Bob Dylan Angers Croats With Nazi Reference

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By Bojana Barlovac

Music legend annoys Croats fans in an interview by comparing Serbs and Croats to blacks and whites – and to Jews and Nazis.

The legendary US singer and songwriter has ruffled feathers in Croatia by comparing Croats to American Whites and German Nazis in the course of a discourse on American politics.

Croatia
Croatia

Commenting on still tense relations between African Americans and Whites, Dylan said: “If you’ve got a slave master or the [Klu Klux] Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that … Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood”.

Dylan made the remarks in an interview with the music magazine Rolling Stone.

Speaking on the occasion of the release of his 35th album “Tempest”, ahead of the November presidential elections, Dylan went on to describe America as a country formed on the backs of slaves.

“If slavery had been given up in a more peaceful way, America would be far ahead today,” he concluded.

The comment about Croats has caused numerous comments on websites that published the interview, prompting some to accuse the musician of not knowing much about history and politics in the Balkans.

Dylan held two concerts in Belgrade, one in 1991 and the other one in 2010. Two years ago, Dylan also had a concert in Zagreb.

Balkan Insight

The Balkan Insight (formerly the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.

7 thoughts on “Bob Dylan Angers Croats With Nazi Reference

  • October 4, 2012 at 5:01 pm
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    @reader

    I’m not saying that both sides are great.
    I’m saying that the amount of crazy serbs and crazy croatians is the same and its actually quite low.
    What I personally don’t see is either side attacking their own nutcases.
    The same as muslims, most muslims are nice and normal, but they never say that Bin Laden is crazy, it’s always “you have to understand that he was protecting himself and his people…” because they see these nutcases as useful.
    The problem is that these nutcases are worse for their own people than they are for others. After the taliban freed the afghans from the soviets they put down an even more repressive regime. Hitler scarred Germany forever. The americans let the banks do whateer they want because they thought that they would steal money from overseas and enrich them, eventually they stole more money from americans than from anyone else. The catholics stop people criticising the church but all the children that the priests rape are catholics. Scientologists hurt other scientologists.
    Serbs should worry about making themselves and their own communities better.
    I understand that certain croats commited crimes against serbs during ww2 and the balkan wars.
    But if this was well known, would that really change anything…really.
    There have been holocaust movies for decades and for some reason people still hate jews, think that theyre scum and make jokes about them burning in ovens.
    Has the worlds pity really helped bosnia or bosnian muslims…. has it

    Anyway I wish you luck with the rest of your life

    Reply
    • October 5, 2012 at 2:03 am
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      My pen down — I applaud you!

      Reply
  • October 7, 2012 at 6:50 pm
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    Excuse the typos, I should start editing my rants before posting them.

    Reply
  • October 8, 2012 at 9:29 am
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    But he is right. They were with Hitler in the Second World War, and also they are Ustasha.

    Reply
  • October 8, 2012 at 9:38 am
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    Croatia killed 98% of jews during the Second World War, just look Croatia today, there are only 0,3% of Serbs living there because even to this day Croatia is making the life of Serbs who live there a hell.

    Reply
  • October 8, 2012 at 1:04 pm
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    @Reader
    It stands. I just compared our equivalent.
    He is something most similar to the Thompson if you want to go that far. The claim was simple. Our biggest nationalist right wings are less chauvinistic than most Croatian center/left.

    A Croatian and Serbian guy argue whose country is less chauvinistic and they decide for Serb to go to Zagreb and Croatian to go to Belgrade and chant their nationality.
    Serb goes to Zagreb and chants “I’m Serb!” in few minutes he gets he’s ass kicked.
    Croatian goes to Belgrade and chants “I’m Croatian!” for half an our and one elderly lady comes and tells him “You are embarrising yourself.”

    Joke is a bit chauvinistic but what can you do.

    Reply
  • October 8, 2012 at 3:30 pm
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    @Killy
    That is exactly what a fascist would say.

    Reply

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