationalistic symbols, adding more insult.  Crosses atop mountains have duel meaning in a place recovering from defeat.  A thirty-meter Christian cross memorialize the dead Croat soldiers from the conflict, but the choice location is a provocative move to the Bosniak Muslims.  The very spot chosen to memorialize the dead Croats is from an artillery position high overlooking the city that bombarded and surely killed hundreds of Bosniak Muslims during the war.  There are both churches and mosques, that run parallel to the main street that divided the city into two.  Crosses and crescents symbolically tell you which side is friend.  The children learn very quickly, which side of the tracts is foe. 

This message is a response for the Croat cross perched on the mountain in the distance.

 

Memorial dedicated to 23 UN soldiers from Spain who were killed there during the war.

As an outsider to this conflict, I have the privilege to go to both sides freely, without worrying about provoking the other.  The eeriness of it all is also such a solitary feeling when you travel alone.  Here I am, crisscrossing the world, unraveling the history first hand of war and colonial torn lands, from the Holy land to West Africa, to the battle fields of Europe to the killing fields of Cambodia and in this very city of Mostar, the Croat and Bosniak children are attending segregated schools, learning a very different narrative of what happened here in their hometown. 

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