Journalists who covered the Bosnian war respond to genocide denier Peter Handke

Journalists who covered the war in Bosnia are taking a stand against the Nobel Prize going to Peter Handke. Using the hashtag #BosniaWarJournalists, they're describing what they witnessed in the 1990s. Tomorrow, Sweden's king is scheduled to give the Nobel to Handke.

— Peter Maass (@maassp) December 9, 2019

Feeling immense appreciation for all those who stood up and spoke not only against the @NobelPrize awarding #Handke but also spoke truth about what happened. Especially the #BosniaWarJournalists who risked their lives back then to document our scariest experience. Thank you! https://t.co/FAXbCcaNel

— Emina Ćerimović (@EminaCerimovic) December 10, 2019

The Sarajevo Red Line, April 2012, a display of 1600 red chairs in memory of the children killed during the siege of Sarajevo by the army of Milosević, Karadzić and Mladić. #Handke #Nobel #BosnianWarReporters #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/JEsQhYKiKy

— Roger M. Richards (@rogermrichards) December 10, 2019

In a travesty today, #HumanRightsDay2019, Peter Handke will receive the @NobelPrize in literature.

Here is a poem in memory of the people of Bosnia, by deserving Nobel winner Joseph Brodsky, reprinted in @nytimes, November 18, 1992. #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists #Handke pic.twitter.com/cbFT8AQOuK

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) December 10, 2019

No #Nobel prize should ever be awarded #genocide denier Peter #Handke. My colleagues #BosniaWarJournalists and I were there. We counted the dead. We gathered the evidence. We testified to the world…. https://t.co/eaHqPs25xl

— Helene Bergman (@helenebergman) December 10, 2019

Mass burial in 2009 of 534 (of 8,000+) Bosnian men and boys slaughtered in Srebrenica by the forces of Milosević-Karadzić-Mladić. #Handke #NobelPrize #BosnianWarReporters #BosnianWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/RLaQzoDeB1

— Roger M. Richards (@rogermrichards) December 10, 2019

On 7/14/95, I filed a @BostonGlobe story from Sarajevo containing initial reports of massacres in Srebrenica. The world would soon learn the extent of the genocide being committed by Bosnian Serb soldiers, who murdered 8,000 Muslim men & boys. Undeniable fact. #Handke #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/N91aLzFXwK

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) December 9, 2019

Women who were raped during the Bosnian genocide built a monument for victims. The ultranationalist Serb govt sent over 100cops to erase the word "genocide" written in stone. A survivor made the truth reappear with her lipstick.
Heroes fighting #nobelprize & #handke shame,thread: pic.twitter.com/qZUBWeNgOk

— Melina Borčak 🇧🇦 (@MelinaBorcak) December 10, 2019

Her dress torn, mute with shock, a Bosnian woman is found by the roadside after weeks in a Bosnian Serb detention camp, June 1993. Those of us there know and remember the war's realities. #Handke #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/9k1MEEH4YV

— Anthony Loyd (@A_Loyd_Times) December 10, 2019

Hard to forget the faces of the women of Srebrenica in July 1995 who had just had separated from their husbands and teenage sons. I went back 20 years later and mothers were still searching for the bodies. #BosniaWarJournalists #Handke #NobelPrizehttps://t.co/YWfbofqBJp

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) December 10, 2019

A Nobel Prize that will live in infamy — here's my story about the king of Sweden presenting Peter Handke with the Nobel Prize for Literature. https://t.co/Y3p78ofAVf

— Peter Maass (@maassp) December 10, 2019

American journalist David Rohde, the man who first discovered the mass graves around #Srebrenica on the mindset of Serb extremists. Worth noting that Peter Handke has through his work proliferated this conspiratorial, genocidal world view.#BosniaWarJournalists #Nobel #Handke pic.twitter.com/NM7aIGPQVU

— Mirza 🍗🍔🍩 (@mirza8211) December 10, 2019

As an Austrian citizen, born 1990, I only learned later what horrors had happened not far from my home country. Today, I'm shocked by the genocide denial by #Handke and embarrassed by the fact he receives a #NobelPrize.
Have a look at what #BosniaWarJournalists post in protest. https://t.co/aqTxfqI7PT

— Cornelius Hirsch (@VollCornHirsch) December 10, 2019

#Handke, #NobelPrize, #BosniaWarJournalists April 6, 1992, Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic radios colonels to shell Pofalici and Velesici, Muslim neighborhoods in Sarajevo: "Shell them so they can't sleep. Don't stop until they're on the edge of madness." https://t.co/8h0lduDG7m

— Elizabeth Rubin (@ezruby) December 10, 2019

No #Nobel prize should ever be awarded #genocide denier Peter #Handke. My colleagues #BosniaWarJournalists and I were there. We counted the dead. We gathered the evidence. We testified to the world. @NobelPrize #BosniaWarReporters pic.twitter.com/PPileyjXjC

— Morten Hvaal https://www.threads.net/@mortenhvaal (@MortenHvaal) December 10, 2019

For over 10 years I covered the wars in the former Yugoslavia, I faced victims and perpetrators, saw the mass graves and grieved with those who had lost family and friends. The Nobel Prize to Peter Handke is a shame. #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/ubf8mW6MJe

— Christian Palme 🇸🇪🇺🇦🇨🇿 (@ChPalme) December 11, 2019

I was there.
I witness the war.
As a Swedish #BosnianWarReporters I am astounded how disrespectful the academy is to the victims and survivors. #NobelPrize #Handke.
#BosniaWarJournalists

— Johanne Hildebrandt (@JohanneH) December 10, 2019

#BosniaWarJournalists is incredibly moving. No wonder Handke hated journalists while he was writing plays honoring Serb war criminals. https://t.co/GaMR4fo9RH pic.twitter.com/yA9hFy2VrX

— Mirza 🍗🍔🍩 (@mirza8211) December 10, 2019

Today, Peter Handke has been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He is an Austrian writer who has spent much of his career denying and belittling the Serbian genocide. Journalists, activists and three countries are protesting and boycotting the ceremony. #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/fOCI6jeIjE

— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) December 10, 2019

'I was there. We all know who's guilty' — journalists who covered the war in Bosnia & Herzegovina are taking a stand against the @NobelPrize going to Peter Handke. Using the hashtag #BosniaWarJournalists, they're describing what they witnessed in the 90's. #Handke #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/67e3KTKple

— Srećko Matić (@srecko_matic) December 10, 2019

It is terrible to read all the memories of survivors of the war in Bosnia and Kosovo whose suffering was mocked today by handing @NobelPrize of literature to #Handke
Their stories and those of #BosnianWarReporters are what people need to read. The past won't be erased.

— Marion Dautry (@MarionDautry) December 10, 2019

At a mass grave site he discovered outside Srebrenica, David Rohde saw "what appeared to be a decomposing human leg protruding from the freshly turned dirt." #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/mCxYIxELsg

— Peter Maass (@maassp) December 10, 2019

Peter Handke: My story from 10/2/95: "Nine Muslim men who say they are survivors of mass executions gave separate, corroborating accounts." #Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/5VkZ9Don8y pic.twitter.com/LKA8AmYmRi

— David Rohde (@RohdeD) December 10, 2019

Peter Handke: My story from 11/16/95. "The Monitor has visited 4 of 6 possible mass grave sites. At
each site, human remains, documents from Srebrenica, Muslim identity cards or civilian clothing have been found."#Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/KqsQqLwVie pic.twitter.com/cV0oAK3tez

— David Rohde (@RohdeD) December 10, 2019

Peter Handke: My story from 10/24/95: "Officers from Serbia participated in the attack on the UN-declared ''safe area'' of Srebrenica, according to credible eyewitness accounts obtained by the Monitor." #Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/LpLEvGc9D2 pic.twitter.com/Z7RYo7R2Pi

— David Rohde (@RohdeD) December 10, 2019

Peter Handke: My story from 8/18/95: "At one site shown in the spy photos this reporter saw what appeared to be a decomposing human leg protruding from the freshly turned dirt." #Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/KUvJKXkzzR pic.twitter.com/Tw42RkBMrM

— David Rohde (@RohdeD) December 10, 2019

In this outpouring of solidarity more information and facts about the Bosnian genocide Handke is denying was shared than in all the years I am on this social network. #BosnianWarReporters #BosnianWarJournalists #Handke #NobelPrize

— Refik Hodzic (@ledenik1) December 10, 2019

The killing of 8,000 + men and boys from Srebrenica is well documented. #Handke #Nobelprize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/FozlOSoYLl

— Stacy Sullivan (@MalibuStacy101) December 10, 2019

Genocide happened. #handke #nobelprize #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/j3FjpZu4tr

— Stacy Sullivan (@MalibuStacy101) December 10, 2019

So blown away by images & stories of many local photographers I met during Bosnia's war, I created a book & exhibition to expose their experiences of that long, hateful war & the four-year siege of a still devastated Sarajevo #Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/jbQTzuNkqp

— Leslie Fratkin (@FratkinLeslie) December 10, 2019

The remains of two old ladies after a Milosević-Karadzić-Mladić artillery shell hit their Sarajevo apartment. #Nobel #Handke #BosnianWarReporters #siegeofsarajevo #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/xVUtyWpbiq

— Roger M. Richards (@rogermrichards) December 10, 2019

Here is some of what the Srebrenica war hospital endured: No electricity for 3 years; Amputations and abdominal repair performed without anesthesia or trained surgeons the 1st year as Serb nationalist forces blocked aid to the enclave #handke #nobelprize #BosniaWarJournalists

— Sheri Fink (@sherifink) December 10, 2019

No #Nobel prize should ever be awarded #genocide denier Peter #Handke. My colleagues #BosniaWarJournalists and I were there. We counted the dead. We gathered the evidence. We testified to the world. #realnews… https://t.co/UsbvDgkcKF

— Morten Hvaal https://www.threads.net/@mortenhvaal (@MortenHvaal) December 9, 2019

Thank you Peter Handke for helping me remember how wrong you are. I took this photo during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. https://t.co/2EhwK2QLwf #NobelPrize #Handke #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/289H5K1MqU

— Joel Brand (@joelbra) December 9, 2019

Thank you Peter Handke for helping me remember how wrong you are. https://t.co/2EhwK2QLwf #NobelPrize #Handke #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/ogOjkCoRia

— Joel Brand (@joelbra) December 9, 2019

I will never forget walking around the mass graves holding hundreds of men & boys who were blindfolded, shot & buried on farmland near Srebrenica. We know Milosevic was responsible.#Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists https://t.co/Im1TaC3nB4 pic.twitter.com/Az1OkjZ50d

— EmmaDaly (@EmmaDaly) December 9, 2019

I was there. We all know who's guilty. #handke #bosnia #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/DL2nb8WAQY

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) December 9, 2019

Ethnic Cleansing

April 2, 1992

Serbian Paramilitary soldiers known as Arkan’s Tigers

Bijeljina, Bosnia

Muslim Civilian Victims
Abduraham and Hamijeta Pajaziti
Ajša Šabanović#NobelPrize #Handke #BosniaWarJournalists #VIIPhoto #RonHaviv #Bijeljina #b… https://t.co/sCgp93O9C7 pic.twitter.com/c1KJ7z20eW

— Ron Haviv (@ronhaviv) December 10, 2019

Journalistinnen und Journalisten protestieren unter dem Hashtag #BosniaWarJournalists gegen die Verleihung des Literaturnobelpreises an Peter #Handke. https://t.co/3X1RYc6i9E

— ZEIT ONLINE Kultur (@zeitonline_kul) December 10, 2019

I am deeply touched by the solidarity of war correspondents who reported from Bosnia, sharing their stories to counter the vile denial promoted by the @NobelPrize by awarding Peter #Handke. Deeply touched and thankful to all posting on #BosniaWarJournalists #BosniaWarReporters https://t.co/CFzYpusNXh

— Refik Hodzic (@ledenik1) December 9, 2019

I was there. july 92, Prisoners in the Manjaca camp, Bosnia and Herzegovina #handke #bosnia #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/TXWwIAAnWk

— andree kaiser (@kaiser_andree) December 10, 2019

Today, on the eve of the #NobelPrize for Peter Handke, reporters and photographers who covered the war and genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina are bearing witness. Please consider searching #BosniaWarJournalists and reading/viewing some of their work. You'll find it relevant. pic.twitter.com/AapbfXfL7E

— Sheri Fink (@sherifink) December 9, 2019

I reported from inside Sarajevo while it was under siege.
The longest siege of any capital city in the history of modern warfare.
There were other besieged towns. People were starving, dying under heavy bombardments. Saw many crimes. #handke #Srebrenica #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/2RjeJLHRqz

— Serif Turgut (@Ljiljantr) December 9, 2019

My book War Hospital details how medical staff and patients endured three years of siege leading up to the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, as Serb nationalist leaders manipulated history and perpetrated war crimes. https://t.co/V6yoAircHM. #NobelPrize #Handke #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/RihqRFNY9q

— Sheri Fink (@sherifink) December 9, 2019

Proud to stand with former #BosniaWarJournalists #BosnianWarReporters to protest #NobelPrize being given to Peter #Handke tomorrow. I was there, first as a reporter, then for @hrw, and saw the crimes he attempts to whitewash in his writings firsthand. https://t.co/uaxgVRWlob

— Laura Pitter (@Laurapitter) December 9, 2019

My colleagues #BosniaWarJournalists, sharing work from #Bosnia to protest #Handke #Nobel. From Dec. 1992, "Christmas in Sarajevo":
“After three weeks without water, one month without electricity and eight months of total siege, I no longer feel fear…” https://t.co/OWknvv9W9l

— Janine di Giovanni (@janinedigi) December 9, 2019

Tomorrow in Stockholm, #Handke gets the #NobelPrize. My colleagues #BosniaWarJournalists are outraged so we are posting our work to remindsthe world of what happened there. Never forget. https://t.co/MiYZFnJgXA

— Janine di Giovanni (@janinedigi) December 9, 2019

#BosnianWarReporters #BosniaWarJournalists In the summer of 1993, beginning of July, I crossed the village of Kljuc, on the road btw. Jajce and Bihac. I witnessed while it was being ethnically cleansed by Bosnian Serbs, do you know that, Peter Handke ? https://t.co/EdX4edEjIz

— Serge Enderlin (@Serge_Enderlin) December 10, 2019

In April 1992, a handful of young doctors, not one of them a surgeon, was trapped along with 50,000 men, women and children in the embattled enclave of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a town whose tragedy still reverberates. #Handke #NobelPrize #BosniaWarJournalists pic.twitter.com/Yp32TUIAlg

— Sheri Fink (@sherifink) December 9, 2019

In protest of #Handke #NobelPrize tomorrow in Stockholm, I'm going through my archive posting my essays from the years witnessing atrocities in #Bosnia and the aftermath of tracking war criminals. #BosniaWarJournalistshttps://t.co/UmkMu1siu1

— Janine di Giovanni (@janinedigi) December 9, 2019

I reported all the Yugo wars. Saw monstrous crimes. #BosniaWarJournalists #Handke #NobelPrize Later testified at war crimes trials, inc those of Bosnian Serb leaders Karadzic & Mladic. The grim detail in court records https://t.co/nfiRcCPbMk

— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) December 9, 2019

Here's what I saw in #Bosnia: mass rape, ethnic cleansing, genocide. Tomorrow, #Handke gets a #NobelPrize. He's a genocide denier. My colleagues and I are posting our #Bosnia stories to remind you of what happened there. #BosniaWarJournalists. https://t.co/FA8iJ5WuSC

— Janine di Giovanni (@janinedigi) December 9, 2019