white house, the – From Fear to a Handshake - Softcover

Stunning. An extraordinary account of engagement with intractable and murderous hostilities, of the energy generated by hope. A thrilling narrative of those who learn to overcome the injuries done to them and those embittered beyond grief. Jeremy Seabrook, Guardian & BBC Journalist

"the white house" tells the story of the possibilities of reconciliation in a universal culture saturated with images of war. It shows how it is possible, against all the odds, to bring together former enemies - survivors of a killing camp, and representatives of those who ordered and perpetrated the atrocities and killing. "the white house" shows how it is possible to dismantle nationalism. This book is a narrative. It starts with something ghastly and ends with a handshake. Over a thousand men and boys, mostly Muslim, were murdered and many more tortured in the killing camp in the Serb administered iron-ore mine of Omarska between May and August 1992 during the Bosnia War. Ten years after the war ended Mittal Steel bought the mine. Survivors and relatives of the victims demanded a memorial. The Serb administrators refused. The Soul of Europe was called in to mediate between Muslims and Serbs.This book tells the story of this process, talking to victims and perpetrators and achieving the first steps towards acknowledgement of crimes committed and agreement to cooperate on a memorial which is still to be built.