to indicate their belonging to a specific generation. role models, and denial is not considered top-level
As a regional NGO that was first formed in Belgrade patriotism. On this Human Rights Day, once again
(Serbia) in 2004 and today has offices in Prishtina from the entire region, we say [war] criminals are
(Kosovo), Zagreb (Croatia), Sarajevo (Bosnia- #NotOurHeroes” (Image 3).
Hercegovina) and Podgorica (Montenegro), they
In utilising hashtag memory activism, these
make a generational claim, as they form a region activists are making their generational claims visible
of memory of the successor states of the former and more public. Additionally, they claim theirs
Yugoslavia, in relation to the contested memories is not only a national struggle but a regional one,
of the wars of the 1990s throughout the region. by using the same message and the same hashtag,
They argue they are ‘too young to remember but in both their online and their onsite actions,
determined never to forget’ and that these ICTY throughout the region. As such, their campaign
convicts are not the heroes of their generation. includes demonstrating against actions such as the
On December 10, 2017, which marked erection of a monument honouring the late Franjo
International Human Rights Day, as the ICTY was Tudjman in Zagreb 1 , and calling on heads of state
closing its doors following the verdict in the Ratko and government officials to refrain from including
Mladić trial, the group posted a composition of five convicted war criminals in public positions. 2
pictures of their activists standing in well-known
public locations in the capitals of five Yugoslav
successor states, where they engage in local and
regional mnemonic struggles, holding banners with
#MyNakbaStory: Hashtag Memory
Activism and Online Commemorations as
an Advocacy Tool
their hashtag #NisuNašiHeroji [in Kosovo translating
the hashtag into Albanian]. The post read: “In The #MyNakbaStory hashtag appeared prior to the
2018, the [youth] Initiative will continue to fight May 2018 commemoration of the 70th anniversary
for a society where war crimes perpetrators are not of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba. In Israel/Palestine
The IMEU tweet April 30, 2018
A post from YIHR Serbia’s organisational Twitter account, December 10,
2017.
overview
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