By XHABIR DERALLA
Nationalism, religious hatred and racism in all their forms and degrees of radicalism existamong communities in the Balkans. And much broader, of course. A feature of nationalism and other types of hatred based on origin and affiliation is that they spread faster, and extinguish much harder and much longer than forest fires. And to ignite hatred, usually all it takes is just a small spark.
Therefore, you cannot say that someone is a moderate nationalist. There is no moderate nationalism, as it too can be a spark that sets the forest on fire.
Nationalism doesn’t have to include militant elements, but every form of it is equally destructive, as the path from intolerance on the street, in the media or in school desks – to armed violence can be very short.
To fight against nationalism is a deeply human and civilizational call, a confirmation that you are advocating for universal values. That fight doesn’t mean declarative positions, but real and specific actions.
Any entity that claims to be advocating for the promotion of multiculturalism and is fighting against nationalism, has to possess high sensitivity even for the smallest details in the life, culture and tradition of the communities. At the same time,they must pay attention to the trends in public communication and get to know the ways in which narratives are created which, from afar may not seem as such, but in their essence are deeply nationalistic.
When nationalism coming from “others” is recognized, this by no means implies the right of the other side to also “become” nationalistic. That “becoming a nationalist” is recognized in the narrative: “I’m not a nationalist, but…”.
If your response to the nationalism of the “others” contains nationalism, you haven’t accomplished anything. You are just opening opportunities for it to inflame and deepen, you are creating opportunities for tensions and conflict.
If you respond to nationalism with nationalism – defeat is already on the doorstep.
That means that nationalism has won.
It’s not the nation, one or the other, that wins, but rather nationalism. Everyone loses.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
