About

"Serbia Strong", commonly known as "Remove Kebab", is a propaganda music video produced by a group of four Bosnian Serb Army soldiers--a trumpet player, an accordion player, a singer and a keyboard player--as a patriotic tribute to Radovan Karadžić, the former Bosnian-Serb politician and convicted war criminal who served as the first President of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1996. Upon entering online circulation in 2006, the music video gained much notoriety for its nationalistic tone and spawned a large volume of parody images and videos. In March 2019, a document authored by a shooter who killed 50 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand referred to himself as a "kebab removalist" in reference to the meme.

Origin

According to the keyboardist, Slobodan Vrga, the video was filmed near Knin, Croatia, in 1995 apparently by an independent producer named Nikola Jorgic. The singer, Zeljko Grmusa, also identified the site as near Knin but the year as 1993. Jorgic is featured briefly speaking into a microphone at the beginning of the earliest online instance of the music video uploaded by YouTuber ARHIVISTA on August 3rd, 2008. ARHIVISTA is the account of Croatian documentary filmmaker Pavle Vranjican who covered the Yugoslav Wars near Knin. Due to inclusion of scenes from Karadžić's 2008 trial, the clip appears to have been modified from its original source to parody the creators' intent. Vrga initially identified Nenad Tintor as the trumpeter and Grmusa as the vocalist but did not recall the name of the accordionist. Vrga later acknowledged Novislav Đajić as the accordionist. In light of the song being played prior to the Christchurch mosque shootings, both Vrga and Grmusa have condemned the shooter's actions.

Tintor's life after the video remains unknown. Đajić was later indicted on 15 charges of genocide and sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment in Germany. After serving his term, he supposedly lived in Budva, Montenegro, until his apparent death in 2014, though neither the surviving members of the music video nor records have confirmed this information. Jorgic, the producer of the music video, was also indicted on charges of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany. He died in prison in 2014 due to complications of heart disease and diabetes as confirmed by Serbian news media.

Spread

On May 24th, 2006, YouTuber Momcilo uploaded a music video titled "Dzamije lete" (english: Mosque Fly), which opens with edited footage from the "Serbia Strong" music video, garnering more than 378,000 views. Unlike the version uploaded by Vranjican, the segment lacks a watermark. The video, taken from a mock-contest for "Best Chetnik Song," was broadcast on the Croatian television network Omladinska TV (OTV) during the Eurovision 2006 contest. The music video was used as a transition into "Dzamije lete" featuring Miro Sembermac who had published Serbian turbofolk music through the Superton label. Due to Vranjican's involvement in the OTV special, the clip likely came from the same tape source.

In 2010, a music video parody of "Serbia Strong" titled "Tupac Serbia" was submitted to Krautchan's /int/ board by Sergej, a Macedonian user based in Istanbul, Turkey. Meanwhile, a copypasta text referring to this video began to spread across the Internet:

REMOVE KEBAB remove kebab
you are worst turk. you are the turk idiot you are the turk smell. return to croatioa. to our croatia cousins you may come our contry. you may live in the zoo….ahahahaha ,bosnia we will never forgeve you. cetnik rascal FUck but fuck asshole turk stink bosnia sqhipere shqipare..turk genocide best day of my life. take a bath of dead turk..ahahahahahBOSNIA WE WILL GET YOU!! do not forget ww2 .albiania we kill the king , albania return to your precious mongolia….hahahahaha idiot turk and bosnian smell so bad..wow i can smell it. REMOVE KEBAB FROM THE PREMISES. you will get caught. russia+usa+croatia+slovak=kill bosnia…you will ww2/ tupac alive in serbia, tupac making album of serbia . fast rap tupac serbia. we are rich and have gold now hahahaha ha because of tupac… you are ppoor stink turk… you live in a hovel hahahaha, you live in a yurt

tupac alive numbr one #1 in serbia ….fuck the croatia ,..FUCKk ashol turks no good i spit in the mouth eye of ur flag and contry. 2pac aliv and real strong wizard kill all the turk farm aminal with rap magic now we the serba rule .ape of the zoo presidant georg bush fukc the great satan and lay egg this egg hatch and bosnia wa;s born. stupid baby form the eggn give bak our clay we will crush u lik a skull of pig. serbia greattst countrey

On YouTube

The original watermarked source of the video has been then uploaded on YouTube on August 3rd, 2008 with the title "Radovan Karadzic Haag bluz". The first YouTube parody of the music video has been submitted on August 25th, 2010 featuring Team Fortress 2 characters Heavy, Scout and Engineer. Thanks to the title "REMOVE POOTIS", the music video has been also referred as Remove Kebab inspired from the copypasta text and the parody fad began to grow with the snowclone REMOVE X. On September 15, 2011, YouTuber "85552100" uploaded a flash animated parody of the music video featuring the Minecraft characters Enderman, the Human player and the pig. It gained until July 3, 2012 more than 1.583.000 views and is the most known Serbia Strong parody on YouTube.

2019 Christchurch Mosque Shootings

On March 15th, 2019, shootings took place at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, during which at least 49 people were killed and an additional 20 were injured. The attacks were livestreamed by the shooter on Facebook, which showed the shooter entering a mosque while shooting a shotgun, before switching to an semiautomatic gun and murdering people inside. During portions of the stream, the songs "Remove Kebab" and the Initial D song Gas Gas Gas could be heard playing in the background. In a document circulated prior to the incident, the suspected shooter describes himself as a "kebab removalist" and cites the great replacement conspiracy theory as a motivation for the attack. Both the vocalist, Zeljko Grmusa, and the keyboardist, Slobodan Vrga, have condemned the shooter's use of the song.

YouTube Removal

On March 17th, 2019, YouTube removed the "Remove Kebab (perfect loop)" video, which had accumulated upwards of nine million views in the seven years it was on the site.

Removal From YouTube

Other Examples

Left: Ed, Edd n Eddy | Right: 8-Bit Music / Chiptune

Left: Zelda CD-i game | Right: Smoke Weed Everyday

Left: Tu Vuò Fa' L'Americano | Right: Where Da Hood At

Dat Face Soldier

The video is also known for the accordion playing soldier, identified as Novislav Đajić, who was named "Dat Face Soldier" by users. He is mostly favoured by his facial expression. After serving his prison sentence, Đajić is rumored to have lived in Montenegro until his supposed death in 2018.

Search Interest

External References