Bill Text: NY J02646 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Commending the Bosnian American Community Association for hosting the 3rd Annual Srebrenica Walk in Utica, New York, on July 11, 2024

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-31 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [J02646 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J02646-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 2646

BY: Senator GRIFFO

        COMMENDING    the   Bosnian   American   Community
        Association for hosting the  3rd  Annual  Srebrenica
        Walk in Utica, New York, on July 11, 2024

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of this Legislative Body to recognize
those organizations which work to preserve and curate history,  exposing
wrongdoings  and  injustices, while setting examples for positive action
for the citizenry of this great State of New York; and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  this  Legislative  Body  is  justly proud to
commend the Bosnian American Community Association for hosting  the  3rd
Annual  Srebrenica Walk at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, New
York, on Thursday, July 11, 2024; and

  WHEREAS, Annually,  Remembering  Srebrenica,  a  British  charitable
initiative,  selects  a  theme  to  reflect  an  aspect of the genocidal
tragedy which warrants commemoration; the  theme  for  2024  is,  "I  Am
Because  You  Are";  the  Srebrenica Walk honors and remembers more than
8,000 victims who fell prey to the Serbian forces; and

  WHEREAS, The Town of Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia, was besieged  by
Serbian  military and paramilitary units under the direct control of war
criminals,  General  Ratko  Mladic  and  Bosnian  Serb  leader,  Radovan
Karadzic; and

  WHEREAS,  Srebrenica  also  became a place where thousands of people
from neighboring villages and towns found refuge, and it was declared  a
United  Nations  Safe Zone; however, this did not prevent Serbian forces
from entering Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, separating men from women and
children and executing them within four days; and

  WHEREAS, The Srebrenica  Walk  represents  the  survivors  who  were
forced  to hide in the forests and mountains and walk for miles to reach
the  Town  of  Tuzla  and  other  safe  zones,   escaping   persecution;
unfortunately,  many  never  reached  safe zones and died in the forests
from gunfire, diseases, lack of food and water, and exhaustion; and

  WHEREAS, In Bosnia, there is an annual  March  for  Peace  in  which
thousands  of people walk on the routes that survivors once walked; with
this act, the  Bosnian  American  Community  Association  remembers  and
honors  those  who died and those who survived this horrible event; now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commend  the  Bosnian American Community Association for hosting the 3rd
Annual Srebrenica Walk, honoring and memorializing the  victims  of  the
Srebrenica Genocide of July 11, 1995; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the Bosnian American Community Association.