The Untouchables

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Roma: Romany for "man"
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"Self-determination is the right of a people to determine its own destiny," Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
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Romania, Bucharest
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Currently the Romanian government is attempting to have the Romani people's official name for their peoples changed to Tigan. Tigan happens to come from the Greek phrase for "untouchables". In other words, the Romanian government is trying to make it official that Roma are less than human.
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"Imagine if a U.S. Congressman proposed to change the name Afro-American back to the insulting term 'nigger'," said David Mark, director of the Roma Civic Alliance in Bucharest, speaking to TIME at a protest outside the government headquarters last week. "It would cause a huge scandal and that Congressman would probably have to resign."
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The politicians in Romania however will not be asked to resign. In fact, many Romanians are in favor of changing the countries classification of Roma to Tigans. That is precisely why people like Silviu Prigoana continue to climb the ranks of Romania's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. His race baiting legislation is more than welcome in the economically troubled Romanian political climate.
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With the backing of Romanian President Traian Basescu the Liberal Democrats will probably be more than able to push their legislation through Romania's legislative process. Little or no opposition is expected seeing as how Romanian peoples seem to bear nothing less than a burning hatred for the "Gypsies". Traian's own party has referred to them as a "scourge".
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Elsewhere in Europe the attacks on Roma continue to spill into the World News (slowly but surely, Europe appears to be willing to let the world see what sins they now perpetrate). Since 1989 in Slovakia 110 documented cases of Roma women being forcibly sterilized have shown up in "Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Attacks on Roma Reproductive Freedom". All of which have happened under Slovakia's public health care programs. CRR (The Center for Reproductive Rights) has documented 230 women in 40 Romani camps in Slovakia that have been sterilized by the Slovakian government. The process used appears to be a throwback to the Norwegian sterilizations of Roma in Norway some 40 to 60 years ago.
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As for the Czechs, 90 percent of Czechs say that they would rather share their "homeland" with Slovaks and "disabled" than Roma ( half of Czechs polled believe Roma are a source of diseases). In other words, the Czechs openly admit that they would like to see the Roma gone from their country. This holds true for France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, and Poland as well (just to name a few).
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In other news from The Czech Republic, The Workers' Social Justice Party may be on the rise seeing as how towns like Novy Bydzov are almost "courting" the "Neo-Nazis". After posting a racist declaration on their towns public website, the citizens of Novy are now getting offers from The Workers to help set up official pogroms. Many of the members own words can be read in the article on Romea.cz. Most of what they have to say sounds almost exactly like Adolf Hitler himself.
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Looking toward more popular images of Europe we now turn toward Athens. In just the last couple weeks the attacks on "immigrants" have been stepped up as racist groups like "Golden Dawn" (Chrysi Avgi) take their seats in local government.
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Citizens in Athens have resorted to using Molotov Cocktails in their attacks on Muslims and Roma in Greece. One of the most infamous attacks happened in the end of October when Greek citizens locked the doors to a temporary mosque and then hurled Molotov Cocktails through the building's windows. Four worshipers inside were nearly killed as the Greeks fought to keep them locked inside.
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While most of the violence in Greece is being directed at Turkish immigrants and other Muslims, the attacks on Roma in Athens and the rest of Greece continue to rise. Once again, the far right elements in Greece are targeting the "usual scapegoat"... the Roma.
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In the Scandinavian countries the rise of eugenic based laws and proposed laws are beginning to appear just as they did in the 1930s. Norway's far right and Sweden's far right have proposed that Roma should either leave their countries or accept and expect sterilization. The proposals are both socially based and loosely based of the Nazi belief of eugenics.
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All of these crimes against the basic human rights of Roma are somewhat quickly combining into the racist agenda of the National Socialist Workers' Party. If left unchecked we all know where these ideals lead... like train tracks to the iron gates. Under that hollow phrase, "work will set you free", the Roma are being exploited and abused to full fill a basic European desire... if all be it xenophobic... A world without Roma.
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Please read the other articles posted here on Alder's Ledge and check us out on FaceBook. We will be doing whatever we can to "Scream" out on behalf of those the world now chooses to neglect.
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Source Documents for this Post
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http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/body-and-soul-forced-sterilization-and-other-assaults-on-roma-reproductive-freedom
- The Center for Reproductive Rights
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http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,418541,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2035862,00.html
- Time Magazine Online
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http://www.praguemonitor.com/2010/12/10/poll-most-czechs-resent-sharing-state-drug-addicts-roma
- Prague Daily Monitor Online
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/europe/01greece.html
- The New York Times Online
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http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/countries/norway/norway.htm
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