Twenty years ago Saturday, Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic was reassuring Muslim Bosnian civilians their lives would be protected by handing out candy while laughing with his soldiers in Srebrenica, Bosnia a town that had been declared a United Nations safe haven during the Bosnian War.
Moments later, he committed the worst European atrocity since WWII, according to CNN.
Within the next three days, up to 8,000 Muslim males of all ages were slaughtered, according to The New York Times. But Christiane Amanpour reported that this number was a small portion of the approximately 100,000 Muslims who were killed through ethnic cleansing during the war.
According to the U.S. Office of the Historian, the war was fueled by conflicts between various ethno-religious groups mainly Orthodox Christian Serbs, Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croatians.
Two decades after the July 11, 1995, Srebrenica massacre, Muslim sentiments toward Christians have improved, according to the Pew Research Center.
A 2013 Pew Research Center study found that 51 percent of Bosnian Muslims say they know some or a great deal about Christianity the highest rate in countries outside sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 59 percent of Bosnian Muslims said Islam and Christianity have a lot in common.
Some Bosnians have also been working to promote interfaith harmony, with 18 percent of Muslims saying they attend interfaith meetings with Christians. Despite these meetings, though, 93 percent of Bosnian Muslims say all or most of their close friends are Muslims as well.
However, inter-ethno-religious tensions are still well and alive. More recently, Pew ranked social hostilities within Bosnia as high.
"For example, in August 2013, three Serbs reportedly attacked four Muslims on their way to mosque in the town of Zvornik on the holiday Eid al-Fitr," Pew's Angelina Theodorou wrote.
Moments later, he committed the worst European atrocity since WWII, according to CNN.
Within the next three days, up to 8,000 Muslim males of all ages were slaughtered, according to The New York Times. But Christiane Amanpour reported that this number was a small portion of the approximately 100,000 Muslims who were killed through ethnic cleansing during the war.
According to the U.S. Office of the Historian, the war was fueled by conflicts between various ethno-religious groups mainly Orthodox Christian Serbs, Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croatians.
Two decades after the July 11, 1995, Srebrenica massacre, Muslim sentiments toward Christians have improved, according to the Pew Research Center.
A 2013 Pew Research Center study found that 51 percent of Bosnian Muslims say they know some or a great deal about Christianity the highest rate in countries outside sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 59 percent of Bosnian Muslims said Islam and Christianity have a lot in common.
Some Bosnians have also been working to promote interfaith harmony, with 18 percent of Muslims saying they attend interfaith meetings with Christians. Despite these meetings, though, 93 percent of Bosnian Muslims say all or most of their close friends are Muslims as well.
However, inter-ethno-religious tensions are still well and alive. More recently, Pew ranked social hostilities within Bosnia as high.
"For example, in August 2013, three Serbs reportedly attacked four Muslims on their way to mosque in the town of Zvornik on the holiday Eid al-Fitr," Pew's Angelina Theodorou wrote.