Passing the Torch of Life

Includes new song... The Voice by Ace featuring Ken O'Keefe and Gilad Atzmon....

Selamin Belica and his wife, Didar Belica - 2003

(SACRAMENTO / BOSTON) - In this life, when confronted with immense hardship, we do our best to form with the changes and preserve our hearts. We know remaining intact on a personal level is essential for the strength of others. We find ourselves suffering yet we move forward, living day by day, and eventually the burden eases. Time does not heal all wounds but it certainly helps mitigate the damage we feel when losing someone close to us.

Selamin Belica did not want fanfare upon his passing, he wanted those who loved him to carry on. One of those people is his beloved son, our writer/author/musician Agron Belica, whose efforts brought forth our own Salem-News.com Newsic Revolution album. The songs address human rights issues that our mainstream media fails to so much as identify.

Hundreds came for Selamin's funeral in Connecticut a few days ago, his brother even traveled from Macedonia. Selamin was known for the help he lent others; a kind and giving man, he was devout and passionate about human rights.

Upon hearing the news of Selamin's passing, Mahmoud Ayoub, Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary and Professor Emeritus, Temple University, wrote,

Selamin with his brother, G. Belica, New York City

I received the news of your father’s passing with a feeling of peace, regret and hope. My feeling of peace was in the assurance of God’s mercy and love in the peace of jannah after suffering. My feeling of regret is because I had hoped to meet him, but alas, till later. My feeling of hope that I will meet him in Jannah, in-sha’ Allah.

I end with this Qur’anic verse: “O soul in peace, return to your Lord pleased with Him and pleasing to Him. Enter into the company of my faithful servants. Enter into my Janna.” May his soul rest in peace.

Amen

When Arab-Americans were suffering in the time period following the Sept. 11th attacks, Selamin rallied in favor of his fellow Muslims who received endless harassment and persecution in this period of Islamophobia.

He also believed in Palestine, and longed to see a day when this battered population living under brutal Israeli occupation could emerge onto the world stage with the same rights as others, without Israeli fighter jets and drones endlessly striking civilian targets...

On the subject of Palestine, Siraj Davis, noted activist for Palestinians based in Jordan with Collective Consciousness, wrote these heartfelt words:

I give my deep heartfelt, and sincere condolences to CCTJP member, a brother, and a friend...brother Agron Belica and his family for the tragic and recent loss of his father, Selamin Belica.

It is often difficult to find words to express such emotion when the heart beats mourning within my aging chest. Yet, I begin with honesty and trust in her always to carry my message.

Such a great person as brother Agron fortunately crossed paths in my life, a man who cares for energizing and aiding lost causes as a Saint Jude Thaddaeus, a gifted and talented artist who has sacrificed his life toward not temporal money nor a dint of fame but selflessly for the human rights of others, a father and family man who has given his best talents toward the development of his children to be the future leaders of humanity. A simple, humble, and honest man who always blesses those in the presence of him with a smile and laughter, but most importantly...hope.

Such greatness can only be birthed from its like. And be surrounded with branches of its same. Therefore, though I never met Selamin Belica, surely the root of such a loving and strong family tree accentuates the fact that it was truly my loss to not have had the blessing of meeting this wise man. I thank him though for the posterity he left behind for all of us.

I wish I were there to share the pain but I hope brother Agron and his family knows that world citizens across the world, including here in Jordan, shed a tear for this loss and are always poised for full support for his family.

We wish the Belica family the best

Long before living in the United States, Selamin served in the Yugoslavian military. As the photograph shows, his striking figure was distinct and handsome.

A disciplined man in military or civilian life, Selamin Belica succeeded in everything he took on in this difficult life, and his journey to a new life in the USA was a long and arduous one.

There is no question in my mind that Agron's qualities as a concerned human rights activist and journalist and singer/songwriter are directly derived from this great man who lost a long battle with cancer.

I also believe that Selamin is the source of Agron's tremendous strength during this difficult time.

Like a true artist, Agron's reaction to the loss of his father is a fantastic new music video and song that serves as a tribute for Selamin Belica, the man who didn't want too much of a fuss made about him after he died.

Rather than centering the theme around his father, Agron uses the platform to draw attention to the efforts that his father believed in, and the people his father believed in; men like Ken O'Keefe and Gilad Atzmon; two of the strongest and most articulate human rights activists on this planet.

They have long been a part of the Salem-News.com family and so was Selamin Belica. We share the love and the loss and know that the world is a better place because of this well loved man.

Published on Nov 18, 2013

The Voice by Ace feat. Ken O'Keefe & Gilad Atzmon/2013
Music Production by VTZ & A.E.M.G.
Video Production by Lisa Spaulding & Louis Narcisi
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My Life by Agron Belica feat. Lisa Spaulding & Muhsin Corbbrey from Agron Belica on Vimeo.

You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com.

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With almost 25 years of experience on the west coast and worldwide as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor, Tim King is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim King reporting from the war in Iraq

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005.

Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 115 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide.