Joe Simunic – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Media Mean Spirits Against Croats Rose Again At Australian Soccer Cup 2022 Match

October 21, 2022 by inavukic 24 Comments

_{Revellers and fans of Sydney United 58 soccer club on 1 October 2022 Australia Cup match. Photo: Getty Images/Cameron Spencer}

Sydney United 58 (originally Sydney Croatia soccer club) fans and revellers were publicly condemned in Australia’s, and wider, mainstream media for alleged “devastating and shameful” scenes during the Australia Cup final on October 1, 2022, and with them the entire Croatian community of Australia and the Croatian people. Television coverage captured Sydney United 58 revellers chanting “Ready for home” (Za dom spremni!) in unison, raising their arms in the air or waving an open hand or clenched fist in hearty jubilation. Australian mainstream media immediately labelled it Nazi salutes during the match. Immediately, some journalists rushed to declare that it was a Nazi salute like “Sieg Heil”, and with the news of this incident from the match, topics such as Ustashe, Jasenovac, from the Second World War immediately appeared in the mainstream media. News quickly emerged alleging that several Sydney United 58 fans were also booing during the Welcome to Country ceremony conducted at all public events in Australia by a representative of Australian First Nations and during the playing of the Australian national anthem (but footage from the crowd later showed that the latter was not true because the Sydney United 58 fans sang and clapped for the Australian national anthem). The leadership of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies immediately after the game called publicly for “strong action”, including lifetime bans. While Football Australia (football association of Australia) said that the actions of a “very small minority” were not in line with the “values and expectations of the wider community”, and former Australian TV sports presenter and well-known public figure Lucy Zelic, of Croatian origin, promptly expressed her outrage on her Twitter at what happened, was deeply disappointed by the actions of the fans and called for a lifetime ban and a mandatory education course for those involved.

“I was born in the 80s and was never raised to be a fascist, racist or antisemitic – it wasn’t an option. We knew what being treated differently because of your ethnicity, and losing loved ones in senseless war felt like,” wrote Lucy Zelic 2 October 2022 on her Twitter and continued: “What happened at last night’s @AustraliaCup Final was shocking and simply devastating, and I didn’t want to believe it. It was the first time I felt embarrassed by the actions of my fellow countrymen, and I wasn’t alone… Their beliefs and behaviour aren’t a true representation of Croatians, just as the actions of fans aren’t ever representative of a football club. What’s worse, is that many of them appeared to be teenagers who simply don’t know how deeply the ramifications of their actions run…”

So, this soccer match and accompanying media writeups turned into fodder for merciless attacks on Croatian unity and on the pride and purity of Croatian freedom. The media coverage was almost entirely negative, one-sided or with a great lack of context and had the cumulative effect of branding the Croatian community as fascist, racist, discriminatory, or sympathetic to such views. This of course is no news for most Croatians, they suffer attacks regularly that are not based on World War Two facts but on fabrications and mean spirits. Did this media attack have anything to do with the fact that the Supreme Court of NSW recently ordered a judicial review of the convictions passed in 1981 against the so-called Croatian six for attempted terrorism, which case is considered the greatest injustice in the history of Australian judiciary and justice because it is becoming clear that it was set up by the communist UDBA of Yugoslavia (in collaboration with individuals from Australian authorities at the time), is a feeling that many people in Australia these days carry uneasily.

It was particularly disappointing to watch prominent media figures of Croatian origin, such as Lucy Zelic, who did not use this situation to, in addition to her own outrage at the behaviour of some fans, also use her media platforms and influence to inform the Australian and world public about the history of the For Home Ready “Za dom spremni” greeting, which has its roots long before the Second World War and which had a key motivational chant and basis for the victory in the 1990s over the brutal Serb aggression against Croatia. True, Lucy pointed out in her statements that the “beliefs and behaviour” of those who chanted at the match “are not a true representation of Croats,” but she did not point out what the true virtues of Croats are.

On its Facebook page, the Croatian Embassy in Canberra was quick to condemn the events at the match regarding the Sydney United 58 fans. It was “a small group of individuals whose shocking and reprehensible behaviour does not, and should not, be an embarrassment to the entire hard-working and law-abiding Australians – of the Croatian community,” says a Facebook post on October 3 on the embassy’s Facebook page. But at the same time, and as many people from the Croatian community reported to me, the statement on that Facebook page – “We strongly reject all forms of anti-Semitism and firmly believe that there is no place in society for any glorification of totalitarian regimes, extremism or intolerance” – also had the effect that confirmed the allegations of the Australian media and some influential persons and associations of Australia that the greeting “Za dom spremni” is fascist and Nazi, and that there may be a significant and worrying number of sympathizers of those regimes in the Croatian community! The fact that the official website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia on behalf of the Croatian Embassy in Canberra did not publish any statement regarding this incident is also a source of sadness for most, because the website is the first window to the wider world, not Facebook.

It seems not much has changed on this front since November 2013 when Australian defender of Croatian origins, Joe Simunic, greeted the crowds with “For Home!” (and the revellers replied “Ready!” at the World Cup qualifying match against Iceland. As a result, FIFA banned him from remaining Cup matches.

Sydney United fans at Australia Cup soccer Match 1 Ocober 2022. Photo: AAP/ Dan Himbrech

Croatian youth born in Australia, brought up with a sense of patriotism and pride for Croatia and everything that is patriotic and are certainly neither Nazis nor fascists nor neo-Nazis, but pure Croats who love their parental homeland. In this case, the Croatian community in Australia was thrown under the bus from all sides and even by some of its own people, and now that community must fight for its reputation again, as it did in the 1980s after false accusations of terrorism by the Croatian Six.

Historioghraphically, it is completely undoubtable that the phrase «For home» belongs to the Croatian traditional heritage and, as such, it has been very prevalent in various types of Croatian social life for several centuries. Historical sources evidence that the phrase «For home» was used in ethnological, literary, music, political, military, cultural and other forms of Croatian social life during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. It has been applied to very differing occasions and situations, official and everyday ones. Because of all of that the phrase «For home» has become naturalised among the various generations of the widest of classes of Croatian population. With that, the phrase «For home» has acquired very wide communication meanings. Cumulatively, it had represented the widest expression of value of social solidarity. i.e., devotion to home and homeland, but it was also used as a spontaneous and amiable everyday greeting.

The Ustashe movement, whose leadership collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II, especially after Nazi Germany occupied Croatia, just as Serbia did, and established the Independent State of Croatia – NDH (1941 – 1945), used a series of contents from the Croatian traditional heritage in their original or adapted forms. Among other things they adapted the traditional phrase “For home” into their salutation “For Leader and Home Ready!” (Za Poglavnika i Dom spremni). With the ending of World War II, NDH ceased to exist, and the newly established Yugoslav communist totalitarian regime, largely comprised of Serbs at the helms, mounted a cruel and thorough revenge with its representatives and its ideology because NDH fought for Croatian independence from any form of Yugoslavia and communist Partisans fought for Croatia to remain within Yugoslavia.

And hence, all the great and grand and virtuous Croatian history of the “For Home Ready” greeting and salute was suffocated, and it was maliciously turned into a Nazi and/or Fascist salute, which it was not. It is obviously in someone’s interest to keep saying that and those insisting upon it are more likely than not the ones who are still pursuing the big lies their predecessors or even they themselves wrote into the WWII history of Croatia and former Yugoslavia. And so, we who cherish the truth above all shall keep fighting for it. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Australia football Cup 2022, Croatia, False allegations against Croatian salute, For Home Ready salute, Joe Simunic, Soccer fans banned from matches, Sydney United58, Za Dom Spremni

Croatia’s Fair Chance Of Victory At World Cup Snatched Away!

June 13, 2014 by inavukic 72 Comments

Croatian flag face paint

Congratulating Brazil on its victory at the World Cup opening game against Croatia – Thursday 12 June – I cannot but notice that the world leading media outlets seem to be in agreement that the Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura “gifted” brazil a penalty shot that kicked off a winning streak for the Brazilian team.

“ With 20 minutes of normal time remaining, referee Nishimura adjudged that Dejan Lovren had fouled Fred and pointed to the penalty spot. It was a bewildering decision, with television pictures clearly showing that the Brazil striker had fallen over and not been dragged down by Lovren…” write’s CNN’s James Masters.

“A dubious penalty call saw Neymar chalk up his second to give Brazil the lead in the 71st minute…” comments ABC’s Dean Bilton.

BBC’s commentator and former UK team player, Chris Waddle, reportedly could not believe how the penalty shot was awarded against Croatia. “…the game was led by a bad referee who decided the game”.

“The game turned on a controversial penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura in the 71st minute when striker Fred went down inside the area under minimal contact from defender Dejan Lovren. Neymar scored from the spot and the Croatians were furious.
‘If that was a penalty, we should be playing basketball,” said Croatia coach Niko Kovac. “Those kinds of fouls are penalized there.’’
‘That is shameful, this is not a World Cup referee. He had one kind of criteria for them and another for us. The rules were not the same,‘’ said Kovac, writes The Guardian/Associated Press

“Brazil were level minutes later courtesy of Neymar sending a shot spinning beyond the Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa via a post from 22 yards out.
Nishimura’s night managed to get progressively worse when he somehow spotted a foul on Fred by Dejan Lovren that never was.
It was a clear dive, but Nishimura pointed to the penalty spot before booking Lovren rather than Fred. It was a stinking ‘home-town’ decision that used to be famous during prize boxing matches in North America.
You do wonder how many referees are influenced by what is going on outside of the stadium. Namely, the need for Brazil to do well against a backdrop of protesters unhappy with the use of the public purse to host the finals.
Neymar planted the penalty to the right of Pletikosa, who should have saved…
There was time yet for Nishimura to continue his error-strewn ways when he disallowed a legitimate Croatia equaliser after Ivica Orlic was deemed to have fouled the Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar in the air on 82 minutes. It was another dreadful call, but one in keeping with the general poverty of his decision-making…” writes Desmond Kane, Eurosport

“…Brazil’s penalty was, undoubtedly, the turning point of the night. It came in the 71st minute and if one positive comes from it this will be the last we see of this referee for a good while. Brazil were on top at the time but labouring. Croatia were not a goal threat but were holding fast at the back and a gutsy draw was beginning to look a real possibility.
At which point Fred – not as exciting a forward as his name suggests, by the way – backed into Dejan Lovren and then fell beneath the merest contact from the Croatian defender. Nishimura needed no second invitation to do the bidding of the Arena Corinthians and pointed to the spot. Brazil’s No 10 did the rest.
There may even be a question over the legality of the Brazil’s penalty… Nishimura’s infamy may take longer to live down… So, not a good night for referee Yuichi Nishimura of Japan who will feature in many conspiracy theorists most fevered speculations from here. He was almost certainly useless, not corrupt, but it is true that his three big errors were all to the benefit of one team.

FIFA only have themselves to blame, therefore, for this fresh round of slander and negativity. They are now regarded as a rogue organisation – an administrative axis of evil, if you will – and it is a very small step from believing events around the game are corrupt, to thinking the same applies to the game itself.
The need for Brazilian success here has been universally agreed and the disgust with FIFA is now so great, all too many can imagine them facilitating results like any other backdoor deal.
Of course, if FIFA were so desperate to ensure Brazilian progress they would surely not have placed them on a potential collision course with Spain or Holland – both of whom could be a real threat on this evidence – in round two, but logic won’t get too much play over the coming weeks if there are too many repeats of travesties like this.
It wasn’t that the best team didn’t win – they did – but the way it happened left a sour taste…” writes Martin Samuel of Daily Mail.

And so the same story is repeated in the majority of world’s mainstream media. The referee Yuichi Nishimura and FIFA acted dishonourably, snatching away Croatia’s fair chance at victory in this game. But then again, nothing surprises me when it comes to FIFA – it started chipping away at Croatia’s chances of victory some months back when it made the decision to exclude Joe Simunic from the game, wrongly and wickedly deciding that his chant “For Home” at a soccer game was a WWII fascist chant! One could see the politically ill winds against Croatia blowing from FIFA a long time ago. If corruption allegations in relation to Qatar 2022 currently afoot against Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, prove to be true, who knows what other nasties will crawl out from under the FIFA rock? Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Croatia Team: “We did not deserve to lose”
Photo: Sanjin Strukic/Pixsell

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, FIFA, Joe Simunic, Niko Kovac, Sepp Blatter, World Cup 2014, Yuichi Nishimura

Croatian Veterans Demanding Due Dignity Condemn Governance

May 18, 2014 by inavukic 19 Comments

Croatian Veterans Convention 2014
Photo: FaH (Click on image to enlarge)

On Saturday 17 May the USA marked its Armed Forces Day with pride, respect and celebrations, parades, across the country to pay tribute to the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces in times of war and peace. The UK will do the same on 28 June. In Croatia, the veterans of the 1990’s Homeland War still find themselves fighting for their rights, for recognition – for the dignity that should be felt across the nation. This is a tragedy that can only be removed through strong retaliation against this injustice.

On Friday 16 May the first convention of Croatian Homeland War veterans and members of their families was held in Zagreb – several thousands of veterans and victims of the 1991-95 war and their guests attended the Lisinski concert hall where the convention was held.

It turned loud and tumultuous as the mere mention of the minister in charge Predrag Matic sparked the gathered participants to loudly boo and whistle in disapproval and rejection.

“We have been witnessing the long-lasting poor governance of the Croatian state, the sale of national resources, the pauperisation of the Croatian people, the stigmatisation of Homeland War veterans and the abolishment of their acquired rights, and now we say that’s enough,” reads one of the conclusions of the convention.

“We say to those to whom the dignity of Croatian Homeland War veterans and the Homeland War means nothing, we will no longer tolerate such an attitude. We demand the prosecution of war crimes against the Croatian people and the revision of cases covered by the General Amnesty Act. We demand the collection of war reparations from the aggressor and that all rights of the veterans and their families be regulated under the Croatian War Veterans Act,” said in his speech Ante Deur, the president of the Guard Brigades Corps, adding that “the veterans will no longer permit that those who had not defended Croatia decide upon their fate”.

The convention voiced demands for the Homeland War to be portrayed in schools in a truthful and dignified way, and directions seeking that Vukovar be proclaimed a place of Special Piety and announcements that the veterans will not allow the arrest of Vukovar heroes.

In his very emotional speech, Djuro Goloski, a 100% war invalid, emphasised that the Homeland War was not a civil war and that the veterans who defended Croatia are not criminals. “We were heroes,” he said. “and today we are treated as a mob.” Goloski accused the current and the previous government of systematically disparaging veterans and restricting their rights.

“We insist that our children have the right to education and work in line with traditional values and the world view of the Croatian people.”

Croatian Homeland War veterans will defend the values of the family as the pillar of every society, say the conclusions that were read out by the president of the Guard Brigades Corps, Ante Deur, whose words were met with standing ovations.

Even though Parliament Speaker Josip Leko was expected to address the convention, it did not happen. Veterans’ Affairs Minister Predrag Matic’s presence was met with loud disapproval, apparently scaring away his communist pro-Yugoslavia parliamentary comrade.

Standing ovations rose to the national football team player Joe Simunic (who is currently a victim of FIFA’s political persecution, banning him to play at the coming World Cup in Brazil, based on his “For Home” chant at a relatively recent soccer match in Croatia) , singer Marko Perkovic Thompson, members of the Initiative for the Defence of a Croatian Vukovar and General Mladen Markac.

Among the guests were Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic and the president of the opposition HDZ party, Tomislav Karamarko.

Nineteen years have passed since the last armed operation in August of 1995 for the defense and liberation of Croatia from Serb aggression. It is a tragic reality that the veterans still find themselves struggling for their rights, for their recognition as a national symbol of freedom and door to democracy. This awful reality has a great deal to do with the politics of equating the aggressor with the victim and the fact that many still call the shots in Croatian government who were against Croatian independence and democracy and who still do not accept it, nor cherish it. Out with them, I say.

Ron Kovic, an American veteran – a son of a Croatian father and Irish mother – whose battles are so well portrayed in his autobiography “Born On Fourth Of July” (and movie of same title) said, quite a few years ago:
“We who have witnessed the obscenity of war and experienced its horror and terrible consequences have an obligation to rise above our pain and suffering and turn the tragedy of our lives into a triumph.
I have come to believe there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.”
And in light of these words and the demands and conclusions from the Croatian Veterans Convention, I conclude this post and say: Blessings to you Croatian Veterans from the Homeland War. Keep fighting for the democracy and the rights under it – for which you lost lives, limbs and homes! Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)