To paraphrase George Orwell, all conflicts are equal, but some conflicts are more equal than others. For over a year now, the Israel-Arab conflict and its current manifestation in the Israel-Hamas war has completely dominated the news cycle and animated so-called protests.
Ukraine is recently back in the conversation after a year of fading into the background. Syria had been forgotten until rebels brought down Assad a few months ago (and has been forgotten since). Serbia, right now, is a country rocked by student protests, a country that is essentially shut down, a country whose populace has grown tired of corruption.
The kindling that provided the spark there was the Nov. 1, 2024 collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in the city of Novi Sad, leaving 15 dead. Serbians wanted answers: Was the tragedy caused by government corruption? If so, what will be done about it?
When answers weren’t forthcoming, protests were organized and have since spread to every city in the country. Students have been attacked by counterprotesters — in some cases violently by members of the ruling party — and strikes across various sectors, from education to law, have been called.
This is no bottomless mimosa intifada (the hilarious meme from the Auraria encampment that went global). Yet there is barely a peep in US media. I learned about it from two teenage Serbians I hosted for the BBYO international convention. Both are proud of their fellow citizens’ courage. They echoed my confusion as to why no one in the US seems to know about it.
It’s not like Serbia is unknown — it’s been directly involved in (sometimes the instigator of) various wars, some of which have included US military engagement.
The world’s obsession with Israel is not merely a theoretical discussion of imbalance; it has real world implications. It allows bad actors to go unpunished (for example, sustained UN condemnation of Israel while ignoring Assad); it also means that for every additional article about Israel, there is one less about somewhere else.
A topic that is little reported are the human rights violations and wars around mining in the Congo. In the last month-and-a-half alone, nearly half a million people have been displaced due to fighting in the Goma region. Maybe Congo sounds remote; maybe there is a racial component. But considering that every single long-life battery-operated device you have depends on minerals mined in the Congo, you are closer to it than you may realize.
It’s why travel and meeting people from other places is so important. We don’t know what we don’t know. Now, thanks to my house guests, you and I know something’s going on in Serbia.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com
© IJN 2025
