The Jews, Muslims, and Serbs

After taking over Istanbul, Mehmet the conqueror rapidly expanded into the Balkan region. For the next 450 or so years, the Ottoman empire had control over modern day Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and more. But I've heard the Ottomans didn't rule over all lands equally well.

You see, the Bosnians had even from early on worked their way into all levels of the Ottoman government, including up to the sultan's inner circles. And so Bosnians concerns had practical channels to be addressed.

One example of this is when many Jews and Muslims came from Spain during the inquisition. In Spain, different religions lived in different neighborhoods, but in Sarajevo this sort of thing wasn't the default; instead people coexisted. At any rate, these Jews brought with them new knowledge of their trades, which bolstered the Bosnian economy. Many Jews grew to be very wealthy.

And so when the Ottoman's sent over a governor who didn't like Jews and arrested the 12 richest ones, hundreds or maybe thousands of Muslims surrounded his house and demanded those Jews be released. They did not approve of this kind of divisive ruler, and so they ran that governor out and told the Ottoman empire to never send such a governor again.

On the other hand, I hear the Serbs were not treated as well, for reasons I don't know. And so they impulsively rejected Ottomans the whole time they were ruled by them. After Ottoman rule, because Bosnians were not so opposed to Ottomans, Serbian animosity was apparently transferred to the Bosnian muslims. They pejoratively refer to them as "Turkified Serbs", or something like that. And it seems that rift in identity is responsible for the war of the 90s, and the Serb's modern alliance with it's Christian Orthodox ally, Russia.

It's so bizarre to see how resentments from over hundred of years ago persist today. Why is hate so resilient once it takes a hold? And given that it is, how is multicultural coexistence even possible?

But as an example of coexistence, we have the story of the 12 Jews. In Sarajevo, I'm hearing that this wasn't merely an isolated incidence, and that the same spirit exists in the everyday person today. I am somehow very skeptical that this is possible. Although it's hard for me to really test this, I haven't seen anything that suggests to me that it couldn't be true.

And there are signs that there could be something to it. For example, Sofia in Bulgaria has Catholic and Orthodox churches, a Mosque, and a Synagogue all very close to one another, and on the internet you see them make claims about tolerance and coexistence as though it's some kind of model for the world. I have my doubts.

When I was there, I tried to visit the synagogue because it seems to have beautiful architecture and I'm curious about architecture these days. I went in with a group of six random people who also wanted to visit. All the others were allowed in past the security gates by the security officers after just some light questioning. But for me, they asked about my job, what I'm doing in Sofia and how long I'll be there, what hotel I'm staying at, where my parents are from, and this kind of stuff. After all of this their security denied me entry to the synagogue.

Of course this is in the wake of the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attacks, but on the other hand, the one main functioning synagogue in Sarajevo doesn't even have any security officers. They had a lock on the gate but it seemed unlocked, you could just push it open. They let me in without any problems. And as far as I've been able to gather, there aren't Muslim-Jew tensions after October 7th either. Apparently many of the Jews in Sarajevo sympathize with Palestine. This looks more like coexistence.

Another interesting example is that about ten years ago the Pope visited Sarajevo. Apparently Popes need chairs when they talk, and so people make chairs for them sometimes I guess. Two Bosnian muslims, a father and son, volunteered to build this chair for him. Evidently, the Pope's speeches about the need for peace and coexistence struck a chord with locals. They spent months working on the chair that he ultimately sat in. I don't think I'd care all that much about the pope to make him something. Maybe I suck, I don't know.

I know this topic is ostentatiously about religion, but I think religion falls under ideology more broadly, and the topic of how different ideologies can or cannot coexist is always relevant. But it's complicated. All I've ever seen for sure is evidence of division, differences, segregation, etc. Coexistence seems like some naive concept from children's TV programming or something. And I know we do have some degree of it in the States, but it lacks sufficient substance. At best it's tolerance, which I would say is a far cry from genuine coexistence.

I'm not sure what the final solution to this problem is, but maybe we can look to history for some inspiration. I'm hardly educated in these matters, but I do think Sarajevo might have some lessons to share with us.

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